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Jen Appell Productions
Show Information:
In the wake of 9/11, Jen Appell co-created the original rock musical Joan the Maid (now performed as Arc of Joan). Informed by the political and social climate, the production envisioned what Joan of Arc’s life would have looked like under the microscope of modern media, reality television and the national obsession with cult of personality. In this re-envisioned workshop/production of the song cycle enhanced with slick video elements, Jen Appell and The Saints perform a minimalistic version of the musical to examine the heroine’s path of discovery, power, loss and acceptance. Audience Q & A follows each performance.
Venue
Musical Theatre Heritage
2450 Grand Blvd #301,
Kansas City, MO 64108
Show Times
July 21 – Friday – 6:30pm
July 22 – Saturday – 11:00pm
July 23 – Sunday – 3:30pm
July 27 – Thursday – 9:30pm
July 28 – Friday – 8:00pm
July 29 – Saturday – 5:00pm
Category
Theatre
Music
Runtime
60 Minutes
Rating
Parental Guidance
Warning
Simulated Violence
Comments
9 responses to “Arc of Joan”
I was puzzled by the content of the songs, which seemed to have little to do with the story. There was no memorable melodic content or variety. For me, the show did not live up to the catalogue description.
Hey Stu! Thanks for your feedback. We’ve retooled the show a bit. If you’d like to check us out again, please email me at heyjen@jenappell.com. The ticket’s on me, of course 🙂
Sorry, but this show is an embarrassment. We expected a musical review of some kind about Joan of Arc, but instead it was a lady with a guitar singing songs, with a second singer, all of which were repetitive and of average quality. There was supposed to be some sort of video accompanying the songs, but it was very difficult to see, and the words of the video were projected over the actors, making the words impossible to read. Eventually they gave up on the video, but didn’t they think of checking this out beforehand? After awhile the video made an unwelcome reappearance which was just as bad. The singers tried to make up in volume for what the songs lacked in creativity. This is one to avoid.
First off, thank you for attending! We appreciate your opinion. And of course we strive to provide our audience with a great experience. Now, technical difficulties happen and of course we tested it out prior. But you were there for a doozie. Being a live performance, we have to roll with it. For us, there is a thrill in having to respond on the fly… sorry it didn’t work for you.
We attended the Arc of Joan performance this past week and were impressed by the the story line and performance of the two musical artists, Jen Appell and Kaelyn Alese Whitt. We are puzzled by an earlier comment questioning the story line and how it related to the performance. We were lucky in a very interesting way. There were some technical difficulties with the projection, so Jen Appell went off script and gave a narrative of Joan of Arc’ s life and tragic death by burning at the stake by her captors.
The music presented was impressive and took me back to when acoustical instrumentation and simple harmony by a talented duo shown like a diamond in the rough. The music was all original, the story line well presented, not to mention genuine to its very core.
I wish the two artists well in their pursuits and will be watching as their career continues.
I love the Joan of Arc story, so I was anxious to see this piece. The story moves along with the songs and all are related to the story. The projection was at times distracting but I liked how it helped to move the story forward. Both artists have remarkable voices. At the talk back you could see how passionte both women were about the music and the show.
Did you know when Joan was burned at the stake, when the fire had gone out and the ashes were cold, they found Joans heart, still beating.
Awesome show ! Thanks
Beautiful music and relevant lyrics. Jen’s passionate portrayal of Joan between songs was explanatory and moving. Kaelyn Alese Whitt demonstrated an exceptional and angelic voice. Kaelyn’s creation of harmonies were beautiful and perfect, sweet at times and powerful at others. The song, “We are not alone” brought me to tears and was exactly what I needed to hear at this time in my life. Wonderful show.
I saw Joan of Arc on opening night, the next Sunday, and the last show on Sat. July 29th. The show had a rough start due to technical problems, but enjoyed the music. The second night was MUCH better and enjoyed the verbal chat and comments by Jen Appell. Thoroughly enjoyed this evening. The tech issues were fixed and Jen verbally told Joan’s tragic story as it coordinated with her music. The harmonies were beautiful all 3 nights! St. Catherine’s (Kaelyn Alese Whitt) voice was angelic, powerful and beautiful! Although Joan of Arc’s story is 600 years old it is relevant today and needs to be told. An acoustic guitar was the only instrument played in this Fringe production, but I can imagine this show expanding being played as a full production. Thumbs up!?❤️
I see potential in this subject matter. The vocals were great but the show was very tedious. The film projections were confusing and distracting rather then a complement to the music. I wouldn’t give the show a thumbs down but left it puzzled.