Entertainment

A brawl made for lightweights

In the Irish hamlet of Innisfree, native son Sean Enright, the hero of the musical “Donnybrook!,” has the distinct feeling that he sticks out. And it’s not because he spent most of his life in Pittsburgh — or because he’s fallen in love at first sight with Mary Kate Danaher, and unwittingly antagonized her macho brother, Will.

The problem is that Sean, a former boxer, stopped using his fists after killing a man. And as quaint as his new neighbors seem in their tweed jackets and homey brogue, they crave a good donnybrook — Irish slang for a brawl.

“I’d love to see a donnybrook!” the blood-thirsty villagers sing. “A fine old-fashioned donnybrook!/Where brains will be battered/And backs hit the ground/And skin will be scattered/All around.”

Welcome home, Sean!

If this plot sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because “Donnybrook!” is the musical adaptation of the John Ford movie “The Quiet Man,” in which John Wayne played the reluctant slugger. Though the show flopped when it opened on Broadway in April 1961, it’s back at the Irish Repertory Theatre in an erratic but often charming production.

Its biggest asset is the combo of James Barbour (“A Tale of Two Cities”) and Jenny Powers (Rizzo in the last revival of “Grease”) as the lovebirds. Barbour has the requisite gentle strength and a baritone voice like buttery toffee. Powers could show more garrulous oomph in the book scenes — after all, Mary Kate’s described as having “the temper of Satan’s mother-in-law” — but she’s lovely in both the uptempo “Sez I” and the ballad “When Is Sometime?”

The supporting cast bolster them nicely, especially Terry Donnelly as a hangdog local, Sadie, and Kathy Fitzgerald as a headstrong wealthy widow, Kathy Carey.

One of the reasons “Donnybrook!” didn’t last long the first time around is its slight score — a rare attempt by lyricist Johnny Burke (“Pennies From Heaven,” among many hits) to also write music. This may explain why director Charlotte Moore replaced a couple of songs with “It Could Happen to You” and “But Beautiful” by Burke and composer Jimmy Van Heusen. Even with just a four-piece orchestra, they have a lush fullness that goes a long way toward distracting us from the book’s thinness and casual misogyny.