David Byrne details his upcoming Joan of Arc musical (tickets on sale)
David Byrne‘s new musical, Joan of Arc: Into the Fire, begins its run at NYC’s Public Theater on February 14 and runs through April 15. Tickets are on sale now.
Here’s what David has to say about his new work:
I started collecting pictures of Grimes, Madonna, Kate Bush, Sinèad O’Connor, on and on—popular musicians are obsessed with her. This trend inspired the premise for the show: a pop star decides to give in to the Joan obsession and tell her epic story in concert.
Early on I played a few of the songs for director Alex Timbers. I wasn’t pitching the project yet, but Alex said “I really like these—they might be better than Here Lies Love.” He might have been flattering me, but eventually I did ask him, “Alex, do you want to work on this together?”
Joan of Arc: Into the Fire stars Jo Lampert, a touring member of tUnE-yArDs, in the lead. Read David Byrne’s whole statement on Joan of Arc: Into the Fire below.
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DAVID BYRNE ON ‘JOAN OF ARC: INTO THE FIRE’
A few years ago I began writing a new musical (the first one was Here Lies Love, about Imelda Marcos). This one is about Joan of Arc, the teenage warrior who reinvigorated a disheartened army, and whose martyrdom led to the liberation of France from almost 100 years of English rule.
My friends at the Webb Gallery in Waxahatchie, TX sent me the picture above of this tattoo by Jackie Dunn Smith. Obviously, Joan continues to resonate. Her imagery pops up everywhere.
I started collecting pictures of Grimes, Madonna, Kate Bush, Sinèad O’Connor, on and on—popular musicians are obsessed with her. This trend inspired the premise for the show: a pop star decides to give in to the Joan obsession and tell her epic story in concert.
Early on I played a few of the songs for director Alex Timbers. I wasn’t pitching the project yet, but Alex said “I really like these—they might be better than Here Lies Love.” He might have been flattering me, but eventually I did ask him, “Alex, do you want to work on this together?”
The Public Theater came on board after Oskar Eustis heard the material. A huge thanks to them for once again giving a project of mine a home. Another huge thanks goes out to our producer Hal Luftig for sharing in the vision of this show. We’ve had some amazing workshops… some songs were cut, some were tweaked and new ones written. It’s a process getting songs to tell a story clearly.
Previews (which means we’re still making changes) begin on Valentine’s Day. The show officially opens a month later on March 15.
David Byrne
NYC
