Happy 50th Anniversary to GOLDEN RAINBOW!

It opened 50 years ago on this day at the Shubert Theatre in 1968.

The show starred married recording sensations Eydie Gormé and Steve Lawrence and was adapted from the 1950s film "A Hole in the Head," about a single father in Las Vegas. The show clumsily changed the married Aunt and Uncle to a single Aunt to allow a romance between Gormé and Lawrence, which made her appeals to adopt the boy a bit absurd.

The score was by Walter Marks, whose only previous Broadway credit was the 1964 flop BAJOUR. Lawrence's big ballad "I've Gotta Be Me" became a hit for Sammy Davis, Jr., and many songs from the show were released by Steve and Eydie as singles.

The show is one of the 1967/68 shows covered in William Goldman's book The Season, and while I don't have my copy on hand to reiterate his views, they were not positive. The show received only two Tony nominations, one for 11-year old Scott Jacoby as the son and another for the scenic design by prolific set designer Robert Randolph, winning neither. It ran just under a year, doing solid business with Steve and Eydie at the helm.

While I've always enjoyed the score's mix of groovy 60s-isms and easy listening ballads, it sounds like a total mess dramatically, though the production seems to have been quite flashy! Did anyone see it back in '68?

Publicity/Rehearsal Photos:











Production Photos:

Happy 50th Anniversary GOLDEN RAINBOW!

One musical several years before my time (my first Broadway show was in 1972: PIPPIN. I was 7 years old), but I've enjoyed the cast recording for ages. I discovered this gem via production photos in Broadway reference books and after years of doing my own "24 Hours a Day" production number in my bedroom, it was a surreal experience when I finally saw the full number for the first time when the 1968 Tony Awards performance surfaced on YouTube. Nothing like that could be topped so they were wise to use this to represent the musical at the Tony Awards instead of the expected Steve & Eydie medley of songs from the show. Seeing a pre-A CHORUS LINE Kelly Bishop in that white sparkly beaded headdress costume and that infinity white feather boa still is breathtaking, especially when the stage floor rises up to create that ramp. That electric energy of that number is insane. You can literally feel the entire roof of the Shubert Theatre explode.

In THE SEASON, IIRC, William
Goldman complains about the
pre-planned "break ups" and
ad libs. He uses his chapter
on GOLDEN RAINBOW to
invoke the adage, "The trouble
with washing garbage is that
when you are done, it's still
garbage."