A Two-Week Special Streaming Event
Irish Repertory Theatre presents
The Pat Moylan production
of
Angela’s Ashes: The Musical
Music and Lyrics by Adam Howell
Book by Paul Hurt
Based on the book by Frank McCourt
Starring Jacinta Whyte and Eoin Cannon
Directed by Thom Southerland
September 9 – September 22, 2021
★★★★ “Gorgeous vocals and superb staging” – The Stage
Angela’s Ashes: The Musical is a remarkable story, told with rare lyricism and a warm inimitable sense of humor as we follow Frank McCourt’s escapades and experiences in a Dickensian landscape peopled by a drunken father, a helpless mother, pompous priests, and bullying schoolmasters; money-lenders, dancing-teachers, and charity workers, culminating in his escape from grinding poverty to the redemption of a new life in America.
A haunting underscore with unforgettable tunes adds to the emotional impact and the humor of the story. Angela’s Ashes: The Musical has that rare gift of bringing an audience to tears one minute, laughing out loud the next – if ever a musical could be said to embody the ‘rollercoaster of emotion’, then Angela’s Ashes is that musical.
McCourt’s memoir of growing up in the ‘Lanes of Limerick’ was followed by a 1999 Alan Parker film. It is now being retold in a vibrant and memorable piece of musical theatre. Angela’s Ashes: The Musical will be available as a special on demand streaming event for two weeks only at a special price of $30.
Described by The New York Times as a “stunning memoir,” Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes was a literary sensation when it was published in 1996. The book climbed quickly to the top of that newspaper’s Bestseller lists and remained there for nearly three years, selling 4 million copies in hardback alone. Since then, the memoir has sold over 10 million copies worldwide and has become a phenomenon continuing to attract a global readership.
As well as a fixture on the bestseller lists on both sides of the Atlantic, the book won multiple accolades including the Pulitzer Prize and the US National Critics Circle Book Award in 1997, has been listed in The Guardian as one of the top 50 best-selling books of all time and has been translated into 126 languages.
The musical opened in Ireland in Summer 2017 to critical and public acclaim with the Belfast Telegraph praising “its ability to steer you from laughing hysterically to holding back tears” and the Sunday Business Post saying that “only the hardest of heartstrings could fail to be tugged”.
Special Thanks
Thanks to the Irish Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media for their support of this production, as well as a special thanks to the Howard Gilman Foundation for their support of our digital initiatives.
★★★★“Winning Performances…it radiates confidence” – The Irish Times
“…only the hardest of heartstrings could fail to be tugged.” – Sunday Business Post
“Pat Moylan’s ambition has resulted in what only can be described as a gift to fans of both theatre and literature” – Irish Post
