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08/25/2022 12:00 AMJohnny Cash’s music and life seem surprisingly relevant in today’s world. The production of Ring of Fire–the Music of Johnny Cash, now at Ivoryton Playhouse through Sunday, Sept. 11, lets us see the connections without polemics.
Yes, this is a jukebox, bio-musical, a genre that is often put down and sometimes rightly so.
But this time, it works. It left me with a better understanding of the man and more admiration for him. I also had a great time listening to the songs.
Originally conceived by William Meade and created by Richard Maltby, Jr., in 2005, the show had a brief Broadway run.
Ironically this show was at Ivoryton in 2012 only to have its run shortened due to Hurricane Irene. Then it was scheduled for the years of COVID. Finally, it has made it back.
You start with a multi-talented cast of seven: five men and two women. They sing, they act, and they play multiple instruments. Everything from standard guitars to bass, drums, country fiddles, autoharp, banjos,and more.
Though no one cast member plays Cash exclusively, David M. Lutken and Sam Sherwood perform more of the Cash songs. The show features more than 28 songs.
The basic outline is Cash’s life. Growing up dirt poor in Arkansas, the family struggled to have enough food; all the children worked picking cotton from a young age. Singing helped the work go by. Cash later enlisted in the Air Force and after being discharged as a staff sergeant, went to Memphis to pursue his dream. (If you have seen Million Dollar Quartet, you know that he was signed by Sun Records.)
As we go through the ups and downs of his life–a failed first marriage, falling in love with June Carter, amphetamine addiction, and other things–through his music we never forget his Gospel traditions.
Cash is so associated in people’s minds with his prison concerts and the hit song “Folsom Prison Blues,” that people assume he had a jail record. In reality, he was only jailed once (according to the show) in a local jail for a bar disturbance.
Cully Long has created a scenic design featuring a weathered house with a porch and fencing. It can suggest multiple locations and areas. The costumes by Elizabeth Saylor fit right in with the poverty of the area and later the Grand Ole Opry’s stage.
Sam Sherwood, who often portrays Cash, easily suggests his looks, mannerisms, and voice. It is not an imitation but a suggestion of the man. Musical director, and Ivoryton Playhouse favorite, David M. Lutken plays the older Cash as well as his father. His lean looks and craggy face, at one point I imagined him playing Abraham Lincoln, are well suited for the stern father and the mature Cash.
Leenya Rideout and Brittany Brook handle all the female roles, including Cash’s mother, his early girlfriend, his first wife Vivian, and June Carter. They also sing backup and play instruments. Rideout is a terrific country fiddler. Brook handles “There You Go” and “I Still Miss Someone” well. Rideout shines in “While I Got It in My Mind” and “Far Side Banks of Jordan,”
The others, including Morgan Morse, Nygel D. Robinson and Spiff Wiegand, fill in a wide variety of roles. Wiegand has the lead in “Egg Suckin’ Dog” and he finds all the humor in the show.
The lyrics of the Cash hits stood out for me in this production. He may not have written all of them, but many seem to reflect a social conscience that recognized his good fortune. The lyrics of “Man in Black,” which was written by Cash, make that clear. After multiple verses describing those for whom he wears black, including the old and lonely, the poor, the sick, the prisoners and more, he ends with these lines: “Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day/And tell the world that everything's okay/But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back/'Til things are brighter, I'm the man in black “
For tickets, visit IvorytonPlayhouse.org.