Each month, Jason Fortner spotlights one or more musical theatre composers and/or lyricists, offering his own unique perspective on the songwriting legends of musical theatre. Send your comments/questions on this column to happgood@aol.com.

It's March…the month that comes in like a lion and brings with it St. Patrick's Day, a day to celebrate the snakes being driven out of Ireland, drink green beer and sing weepy tunes like "Danny Boy". In honor of that "wearin' of the green" holiday, I thought I'd look at some of the Irish influences bestowed onto Broadway musicals, oftentimes by writers who never once stepped foot on the Emerald Isle.

First off we need to mention George M. Cohan, the writer/ director/performer/composer/ lyricist of such favorites as LITTLE JOHNNY JONES, THE MERRY MALONES, and LITTLE NELLIE KELLY. His odes to Ireland abound throughout his long list of shows with prominent examples being "God's Good To The Irish", "The O'Brien Girl" and that barroom favorite "H-A-R-R-I-G-A-N".

Speaking of Harrigans, another wealth of Irish songs can be found in the shows of Ned Harrigan & Tony Hart. These gentlemen were the toast of the late nineteenth century New York theater scene, creating musical comedies full of Irish characters. In 1985 a short lived musical celebrating these two entitled HARRIGAN 'N' HART played a 4 performance run at the Longacre Theater. Featuring tunes from the original shows with new songs by composer Max Showalter and lyricist Peter Walker, the show was poorly reviewed, despite Irish themed tunes like "Maggie Murphy's Home" and "McNally's Row of Flats".

Another fabled Irish lass during Cohan's time would be "Irene O'Dare", made famous in the 1919 musical IRENE. The girl who was "always chasing rainbows" was the quintessential Irish immigrant lass, dreaming of a better life. When it was revived & revised in the 70's, Gower Champion devised a showstopper for Debbie Reynolds (and later Jane Powell) in the new song "An Irish Girl", featuring music by Charles Gaynor and lyrics by Otis Clements.

In the 1940's an Irish musical classic was born with FINIAN'S RAINBOW, music by Burton Lane and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, although all of the action took place in the state of Missitucky. Songs like "How Are Things In Glocca Morra?" and "Something Sort of Grandish" had that magical Irish feel to them, even though leading lady Ella Logan was actually Scottish. The leprechaun "Og" had a showstopper in "When I'm Not Near The Girl I Love,I Love The Girl I'm Near" and when lyricist E.Y. Harburg was asked how he could write so well for a leprechaun he replied "I WAS a leprechaun".

The short-lived 1961 musical DONNYBROOK! was a stage adaptation of the film THE QUIET MAN, with music and lyrics by Johnny Burke. This 68 performance flopped was Irish flavored through and through, with songs like "Dee-lightful Is The Word", "Wisha Wurra", and "The Loveable Irish". Another Irish flop was 1952's THREE WISHES FOR JAMIE, music & lyrics by Ralph Blane. featuring lilting tunes like "It's A Wishing World" and "My Heart's Darlin" . But even the presence of John Raitt and Anne Jeffreys couldn't make it last more than 92 performances.

Another flop with a higher pedigree was JUNO, with music and lyrics by Marc Blitzstein. This 1959 musical, based on Sean O'Casey's JUNO & THE PAYCOCK, was often comical and often dead serious, making bold statements about life, love, war and death. Featuring stars Shirley Booth and Melvyn Douglas and achingly beautiful songs like "I Wish It So" and "Dublin Nights" , the fate of JUNO was decided quickly and the show closed after only 16 official performances. But the Irish spirit runs high on the Cast Recording, with numbers like "Song of the Ma", "The Liffy Waltz", and "Daarlin' Man"

A slew of Irish characters abounded as well in the musical KELLY, music by Moose Charlap and lyrics by Eddie Lawrence, but the luck of the Irish couldn't get them more than one performance, opening and closing on February 6th, 1965 at the Broadhurst Theater. James Joyce's THE DEAD (music by Shaun davey and lyrics by Richard Nelson) was a musical drama set in Dublin around 1900. With songs like "Killarney's Lake", "Kate Kearney" and "Adieu to Ballyshannon", there was no mistaking the setting of this short-lived theater piece from the 1999-2000 Broadway season.

Adding an Irish number to an otherwise non-Irish themed show is not uncommon, a way for the writers to add some character and maybe throw in a jig or two. "My Darlin' Eileen" is a delightful example in the 1953 musical comedy WONDERFUL TOWN, created by Leonard Bernstein and Comden & Green. In this number, the oh-so Irish cops celebrate the Irishness of "Eileen", although again and again she tells them she isn't even Irish.

In Meredith Willson's THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN a trio of drunken Irish cops sing an ode to liquor and "The Denver Police" and then launch into a wild jig. When adapting Martin & Blane's MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS for the stage the role of "Katie the Maid" was expanded so she could sing the rollicking "A Touch of the Irish" while training Esther & Rose in how to catch a man. And that ode to immigration, RAGS by Charles Strouse and Stephen Schwartz had a lilting Irish waltz played on the Gramophone, "For My Mary".

Faith and begorra, the list could go on and on… but rather than drone away let's finish up this month's diversion with an ode to bad Irish songwriting from Tom Lehrer, featured in the show TOMFOOLERY. Enjoy!

IRISH BALLAD

About a maid I'll sing a song
Sing rickety-tickety-tin
About a maid I'll sing a song
Who didn't have her family long
Not only did she do them wrong
She did ev'ryone of them in, them in
She did ev'ryone of them in

One morning in a fit of pique
Sing rickety-tickety-tin
One morning in a fit of pique
She drowned her father in the creek
The water tasted bad for a week
And we had to make do with gin, with gin
We had to make do with gin

Her mother she could never stand
Sing rickety-tickety-tin
Her mother she could never stand
And so a cyanide soup she planned
The mother died with a spoon in her hand
And her face in a hideous grin, a grin
Her face in a hideous grin

She set her sister's hair on fire
Rickety-tickety-tin
She set her sister's hair on fire
And as the smoke and flame rose high'r
Danced around the funeral pyre
Playin' a violin, -olin
Playin' a violin

She weighted her brother down with stones
Rickety-tickety-tin
She weighted her brother down with stones
And sent him off to Davy Jones
All they ever found were some bones
And occasional pieces of skin, of skin
Occasional pieces of skin

One day when she had nothing to do
Rickety-tickety-tin
One day when she had nothing to do
She cut her baby brother in two
And served him up as an Irish stew
And invited the neighbors in, -bors in
Invited the neighbors in

And when at last the police came by
Rickety-tickety-tin
And when at last the police came by
Her little pranks she did not deny
To do so she would have had to lie
And lying, she knew, was a sin, a sin
Lying, she knew, was a sin

My tragic tale, I won't prolong
Rickety-tickety-tin
My tragic tale I won't prolong
And if you do not enjoy my song
You've yourselves to blame if it's too long
You should never have let me begin, begin
You should never have let me begin