Casting Complete for Broadway's Finian's Rainbow Revival
Casting is complete for the previously announced Broadway revival of Finian’s Rainbow, set to hit the stage at the St. James Theatre beginning October 8. The new production, directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, will open on October 29.
Joining stars Cheyenne Jackson (Woody Mahoney), Jim Norton (Finian McLonergan), Kate Baldwin (Sharon McLonergan), Christopher Fitzgerald (Og) and Chuck Cooper (Bill Rawkins) are Guy Davis (Sunny), Alina Faye (Susan Mahoney), Brian Reddy (Sheriff), David Schramm (Senator Rawkins), Terri White (Dottie), William Youmans (Buzz Collins), Aaron Bantum, Tanya Birl, Christopher Borger, Meggie Cansler, Bernard Dotson, Leslie Donna Flesner, Sara Jean Ford, Taylor Frey, Lisa Gajda, Kearran Giovanni, Tim Hartman, Lauren Lim Jackson, Grasan Kingsberry, Kevin Ligon, Monica L. Patton, Joe Aaron Reid, Steve Schepis, Devin Richards, Rashidra Scott, Brian Sears, Paige Simunovich, James Stovall, Elisa van Duyne and Tyrick Wiltez Jones.
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 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, who shows up determined to recover his treasure. Meanwhile, Sharon falls in love with Missitucky landowner Woody. Also figuring into the plot is a blowhard Senator named Billboard.
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. The revival began as an Encores! presentation in March 2009, also starring Jackson, Burton and Norton.