Golden Rainbow (musical)

Golden Rainbow

Music	Walter Marks
Lyrics	Walter Marks
Book	Ernest Kinoy
Basis	A Hole in the Head by Arnold Schulman
Productions	1968-1969 (Broadway)

Golden Rainbow is a Broadway musical that opened in 1968. It starred Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé until it closed in early 1969.

The music and lyrics for Golden Rainbow were by Walter Marks; the book was by Ernest Kinoy; and the musical was based on the film adaptation (by screenwriter Arnold Schulman) of the play A Hole in the Head.^[1]^[2]

The stars of Golden Rainbow, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé, were already well known from their extensive work in music, film and television during the 1950s and 1960s. The musical featured the song "I've Gotta Be Me", released as a single in the late 1960s by both Lawrence and Sammy Davis Jr. The Osmond Brothers sang the title song "Golden Rainbow" on the March 22, 1970, episode of The Magical World of Disney.^[3]

Author William Goldman wrote a chapter about Golden Rainbow in his book The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway, which was written while the show was preparing for Broadway. The chapter, titled "Washing Garbage," stated that the material suffered from attempts to bring it up to expected levels.

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Production History

The musical was based on the play A Hole in the Head by Arnold Schulman that had been turned into a 1959 Frank Capra movie starring Frank Sinatra.

The story originally involved a single father looking after his son in Miami whose married brother wants to take custody of the son; the father has a brief romance with a widow. Steve Lawrence was interested in playing the father and Lawrence's wife Eydie Gorme was going to play the widow. However Gorme then wanted to play a lead role and the part of the brother was turned into a woman, the father's sister in law.

The show had a huge advance order of ticket sales - over $1 million - due to the popularity of its stars. Production was problematic, with Arnold Schulman leaving the show. The producers tried to replace him with Mike Stewart but were unable to; instead Ernest Kinoy was hired. There was a large number of previews - 43 - as new choreographers and book writers were bought in to help the production.^[4]

The previews for Golden Rainbow began at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia^[5] on November 28, 1967, moving to its new location in New York City at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway on December 27, 1967. The musical officially opened on February 4, 1968, at the Shubert, where it played until November 17, 1968. On November 19, 1968, its run resumed at the George Abbott Theatre on Broadway, where Golden Rainbow played until it closed on January 11, 1969, after 43 previews and 383 performances.^[6]

Awards

Although the musical did not win any Tony Awards, actor Scott Jacoby was nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, and Robert Randolph was nominated for Best Scenic Design.^[7]

On September 23 to October 1, 2023, the York Theater produced a limited run Off-Broadway revival of the musical. It starred Max Von Essen as Larry, Benjamin Pajak as Ally and Mara Davi as Judy. The composer and lyricist, Walter Marks, was directly involved in this production.

Synopsis

The show concerns Larry Davis, a man living in Las Vegas, Nevada, and raising his ten year old son alone. His late wife's sister arrives and tries to bring stability to the boy's life, but unintentionally falls in love with her brother-in-law.