Joan of Arc a Musical © Paxkom L

Reviews

Bucks Free Press: "An extraordinary event" Read More>

Amazing show last week. Everyone is raving about it. Ian and Alison Branch

"Woooow Joan of Arc was amazing!!! Jean Lucas

Yesterday’s performance of your musical was absolutely brilliant and we hope you feel truly elated by all the feedback, though appreciate you must be shattered, along with the very talented cast. Your dream and all your hard work came together in a magnificent show which we thoroughly enjoyed. Miriam & Charles Jones

I just wanted to say well done once again on your fantastic production of Joan of Arc. I think it's absolutely amazing to have had such a challenging idea and to have seen it through to achieve such an impressive result - VERY many congratulations. Prudence Sharp

Thank you both for the evening, we came on Friday. My wife and I were thrilled with the words, music and the whole production. The singing was good, excellent casting. A big thank you for all the

cast who made it come alive. I hope this is not the end of this Musical, and more people have the chance to see it. Sue & Roy Harris.

I thought the production of Joan of Arc at All Saints' Church, High Wycombe was fantastic! So professional on every front and the

voices were wonderful - especially Joan and the Angel 'Voice'. I was thrilled that there was a clear Christian message in the production

and I hope and pray this will reach a wider audience in the years to come. Many congratulations! Anne Bustin

Hearty congratulations to all concerned for a fantastic

show - I enjoyed it all ! The performances were all

very professional and the Daulphin for me provided

the strongest performance. His voice was always clear

and his manner portrayed the character of the

Dauphin well. The CD will provide hours of enjoyment

- not least because of the immense detail contained in

your lyrics. Thank you for a great evening.

Paddy Gallaugher

What an excellent production! Steve Oram

Congratulations on an absolutely brilliant show. The bar has been raised once again and this was on a par with a west

end production. Sarah was brilliant as Joan but I personally appreciated the quality of "the voice" James Valentine. A tingle ran down my spine each time he sang. It was significant that when Joan did not listen to "the voice" things went dramatically wrong but still God did not reject her and when she turned to Him once more He was there. What a message that when God is listened to, there is victory.

Kate Gutteridge

From the very first moment we were totally absorbed in the electrifying interpretation of the unfolding history. It was a master stroke to

start with the 'end', as it were, of the story; the heart-rending cry of the Maid to Jesus as she died in the fire shocked us into attention.

It made the repetition at the end even more shocking, even though we knew what it was going to be. Every aspect of the performance was outstanding; the production, the music, the glorious singing and the perfect setting of All Saints Church held us spellbound throughout. All the costumes and properties had obviously been the subject of much thought and care and did not distract attention from the action. Peter and Daphne Merriman.

I thought the show was fantastic! I loved the set up, the costume and sound effects. The start was great - with a thrilling execution before going back to the 'beginning'. I would certainly see another musical like this one! Jenny Boctor

It really was a brilliant production and all credit to Bob and Mark for your collaboration bringing together a very professional musical. I really feel that you can't stop there but take it to other venues that are equally spectacular. Margaret Watts

The whole performance was great - the setting in the Church, the singing, music, acting and costumes. A really professional production. I bought the CD so have been able to enjoy the music since - not the same of course as seeing a live production

but an enjoyable re-living of the experience. What an incredible amount of work!! When the burning of Joan at the stake was re-enacted

at the end I felt quite emotional and moved. Sheila

I was so glad I got to see Joan of Arc and could have easily watched it several times over the lyrics were so rich. I thought the story

was told with both power and sensitivity. Rachael Corke

I just wanted you to know that I thoroughly enjoyed

the performance of J of A, as did my partner and my

sister who I took along with me. The production was

superb and I truly believe that this is a show that has

so much potential and deserves a much wider audience.

The music and words were so atmospheric and moving

and everyone who gave their time should be warmly

praised. The tunes were very memorable and throughout

the following few days I have been singing some of the

tunes to myself. Brilliant to put it on in such a lovely

church. I was really pleased and surprised at how good

the show was and I really felt it was more than value

for money. If I saw that it was running again I would

certainly go and drag along many others, I have spent

this week raving about it to my friends and colleagues.

Well done and thank you. Sally Slade

I want to add my appreciation to the many you’ve

received and say what a brilliant, professional production

it was. I thought particularly inspired was the location

which added so much to the atmosphere and the

staging which brought a real intimacy to the whole story. Soobie Whitfield

Joan of Arc was amazing and very moving - so pleased to have been able to see it and most impressed with the work that went

into producing such a polished production. Linda Scott

I really loved this musical and came out singing several of the songs which have been re-enforced by listening over and over to the CD.

I hope for all our sakes it becomes the 2010 musical that goes into all the schools, like Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat. What

I liked so much was the telling of history to a largely uneducated bunch of people ~ I heard one person at the interval asking whether it

was set in England ~ and who was the Dauphin. I loved the monks singing Pater Noster, and the church lent itself very well to the story.

I though the Angel was gorgeous ~ that deep deep voice, singing "Joan can you hear me"? I would love to see it performed in France

~ perhaps Rheims cathedral! Please can I come! Pity that I am just a punter and cannot pull strings with Andrew Lloyd Webber. But

there must be other people who could take it forward. Many congratulations on a superb event. Diana Hutchinson.

Wow! What a fantastic show! Sam, Hannah and I had a great time and were completely overwhelmed by the music, acting and drama!!!

