Radiant ‘Rainbow’

You’ve heard the songs before: "That Old Devil Moon," "If This Isn’t Love," "When I’m Not Near the Girl I Love," "How are Things in Glocca Mora?" and "Look to the Rainbow." Old standards, but do you know the show they’re from?

"Finian’s Rainbow" doesn’t receive many professional revivals mainly, I suspect, because of the failure of the 1968 movie version by Francis Ford Coppola. It may have cast a pall over the show and stuck it with a reputation for being embarrassingly dated.

I can’t tell you how things are in Glocca Morra, but at the Walnut Street Theatre, where a glowing, beautifully dressed revival of this 1947 musical opened, they’re looking glorious.

That’s not surprising since "Finian’s Rainbow" has a heart as warm and passionate as one could wish for and a love of humanity that, nearly 60 years after its premiere, can’t be suppressed. There are no gimmicks here, only sterling craftsmanship in the book (by E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy), music (by Burton Lane) and lyrics (Harburg).

"Finian’s Rainbow" is filled with a sort of twinkling merriment and, with Lane’s score effortlessly tuneful and endlessly inventive, the show remains a buoyant feel-good treat.

There are so many fine songs the show doesn’t really need a plot. It’s probably the last of the old-fashioned musical comedies that really works without one.

But, oh, there’s a story. It’s all about roving Irish folk, wayward leprechauns and nasty Southern senators. Although the musical was written not long after Rodgers and Hammerstein revolutionized the genre, Harburg and Saidy hadn’t absorbed the lesson yet. You can’t take its fantasies seriously for a moment — but it’s consistent, good fun, especially in the Walnut’s production.

The book takes on racism, the politics of dam construction, the poll tax and the availability of credit to the poor among many others issues in the mythical Southern state of Missitucky. It grafts these complexities onto the story of two newly arrived Irish stereotypes. It’s easy to point out the problems in the book, but the ebullience and charm of this production easily overrides them.

The action is set in Rainbow Valley in the previously mentioned fictional state, which is somewhere near Fort Knox.

Ne’er-do-well Finian (Ian D. Clark) has fled his homeland of Ireland with his adoring, but long-suffering, daughter Sharon (Jennifer Hope Wills). Finian has stolen a pot of gold from the leprechauns, believing it will multiply if he buries it near Fort Knox.

Fortuitously, Finian becomes a partner in the small farm of Woody Mahoney (Don Burroughs) and Woody’s effervescent younger sister, Susan (Lyndy Franklin), who cannot speak, but communicates with her dancing feet. Naturally, Sharon and Woody fall in love, much to Finian’s glee.

Complicating love’s path is the arrival of the leprechaun Og (Chris Sutton), who is desperate to recover the stolen gold before he is transformed into a human. And, on the darker side, there is Sen. Rawkins (Mike O’Carrol), who is attempting to gain possession of Woody’s farmland by utilizing the racist laws of the day.

Every plot point turns on the magical powers of the hidden gold.

There’s no skirting the musical’s whimsy, which is occasionally as thick as pecan pie. Still, Harburg and Saidy constructed a sturdy plot full of optimism, which is in accord with the musical comedy conventions prevalent in the post-World War II years. They dovetailed the play’s two love stories nicely, handed around the soaring songs and dispensed workable jokes.

Excellent character actor Clark is in the important part of Finian. He precisely delivers the twinkling devilishness the role requires. Strangely, this title character has no solo.

As a fetching Irish lass, Wills avoids the saccharine and never oversells a song, letting her fresh and graceful vocals speak for themselves. Her "Look to the Rainbow" is a gentle prayer, but she also shows her pluck and versatility in "When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich."

Burroughs is a solid and romantic Woody, especially in the seductive "Old Devil Moon."

Franklin makes the most of her dancing role as Susan.

O’Carrol manages the racial transformation during the play in an inoffensive manner. He also has strong musical chops.

The large ensemble also includes such well-know area favorites as Jeffrey Coon, Greg Wood and Mary Martello.

In this production, almost every number is a highlight and Douglass G. Lutz deserves to be lauded for the vocal and musical direction.ut I’d single out the opening "This Time of the Year," as well as "Old Devil Moon," "That Great Come-and-Get-It Day" and "The Begat," a quartet elegantly performed by O’Carrol and the Gospeleers.

This "Finian’s Rainbow" drives from scene to scene and number to number. It has fluidity and unflagging energy thanks to solid direction by Malcolm Black. The performers play it as if they were on holiday and that feeling carries into the audience.

Finan’s Rainbow
Through Oct. 23
The Walnut Street Theatre
Eighth and Walnut streets
Tickets: $10 to $65
215-574-3550
www.wsonline.org