Golden Rainbow is the title of a Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 that opened in 1968. It starred Steve Lawrence

Steve Lawrence

Steve Lawrence is an American singer and actor, perhaps best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as "Steve and Eydie"...

 and Eydie Gormé

Eydie Gormé

Eydie Gormé is an American singer, specializing, with her husband, Steve Lawrence, in traditional pop music, in the form of ballads and breezy swing. She has earned numerous awards, including the Grammy and the Emmy...

 for its entire run until it closed in early 1969.

The previews

Preview (theatre)

Previews are a set of public performances of a theatrical presentation that precede its official opening. The purpose of previews is to allow the director and crew to identify problems and opportunities for improvement that weren't found during rehearsals and to make adjustments before critics are...

 for Golden Rainbow began at the Forrest Theatre

Forrest Theatre

The Forrest Theatre is a live theatre venue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is managed by The Shubert Organization.The Forrest Theatre was built in 1927. It was designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp and has a seating capacity of 1,851. It was named after the 19th century actor Edwin Forrest, who...

 in Philadelphia on November 28, 1967, moving to its new location in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 at the Shubert Theatre

Shubert Theatre (Broadway)

The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States.Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family...

 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.

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 is perhaps best remembered for the song "I've Gotta Be Me

I've Gotta Be Me

"I've Gotta Be Me" is a popular song that first appeared in the Broadway musical Golden Rainbow, which starred Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé. The musical opened in New York City at the Shubert Theatre on February 4, 1968, and closed less than a year later, on January 11, 1969...

", released as a single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 in the late 1960s by both Lawrence and Sammy Davis, Jr.

Sammy Davis, Jr.

Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....

 (Davis' version reached #11 on the pop chart

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and #1 on the easy listening chart

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks

The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...

). The show details the lives of a group of people in and around Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

, Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

. Author William Goldman

William Goldman

William Goldman is an American novelist, playwright, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.-Early life and education:...

 wrote a gossipy and unflattering book that detailed this musical, The Season, while it was still running on Broadway.

The music and lyrics for Golden Rainbow were by Walter Marks

Walter Marks (composer)

Walter Marks is an American film and musical theatre composer and lyricist.Walter Marks is noted for the Broadway musical scores for Bajour and Golden Rainbow. The song "I've Gotta Be Me" from Golden Rainbow was recorded by Sammy Davis, Jr...

; the book was by Ernest Kinoy

Ernest Kinoy

-Early life:Kinoy was born in New York City on April 1, 1925; his father and mother were both high-school teachers. His older brother Arthur Kinoy later became a leading constitutional lawyer. Kinoy attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School and later Columbia University, although his studies...

; and the musical was based on the film adaptation (by screenwriter Arnold Schulman

Arnold Schulman

Arnold Schulman is an American playwright, screenwriter, producer, a songwriter and novelist. He was a stage actor long associated with the American Theatre Wing and the Actors Studio....

) of the play A Hole in the Head

A Hole in the Head

A Hole in the Head is a comedy film released by United Artists. It was directed by Frank Capra and featured Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor Parker, Keenan Wynn, Carolyn Jones, Thelma Ritter, Dub Taylor and Joi Lansing. The film introduced the song "High Hopes", a Sinatra standard used...

. Although the musical did not win any Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

s, actor Scott Jacoby

Scott Jacoby

Scott Jacoby is an American actor. He won an Emmy Award for his role in the 1972 television film That Certain Summer. He is also famous for playing the lead role in the made for TV film Bad Ronald 1974....

 was nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Musical

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. The award has been presented since 1947...

, and Robert Randolph was nominated for Best Scenic Design.