Finian's Rainbow: Irish Repertory Theatre Recording CD

Finian's Rainbow - Irish Repertory Theatre Recording
Starring Melissa Errico and Malcolm Gets

Founded in 1988, the Irish Repertory Theatre of New York is an off-Broadway theater company that generally spends its time reviving the works of Irish playwrights like Sean O'Casey and Brendan Behan, though it also extends its charter to cover writers of Irish lineage, such as Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, and Eugene O'Neill.

Still, doing Finian's Rainbow is a stretch, as it was written by E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, nobody's idea of an Irishman, and it is a musical to boot (the music is by Burton Lane). Nevertheless, the plot does concern two expatriate Irish citizens (and a leprechaun) set loose in a mythical American South, and when the company launched its stripped down two piano version of the 1947 Broadway show on April 14, 2004, it attracted good reviews.

Finian's Rainbow has enjoyed several recordings, the best of which remains the original Broadway cast album. But by taking this one down to the score's musical basics, the Irish Repertory Theatre cast and pianists Mark Hartman and Mark Janas give listeners a version that has an intimacy and directness, and that emphasizes Harburg's witty lyrics. - William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Track Listing:

1. Overture
2. This Time of the Year
3. How Are Things in Glocca Morra?
4. Woody's Entrance
5. Look to the Rainbow
6. That Old Devil Moon
7. Intro to Necessity
8. Necessity
9. Something Sort of Grandish
10. If This Isn't Love
11. Something Sort of Grandish Reprise
12. That Great Come-and-Get-It Day
13. When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich
14. When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich Reprise
15. That Old Devil Moon Reprise
16. Fiddle Faddle
17. The Begat
18. The Wedding / Look to the Rainbow Reprise
19. When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love
20. Finian's Farewell
21. Finale
22. That Old Devil Moon (sung by E.Y. �Yip� Harburg)


Audio CD

Label: Ghostlight Records