September, 2009
A new production of the classic musical Finian's Rainbow arrives on Broadway this season - to the delight of legions of fans
By Jim Steinblatt
In January 1947, a musical theater legend was born with the Broadway premiere of Finian's Rainbow. The show - with music by Burton Lane, lyrics by E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, and book by Harburg and Fred Saidy - was a sensation that ran for 725 performances and garnered three Tony Awards No wonder, with a host of future standards like "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?," "Old Devil Moon," "Look to the Rainbow" and "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love, I Love the Girl I'm Near" and a brilliant cast headed by Ella Logan and David Wayne. Oddly, a successful Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow has proved elusive since then. However, on October 29th, a new Finian was mounted at Broadway's St. James Theater the delight of this classic show's legion of fans and to glowing reviews. Sadly, Yip Harburg, Burton Lane and Fred Saidy are not around to see this revival of their great achievement, but members of their respective families are.
While Finian's place in the top echelon of American musicals has never been in question, the original production generated controversy because it wore its politics proudly. A witty satire that examined race relations in the South and the capitalist system, the show featured a racist white senator transformed into a black man. That was too bold for some audience members and critics at a time that coincided with the dawn of the McCarthy era. For the 21st century audience, the show's message will raise few eyebrows, but in the age of the first black president and a deep recession, it still has a great deal to say.
In anticipation of the opening of the new Finian's Rainbow, Playback spent some time with Lynn Lane, the widow of Burton, and with Ernie Harburg and musical theater historian Deena Rosenberg, Yip's son and daughter-inlaw, respectively. Theymay not agree on everything but all of them have been consulted by the revival's creative team and they all believe that the return of Finian is timely and exciting.
Finian's Rainbow is such a classic show but has not been given a full revival like this. Why? And why is it happening now? Harburg: I think the 62 years between 1947 and 2009 were taken up with developing what
I call a subculture of clichés by theater owners and producers. The key words were: "racial," "an ineffective plot" and "relic" of another time. Generations of producers refused to touch it. Back in 1947 they were calling Yip names like "commie symp." Even the critics were. Essentially, I think it was the "racial" thing where the white senator turns black.
David Richenthal, who has a great track record producing straight plays, saw that there was something serious to be said in the satire of Finian's Rainbow. He waited a number of years and, finally, the historical times came when we have a black president and are in a recession. So everything hit exactly as Yip and Fred (Saidy), the co-writer of the book with Harburg, wanted it.
What are the elements that made this show such a classic?
Lane: The score, which has many good songs and some that are standards - "Old Devil Moon" and "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" - songs that are very well-known apart from the show. The originality of the book, and the wit and humor of both the book and the lyrics. Harburg: There are a number. It is one of the rare - possibly the only - Broadway musical from the golden era that was original, no prior novel or source - Yip and Fred Saidy got it up from scratch. Secondly, it was a satire, and there were few musical comedies after the Great Depression that brought satire to the musical theater. Third, the score was simply tremendous. Burton Lane and Yip outdid themselves, with songs like "Old Devil Moon" and "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" It has to be among the top five scores in American musical theater history. Fourth - like every other great show, it has a following.
What are your thoughts on the collaboration between Yip and Burton?
Deena Rosenberg: Yip and most of the lyricists of his generation, like Lorenz Hart and Ira Gershwin, wrote lyrics after the music was completed because they didn't want to get in the way of musical outpouring or inspiration by tying a composer to a certain meter. Even if the complete music was written before the complete words, they usually had the scenario of what character was singing, possibly a title. The composer would go in with certain information - just not the specific lyric. Burton knew he needed to write a ballad for the character, Sharon, soon after her arrival in Rainbow Valley. Burton did not want any of themusic the Irish characters sang to sound like Irish folk songs. He wrote a lot of melodies, none of which he thought were right. Finally, Yip said, "Just play them for me and I'll tell you what I think." Apparently, the first one Burton played was the melody we all know as "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" Yip said, "Stop, that's the song." Lane: Burton said it was wonderful, that Yip was a complicated man and on some issues, he could be a little difficult. But when it came to lyrics, he was a professional. If someone would say "I don't like it" or "It needs rewriting," he'd immediately say "OK." As a lyricist, he was unparalleled. Harburg: It is amazing to me that Yip's lyrics and the ideas in them are timeless. The only thing that sometimes holds Yip's lyrics back would be the music that goes with it. But this time, with Burton Lane, it holds up in the 21st century.
