Cheyenne Jackson Confirmed to Star on Broadway in Finian's Rainbow

It's official: Cheyenne Jackson will reprise his starring role as Woody in the Broadway revival of Finian’s Rainbow. The show, which began life in March as an Encores! presentation, will start previews on October 8 and open on October 29 at the St. James Theatre, directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle.

Jackson joins previously announced Encores! castmates Jim Norton and Kate Baldwin, plus Christopher Fitzgerald and Chuck Cooper.

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 (Norton) and his daughter Sharon (Baldwin), who travel to a small 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 named Og (Fitzgerald), who shows up determined to recover his treasure. Meanwhile, Sharon falls in love with Missitucky landowner Woody (Jackson). Also figuring into the plot is a blowhard Senator named Billboard (Cooper).

The Finian’s Rainbow 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.

Jackson starred in the Encores! 2008 summer production of Damn Yankees and headlined the Broadway productions of Xanadu and All Shook Up. Other New York theater credits include Altar Boyz and Aida. On film, he appeared in United 93. Jackson recently completed a series of sold-out concerts, "The Power of Two," at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, sharing the stage with Michael Feinstein.

Finian's Rainbow is being produced on Broadway by David Richenthal and Jack Viertel.