"Joan of Arc Into the Fire" a Musical by David Byrne is a Misfortunate Misfire

The Public Theater is famously & fortunately renown as the launching pad for Lin Manuel Miranda's groundbreaking musical sensation "Hamilton."  The odds of sparking another sure fire hit on par with this predecessor are rare, but arousing of temptation.  For Joseph Papps' Public Theater, the biopic "Joan of Arc," book, music & lyrics by David Byrne (b UK 1952) must have seemed like a bright idea on paper.  On stage, the production is a fiasco.  Byrne, leading singer/songwriter for "Talking Heads" (1975-19991) is an Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe winner & inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for song.  What could possibly go wrong?  Everything; including the unispired story, messy score, cluttered staging and stumbling choreography.  The battle scene between the French & British soldiers was cringeworthy.  The French soldiers faced the audience with their blue capes & fleur-de-lis emblems. brandishing their swords.  The same soldiers turned their backs on stage to attack their phantom selves as British fighters in black leather jackets with red diagnol crosses.  Joan of Arc (Jo Lambert, a young Alan Cummings doppelgänger) maintained her staunch position brandishing the French banner.  The play was a shoddy nod to Les Miserables with its flailing banners..  Lambert was lame in both her acting & singing.  I confess, she was also condemned by the misguided script which was soulless, shallow and silly.  The plotting relied heavily on the French & British determining whether Joan's hymen was intact.  The British Religious Dioscese did a campy number coercing Joan to confess.  This was completely out of step with the intended solemnity.  The musical's gravitas was never ablaze.  There were beacons of talent: a brilliant trumpet solo, excellent guitar playing and a terrific Terence Archie as Warwick with a resounding tenor.  The final number sung by Joan's mother (Mare Winnigham) seeking sainthood for her daughter "Send Her to Heaven" did not provide redemption.  It was the final coup de grace to a smoldering shambles.