"How did the immense talents behind ‘Here Lies Love’ come up with something so inert?...It’s as unswerving in its course as its heroine and just about as reverential…Mr. Byrne’s musical wit surfaces only in a calypso-beat number given to the tribunal...Basically, Joan’s character allows no room for the contradictions and idiosyncrasies of which convincing portraiture are made. She is unvaryingly, achingly sincere.”
Read more

“A monumental dud. Plodding, reverent and dramatically inert, it suggests a ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ stripped of wit, ambivalence and social commentary. Which is to say: Jesus Christ. The lean Jo Lampert, who plays Joan, has a robust voice and a compelling androgynous–kick-ass look, but the show gives her nothing to play but uninterrupted self-belief, rendered banally. Although the music is sometimes energetic, the libretto hardly ever lives up to it."
Read more

“Of the many problems besetting this disappointing rock oratorio, its implicit recommendation of a Catholic martyr as a model of current civic engagement is the most intractable…Byrne is a very talented composer, and Timbers an unusually imaginative director, but this story has defeated them...As Joan, Jo Lampert is a vocal powerhouse and fearless stage animal. It’s not her fault that the character as written is such an unplayable patchwork of clichés and ‘timely’ parallels.”
Read more

"It isn’t a fully successful theatrical experience, and the reasons why 'Joan of Arc' doesn’t quite come off are almost more interesting than the show itself. The most surprising thing about 'Joan of Arc' is its straightforwardness...Every song in 'Joan of Arc' consists of an endless string of four-bar phrases in four-four time...You find yourself longing after a half-hour or so for something to break the sameness...It simply didn’t involve me in the way that I wanted and expected."
Read more

“It’s spectacular, due chiefly to an electrifying performance in the title role by Jo Lampert, an actress of striking physical and vocal sinew…‘Joan of Arc: Into the Fire’ is serious in its contemplation of the mystical, the connection between belief and fate, and so it’s unsettling. It’s also very loud, very moody and as unsparingly bleak as its final, charred image."
Read more

"Running 95 minutes that feel much longer, this pop-rock biomusical about the 15th century French peasant-turned-leader's path to martyrdom is undercooked; it feels like a workshop that wasn’t ready for prime time. The storytelling is simplistic; the score, singsong; the choreography, boy-band-ish; the performances, self-conscious. That includes a hard-working but monochromatic Jo Lampert as future saint."
Read more

"Lampert is so conspicuously exotic, that it’s entertaining just to watch her wave her flag and model her sexy armor. The performer’s compelling stage presence and powerful alto help her survive ‘Joan of Arc’…All this stagecraft is ultimately undone by the limitations of the score. Every song seems to spring from the same martial air, and the lyrics wouldn’t tax the intelligence of an eight-year-old. Better to think of this as a fashion show of the prettiest armor you ever saw."
Read more

“A misguided alt-rock musical that reduces the crusade, persecution and death of the 15th century French heroine to a simplistic ‘Martyrdom for Dummies’ with a repetitious beat…The show boasts fabulous production values…It's the surprising lack of sophistication or emotional depth in the material that deflates expectations…The grit, commitment and gutsy vocals of Lampert can't inject emotional nuance into the baldly explanatory, episodic writing.”
Read more