Based on a book by Frank McCourt, the play featured an eclectic mix of Irish music ranging from the traditional "Danny Boy" to U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.
[2] The play combines primary documents, such as news, letters, photos, paintings, and journals, either in spoken words[3] or in projections upon the backdrops[4] to illustrate the Irish-American struggle over the prior 150 years.
[3][8] Broadway World summarized the play's reviews:[2][4][6][7][9][10]The Associated Press' Jennifer Farrar called The Irish… and How They Got That Way "pure enjoyment ... an exuberant, mostly Irish cast enacts McCourt's wide-ranging material that sizzles with outrage, wit, pride, and of course, sentiment."
For NY1, Time Out's David Cote proclaimed: "The cast of two men and four women put on a spirited, jaunty show by alternating singing, dancing and reciting with fluid ease in Charlotte Moore's brisk, affectionate staging."
In the New Yorker, Trish Deitch wrote "the production, directed by Charlotte Moore, is full of confidence and humor, and with the help of a talented cast, the Irish come out on top."