Finian’s Rainbow (2004)

Finian’s Rainbow

Irish Repertory Theatre
New York, New York
2004

Irish Repertory artistic director Charlotte Moore adapted the 1947 Yip Harburg/Fred Saidy-Burton Lane musical satire, and turned it into a major hit off-Broadway revival of 2004, winning raves and a many-times extended run.  The cast album was immediately released on Ghostlight Records.  Sharon has left Ireland with her father, Finian, to settle in the mythical Southern state of Missitucky. Finian has stolen a leprechaun’s pot of gold, and the angry sprite, named Og, has followed the thief to America, where they encounter romance, but also bigotry, economic disparity and social injustice. The score is spiked with such popular show tunes as “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?” and “Look to the Rainbow,” plus spicy comic and satiric songs such as “When I’m Not Near the Girl I Love,” “The Begat,” “Necessity” and “When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich.”

“The casting is perfect, starting with the delectable Melissa Errico as Sharon. Errico, whom we see too seldom, has a melting voice and a winsomeness just right for this innocent lass.”
— Howard Kissel, Daily News

“Errico has just the right freshness, sass, rhythm and charm as Sharon, as she shows in her lament for the old country, ‘How Are Things In Glocca Morra?’ and in the smoochy love tune, ‘Old Devil Moon,’ sung with the ingratiating Woody.”
— Donald Lyons, New York Post

“And as the fiesty Sharon, Finian’s daughter, Ms. Errico, who appeared on Broadway with Mr. Gets in ‘Amour,’ remind you of how valuable she is to the New York musical theater. Give her a song like ‘Glocca Morra,’ ‘Old Devil Moon’ or ‘Look to the Rainbow,’ and her gleaming soprano effortlessly flies it into the stratosphere where such numbers belong. This is the voice of enchantment, and it captures perfectly the musical soul of a production that is all the more bewitching for being so relaxed.”
— Ben Brantley, The New York Times

Visit the Music Page for the Finian’s Rainbow Irish Repertory Cast Recording.