Review: THE IRISH ... AND HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY at Music Theatre Of Connecticut

Music Theatre of Connecticut ushered in the St. Patrick’s Day festivities with its Frank McCourt’s show The Irish … and How They Got That Way. Why not celebrate St. Patrick’s Day all month long because who doesn’t like a happy and colorful holiday with lots of singing and drinking and Irish soda bread? We hope that Music Theatre of Connecticut has an Irish play every March because the Irish have such an incredible way with words.

Although McCourt is best known for his Pulitzer Prize winning book, Angela’s Ashes, he left the world a delightful revue about the history of the Irish in Ireland and in America. McCourt taught English at six schools in New York, and we bet he was as a good a teacher as he was a writer. Most of the first act is about the people of Ireland including the humiliations they’ve been through, their struggles as a British colony and their losses in the Irish potato famine. “God sent the potato blight,” but “the English created the famine” by refusing to let the Irish keep any crops other than potatoes.”

The second act is about their struggles, their humiliations, and their triumphs in America. It recounts both the prejudice against the Irish (“No Irish need apply”) and their role in the building of America since the 1800s. “Run your finger along the route of any canal or any railroad and you’ll be passing over the graves of thousands of Irishmen who died….” McCourt also told the story of the Molly Maguires, the Irish workers in the Pennsylvania coalmines whose struggle for better working conditions prompted the Labor Movement. There were also projections of John F. Kennedy because he was the first Irish Catholic president of the United States. For the record, he wasn’t the last. Even Barack Obama has some Irish blood in him!

In both acts, the lines are both self-deprecating and inspiring. “If you strike us down now, we shall rise again and renew the fight. You cannot conquer Ireland. You cannot extinguish the Irish passion for freedom." And “We are the music makers; we are the dreamers of dreams.” Then “We Irish are . . . a nation of brilliant failures” and “For all their wars are merry and all their songs are sad.”

Throughout the show, there are plenty of songs, some of which are familiar and some that will no doubt be new to people who aren’t Irish. The four performers (Jeff Raab, Joseph Torello, Hillary Ekwall, and Erin Margaret Williams) and music director Zachary Anderson, who also performs, make the songs seem spontaneous and fresh. Anderson’s delivery of “Danny Boy” was the most moving we’ve ever heard. All the performers also play at least one instrument, again naturally brought in when needed. Just one suggestion the ladies in the cast. Please speak slower and don’t overdo the Irish accent because at times it’s hard to understand. And to sound designer Jon Damast: it would be nice to reduce the sound so we can hear the performers better.

Diane Vanderkroef was back with the costume design evoking the 19th and 20th centuries. Sean Sanford created a warm Irish pub. Kimberly Slosek provided the props. Lou Ursone was stage manager (is there anything Lou can’t do on or off the stage?). Erin Margaret Williams brought in the traditional Irish dances for the cast. And Kevin Connors directed the show to perfection.

This show is a microcosm of the immigrant story, so it will appeal to everyone who descended from people who came from other countries thinking that the streets were paved in gold, only to find that “some of the streets weren’t paved” at all. Still, it’s uplifting and captures the spirit of the Irish.

Fun facts: Frank McCourt lived in Roxbury in his later years. After you see The Irish … and How They Got That Way, you can stream the movie The Molly Maguires.

Don’t miss The Irish … and How They Got That Way, which runs through March 22. The Music Theatre of Connecticut is located at 509  Westport Avenue (Route 1) in Norwalk. www.musictheatreofct.com Éirinn go Brách!

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