David Byrne writes Joan of Arc inspired musical

David Byrne’s second musical is set to open next spring. Image by livepict.com. Creative Commons

Former Talking Heads songwriter David Byrne’s second musical takes the story of the French heroine and saint as it’s inspiration

The Broadway debut of Here Lies Love came three years ago. Based on the life of the Philippines’ first lady Imelda Marcos, it was David Byrne’s maiden musical and saw the former Talking Heads songwriter working together with Fatboy Slim. Now Byrne has announced the topic of his second musical and this time round he’s tackling the life of Joan of Arc.

Explaining his reasons for choosing the French heroine as his inspiration, Byrne said Joan of Arc was: “someone—a nobody, a teenage girl—who inspired others to act, to overthrow their oppressors and take charge of their lives. She transforms from an innocent, into an androgynous warrior, and finally a martyr. Joan’s story is about the power of the individual to make a difference and (for me) the hubris and sometimes oversteps that often go along with that. In other words—it’s completely relevant.”

Byrne’s Joan of Arc inspired musical has been pencilled in to open next spring at the Public Theatre. It will have to go some way to match the success of its predecessor, with the original production of Here Lies Love winning five Lucille Lortel Awards and the London production nominated for three Oliviers.

David Byrne formed Talking Heads in 1975. The new-wave group went on to release eight studio albums before disbanding in 1991. Byrne has released nine solo albums, with his most recent, the St. Vincent collaboration Love This Giant, coming out in 2012.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.