Job well done. Edmund Cartwright

I just wanted to say a big thank you for the performance my girlfriend Chris and I watched last night - what a fantastic show! The venue for the show was inspired as it instilled a wonderful feel of history and foreboding even before the lights dimmed. From the opening moments the story was captivating and the music was beautifully written and produced to reflect what we were watching. I bought a copy afterwards and will look forward to listening to it over the weekend. The acting and singing by the entire cast was of the highest quality and I hope this show goes on to bigger things - it certainly deserves to. The story and music are worthy of a West End setting and I'd certainly pay West End prices to come and see a show of such quality. All the best and I hope

your remaining 3 performances are as good as last night's. Chris Williams

We went to the Saturday night performance - it was amazing. Wonderful music - great acting - lovely vocals, particularly from the soloists - stunning special effects. The church acoustics obviously added to the atmosphere but I am sure it would work just as well on a stage where a larger cast would negate the necessity of boosting the sound with the earlier recording. We had not known what to expect and it was dramatic, stirring and moving - a wholly uplifting evening. Well done to all concerned. Anne-Marie Watts

Just to say we thoroughly enjoyed the performance on Friday evening. The venue was absolutely perfect and the whole experience was

both wonderful and very moving. The atmosphere was magical and it felt as if we were a part of the story, witnessing the events as

they unfolded. Our congratulations to you all, a superb evening. Bob, Barbara, Catherine and Callum Bryant

The show was excellent and the church really lent itself to the production. I don't think there was a weak link in the cast, and by no

means would you discredit yourself if it were presented on a London stage. I do pray that that may become a reality as there would be

so much more potential to explore as/when the resources come in to enable you to do that. Think you should consider

approaching relevant sources for funding - give old Lloyd Webber a call! Even TV companies? Well done to Mark and Bob as

visionaries, and to the whole front/backstage team - tremendous! Barbara Pavey

I thought your musical was excellent - the words and

music, the lighting, the sound, the special effects, the

props and costumes and all "the back stage" boys and

girls, front of house and the singing and acting all made for

an enjoyable evening. If you did put on this performance

again and if this suggestion is possible could you perform

to the sides towards the back a little more as these

seats missed out on the actions and facial

expressions, maybe one of the "burning at the stake"

scenes could be done facing the other way? I hope you

do not take this as criticism but as a suggestion

because this performance was worthy of a West End

Theatre. Ann Dunn

It was fabulous and James really enjoyed himself.

I can’t believe you did so much in such a short time scale.

I really think this show could go much further – you need

to get it in front of the right people… Sue Dexter

Just wanted to say that we all really enjoyed the Joan of

Arc performance on Friday evening. The standard of

the show was stunning - it was hard to believe that the

cast are all amateurs. We heard other people around us saying similar remarks. When the show finished Sarah and I turned to each

other and said words like "incredible, amazing, wonderful". Sarah Coope is a seriously talented singer and actor - her voice made the

hairs on the back of my neck stand up! She should be in professional theatre. We bought the CD and will be listening to it many times

I'm sure. Our thanks go to all the cast and crew for a fantastic evening's entertainment. We look forward to the next production!

George, Sarah, Andrew & James Piggin

Congratulations.........I could not stop talking about it and telling people. The setting was great, I wondered what it would be like in a

church and it just worked so very well. The moment I walked in the atmosphere was there. I felt I had stepped back in time . The

opening scene sent shudders down my spine in a lovely way! (for want of better words) The cast just bought it so alive that I felt I was

really there as a bystander. The singing was clear and the cast actually sang to the people with such expressions and as for those

angels they really were angels, I can still hear James Valentine's voice. The whole production held me spellbound. I did buy the CD

but would have loved it more had it been a DVD!! I have no criticism to give you only I wish it had been performed for more days and that

I could have got another ticket to see it again. I knew nothing about this performance or heard of your group, it was by chance the previous week I picked up the advert at the Fourways Production. Thank you so very much for such an enjoyable evening. J Connors

My wife and I came to see the show on Saturday evening. We had been given the tickets by friends who were no longer able to go and we were not sure what to expect but it was a free night out and we were not doing anything else......I have to say that we absolutely loved it. We should have arrived earlier to get decent seats as we ended up in the seat that were behind the rows at the side of the stage but even so, the view of the stage was surprisingly good and the quality of the sound was excellent. The storyline, song lyrics, music, acting (Joan, the Narrator and the Dauphin in particular) was of a much higher quality than we were expecting. In fact we were at the Wycombe Swan just last night and, having paid almost three times the cost of the Joan tickets we were no more impressed with the quality of the performance there! Andrew & Bev Nealon

Spent much of Saturday trying to learn a slightly unmemorable new worship song. By contrast, I can remember half the JofA songs after

one hearing! It was a superb show. I thought the venue was perfect, stage management was excellent, vocalists superb. Well done all

of you. A really great event, and better than anything I've seen in local theatres in a while. M Cart

I attended the matinee performance today with our son and was blown away by the show. I was moved and I noticed others were too.

This is a first class production, the costumes fantastic and the cast all just amazing. I sat with some friends from Martin's office and we all

agreed this is good enough to go to the West End. I was also very personally struck about the whole thing of God's calling on each of

our lives and how easy it is to miss it. I believe we can do the impossible if we lean more on God (I speak for myself) but how often do I

put myself in such a vulnerable position? At church recently we have been exploring 'finding our voice' and this musical is just so apt for

this time for us in this regard. I have no doubt that it has already spoken to many within the Church and outside. There is a fire of God to

be caught by all from this production and I pray that God will bless it ever so more abundantly than He has already done so.

Iwona Batterberry