the original broadway production opened on january 10, 1947 at the 46th street theatre, where it ran for 725 performances. it was directed by bretaigne windust, choreographed by michael kidd, with orchestrations by robert russell bennett and don walker. the cast included ella logan as sharon, donald richards as woody, albert sharpe as finian, with the lyn murray singers. david wayne won both the tony award for best featured actor in a musical (the first one ever given) and the theatre world award for his performance as og. the show also received tonys for best conductor and musical director (milton rosenstock) and best choreography.