Norton, Baldwin, Fitzgerald and Cooper Set for Finian's Rainbow

Christopher Fitzgerald, Jim Norton, Kate Baldwin and Chuck Cooper are set for the upcoming Broadway revival of Finian’s Rainbow, according to The New York Times. The Encores! production, which played City Center in March 2009, will start previews October 8 at the St. James Theater with opening night scheduled for October 29. The musical will be directed by Warren Carlyle. Additional cast and creative team details will be announced shortly

Norton and Baldwin will reprise their Encores! roles as father and daughter pair Finian and Sharon McLonergan. Fitzgerald joins as leprechaun Og, while Cooper will play Billboard. There is no word yet on casting for the leading role of Woody, played at Encores! by Cheyenne Jackson.

Featuring music by Burton Lane, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg and a book by Harburg and Fred Saidy, Finian’s Rainbow is the story of the Irishman Finian McLonergan and his daughter Sharon, who travel to a small Southern town in the mythical state of Missitucky with plans to bury a stolen pot of gold near 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 named Og, who shows up determined to recover his treasure. Things get more complicated when Woody, a handsome Missitucky landowner, falls in love with Sharon.

Finian’s Rainbow deals in a satirical way with issues of class and race, most specifically in the character of a bigoted southern senator who is accidentally turned black. The score includes such familiar songs as “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.” The show originally opened at the 46th Street Theatre on January 10, 1949, and played a total of 725 performances.

Norton won the Tony Award for his featured role in Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer and appeared on Broadway in McPherson’s The Weir. His most recent film credit is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

Baldwin’s Broadway credits include Wonderful Town, Thoroughly Modern Millie and The Full Monty.

Fitzgerald was last seen on Broadway in a Tony Award nominated turn in Young Frankenstein. Additional Broadway credits include the original cast of Wicked. Off-Broadway, he appeared in the musicals Gutenberg! The Musical! and Amour.

Cooper won a 1997 Tony Award for his performance in The Life. His other Broadway credits include Someone to Watch Over Me, Amen Corner, Getting Away with Murder, Chicago and Caroline, or Change. Cooper has also appeared in the national tours of The Tap Dance Kid, Eubie! and Whistle Down the Wind.