Finian’s Rainbow shines at St. James

It’s really a “Necessity” to see “Something Sort of Grandish” at the St. James Theatre this fall. City Center’s Encores musicals has given us yet another joy with their revival of “Finian’s Rainbow.”

Suspend disbelief and transport yourself to Missitucky, a state that doesn’t exist in reality. There the sharecroppers live together in peace, but racism is evident. We find Finian McLonergan—an Irishman by trade—who has stolen a crock of gold from the leprechauns in his home country of—of course—Ireland, where he buries it. He brings his daughter Sharon to Rainbow Valley in the hope that the gold will multiply in the fertile soil adjacent to Fort Knox. This gold brings a “curse” of three wishes with it.

Well, Sharon tries to find love with Woody Mahoney, the leader of these valley people. And Finian tries to outsmart Og—a leprechaun—who has been sent to retrieve the gold. Convoluted? Yes? Funny? Yes? Entertaining? You bet.

Does Og become mortal when he can’t find the gold? Does Susan-the-Silent learn to talk? Do Sharon and Woody find love? Do people learn to get along, regardless of color differences? Here, on Broadway, the answers are as they say “Something Sort of Grandish.”

Even though this show was first produced over 60 years ago, its infectious score and phenomenal cast bring it to us today. Kate Baldwin plays the bewitched Sharon, whose voice indeed is found in this “great ‘Come-and-Get-It’ Day”. You don’t have to look to any rainbow to listen to the bewitched purity of her soprano. Cheyenne Jackson, who has appeared in Broadway’s “All Shook Up” and “Xanadu”, is the leading man consummate. His duets with Kate are pure melody.

Finian, as played by Tony-Award-Winning actor Jim Norton, gives the audience a wink as he works his Irish charm. His spirit lights up the stage, and his sly acting cements the light plot. Og—the leprechaun—is played by Christopher Fitzgerald (late of “Young Frankenstein”) who discovers earthly love, and finds it better than the mystical. His impish antics remind one of Tommy Steele—who played Og in the movie of the same name. Let me single out Terri White though, who brought down the house in “Barnum”, and with her singing does the same as Dottie in “Finian’s”. She thanks the universe in her Playbill, but it is us, who should thank her.

Director William Carlyle, who also moonlights as the choreographer, has fashioned a love-fest, spoken and sung to the book by Yip Harburg (You remember “Wizard of Oz”, of course) and Fred Saidy, and the music of Burton Lane. The music soars, as does this production. All of this leads up to a no brainer: go see Finian and the many rainbows he brings.