Photo Coverage: Encores! 'FINIAN'S RAINBOW' Curtain Call

Finian's Rainbow is the story of the Irishman Finian McLonergan (Jim Norton), and his daughter Sharon (Kate Baldwin) who travel to a small Southern town in the mythical state of Missitucky with plans to bury a stolen pot of gold in the shadows of Fort Knox, in the mistaken belief it will grow and multiply. They have been followed from Ireland by the owner of the gold, a leprechaun (Jeremy Bobb), who shows up determined to recover his treasure. Harburg and Lane created one of Broadway's greatest popular scores, including "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?," "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love (I Love the Girl I'm Near)," "That Old Devil Moon," and "If This Isn't Love."
Finian's Rainbow opened at the 46th Street Theatre on January 10, 1947 and played a total of 725 performances. Michael Kidd won the Tony Award for his choreography (In an interesting note, the show played at New York City Center twice before - in 1955 and 1960, presented by the New York City Light Opera.). 

The 2008-2009 Encores! season was made possible in part by the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores! with additional support from the Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust and Roz and Jerry Meyer.

New York City Center Encores! (Jack Viertel, Artistic Director; Rob Berman, Music Director) has, since 1994, celebrated the rarely-heard works of America's most important composers and lyricists. Conceived as concert versions, each Encores! season gives three scores the chance to be heard as originally intended by their creators. Over the years, Encores! has presented the works of the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, Bock and Harnick, Burt Bacharach, Kander and Ebb, Comden and Green, and many others. The program is the recipient of a special 2000 Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, as well as an Outer Critics Circle Award, Lucille Lortel Award and Jujamcyn Theaters Award.

New York City Center (Arlene Shuler, President and CEO) has long been known and beloved by New York audiences not only as one of the City's preeminent performing art institutions but also as an accessible and welcoming venue for dance and theater. New York City Center produces the Tony-honored Encores!

Photos by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.