To purchase the Broadway Revival Cast Recording of FINIAN'S RAINBOW, click on the image above.

It’s Double Take December at Musical Cyberspace! Every musical pretty much has something one likes and something one doesn’t in it. This month I’ll be listing one of each for a range of musicals, a different one each day.

Finian’s Rainbow

Something I Like: There are some brilliant songs in Burton Lane and E.Y. Harburg’s score, “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?”, “Look to the Rainbow”, “Old Devil Moon” and “That Great Come-and-Get-It-Day” among them. I also really like that they found a way to make the controversial “race switch” work in the recent Broadway revival of the show: the elimination of blackface for the change of the senator’s race snapped the show’s satire into clear focus. Finally, the revival starred Cheyenne Jackson, which means that at any point during its run, Finian’s Rainbow starred one of the most talented leading men on Broadway – and most certainly the one that was the hottest!

Something I Don’t Like: E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy’s book is all over the place. Finding a balance between whimsical romance and political satire is never easy, and the pair didn’t manage to craft a book that matches the brilliant score.

Feel free to share your “double take” on Finian’s Rainbow in the comment box!