Despite all the risks, 'Finian's Rainbow' shines at Stage West
The need for multifaceted actors poses a challenge that Stage West Community Playhouse handles well.
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
Published November 5, 2005
Finian's Rainbow is such a wonderful show - great music, clear and admirable point of view, sharp dialogue, timely subject matter, fun characters - that you'd think every theater around would do it every few years.
It's probably a lack of courage that keeps it off the boards.
The racist, sexist, classist politician and the members of his spineless, toadying entourage could make audiences squirm, even though the characters are funny as heck. And the difficulty of finding players who can act, sing, dance and maintain the absolutely necessary Irish and backwoods accents could make a casting director blanch.
But Stage West Community Playhouse bravely took the plunge and came up roses. Everyone who loves beautiful songs, a good story and simply great performances should go see its terrific, though not altogether flawless, production of this timeless show. (The flaws are in the mechanics, not the performances.)
Finian's Rainbow is set in the 1940s in the mythical Rainbow Valley, Missitucky. Fresh from Ireland arrives Finian McLonergan, played with a convincing Irish accent by Irishman Jack Joyce, who grew up listening to his parents' native Irish brogue. Finian is accompanied by his lovely daughter Sharon, done by a raven-haired lass with a pitch-perfect voice, Sarah Coit.
Finian has a can't-miss get-rich-quick scheme: He's "borrowed" a pot of gold from the leprechauns back in Ireland and plans to plant it in the Missitucky soil and watch it grow - just like the gold in Fort Knox, Kentucky, that makes the American economy grow.
Meanwhile, the local folks are in a tizzy because tax collector Buzz Collins, played with bluster by George Koprowski, is ready to sell their measly plots of land for back taxes and convey the land to the greedy, racist Senator Billboard Rawkins, done - but not overdone - by Robert Allen, a baritone who does a fine Southern attitude and drawl.
At the last minute, the hillbilly Woody Mahoney, played with sweet appeal by Danny Brijbag in a rare singing/dancing role, arrives to save the day, but comes up short when Buzz keeps adding interest and penalties. The McLonergans shower them with money and temporarily save the day.
Then arrives the playful, cackling leprechaun Og, done with delicious merriment by Peter Clapsis, to take the gold back to Ireland and thwart Finian's plans. He's hindered by Woody's mute sister, Susan, whose dialogue is gracefully danced by Jessica Nichol.
Romance abounds, but, unlike most musicals, romance is but a small part of this story. The heart of Finian's is the struggle between the powerful and the powerless, the mighty and the meek.
The points are driven home by a young black man named Howard, played with scene-making and scene-stealing assurance by Brandan Gary. Gary's Howard goes along to get along, dutifully shuffling as he serves the bombastic Senator Rawkins, all the while making his so-called "masters" look as dumb as dirt. At the same time, Howard is gracious in victory, showing by his actions the truths that Og has said in words.
There's so much good stuff in this show, it's a shame that key parts were ruined by a balky sound system that cut off body mikes, inserted offstage voices and noises, and growled and crackled at the most inopportune times. Richard Flury's set design is flat, with the placement of trees obscuring key actions. Bryan Baldwin's lighting often intensifies the mood, especially the washes of red or blue, but his uplights are sometimes blinding and outer lights inadequate, especially for stage left where the gospel choir stands.
On the other hand, Lillian Falcone and Mollie Lutz's costumes are lovely, especially those for the dancer Susan, and Terri Marwood's choreography is well adapted to the abilities of the cast.
And kudos go to director/musical director Danielle Flury, who does triple duty as a one-person orchestra, playing flute, whistle, keyboard and percussion while keeping the action on stage going at a satisfying pace.
I F YO U GOFinian's Rainbow, weekends through Nov. 20 at Stage West Community Playhouse, 8390 Forest Oaks Blvd., Spring Hill. Shows are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $18, reserved seating. Box office is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and an hour before each show. Call (352) 683-5113.