Finian's Rainbow

Finian's Rainbow (1947), a musical fantasy by E. Y. Harburg (book, lyrics), Fred Saidy (book), Burton Lane (music). [46th Street Theatre, 725 perf.] Finian McLonergan (Albert Sharpe) and his daughter, Sharon (Ella Logan), come to America from Ireland lugging a crock of gold, which Finian hopes to plant at Fort Knox and watch grow. They are pursued by the former owner of the gold, the mischievous leprechaun Og (David Wayne), who is slowly turning into a human. Stopping at Rainbow Valley, Missitucky, Sharon falls in love with labor organizer Will Mahoney (Donald Richards) and encounters the racist Senator Billboard Rawkins (Robert Pitkin), who whines, “My whole family's hated immigrants ever since we came to this country.” Through the magic power of the crock, Rawkins is turned black and made to see the penalties of his attitudes before being restored to his former self. Sharon gets Will, Og falls for a human female, and Finian continues his wandering, hoping that “we meet in Glocca Morra some fine day.” Notable songs: How Are Things in Glocca Morra?; If This Isn't Love; Look to the Rainbow; Old Devil Moon; When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love; Something Sort of Grandish. The creative and daring musical, which twitted reactionaries, was so sunny, so witty, and so melodic that it delighted almost everyone. Billboard Rawkins, for example, spoofed Mississippi's notorious Senator Bilbo and Congressman Rankin. Because much of the humor was topical, revivals have been infrequent, though the Lane‐Harburg score remains one of Broadway's best.

Finian's Rainbow, successful stage musical which mixes fantasy with social commentary. Premièred in New York on Broadway in 1947, the show had a book by E. Y. Harburg (who also wrote the lyrics) and Fred Saidy, with music by Burton Lane. It achieved an initial run of 725 performances. A father and daughter leave Ireland for America's deep South, taking with them a crock of gold (stolen from the leprechaun Og) in the belief that, by burying it close to Fort Knox, it will grow abundantly. The show's social side deals with the defeat and rehabilitation of a negro‐hating senator.

— Tom Higgins