Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 facts you need to know about unorthodox Johnny Cash musical Ring of Fire
Arts Club Theatre Company stages production that pays homage to late American artist’s iconic songs, from “I Walk the Line” to “Folsom Prison Blues”
Johnny Cash plays a concert in Bremen, Germany, 1972. Photo by Heinrich Klaffs
Arts Club Theatre Company presents Ring of Fire at the Granville Island Stage from June 20 to August 11
“HELLO, I’M JOHNNY CASH”: The Arts Club Theatre Company is bringing the music of enduring American country star Johnny Cash to life this summer, from his bass-baritone croons to his chugging guitar rhythms.
Born in 1932 in Kingsland, Arkansas, Cash came up on the rockabilly scene of Memphis, Tennessee in the ’50s after returning from Air Force service. Over the course of his decades-long career, he released close to 100 albums, sold over 90 million records globally, and made a rebellious habit of playing free prison concerts.
The original Broadway production of Ring of Fire was created by Richard Maltby, Jr. and conceived by William Meade, with orchestrations by Steven Bishop and Jeff Lisenby. At the Arts Club Theatre Company’s Granville Island Stage from June 20 to August 11, director Rachel Peake and musical director Steven Charles will lead a refined, tighter version of the show.
Matinee performances will run on Wednesdays at 1:30 pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm, while evening shows will be hosted at 7:30 pm from Tuesdays through Thursdays and 8 pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
In honour of Ring of Fire’s Vancouver debut, here are five facts that provide some context to its unique formatting and history.
Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash digital album cover.
Getting rights was the hard part
Before his death in 2003, many people approached Cash with the hopes of making a musical about him—but the Man in Black wouldn’t give away his rights to just anybody. When William Meade pitched him the concept of creating a musical, he eventually sold him on the premise that it wouldn’t be any regular dramatization. Rather than taking on the normal qualities of a biographical show, jukebox musical, or simple concert, the production is most comparable to a book musical (without the book), with songs strung together by theatrical elements instead of dialogue.
The original director went on a discography deep-dive
When Meade enlisted Tony Award-winning theatremaker Richard Maltby, Jr. to create and direct the musical he had in mind, Maltby, Jr.’s first task was to open his mind and perk up his ears. Slowly but surely, he read and listened his way through a two-foot-tall stack of books and CDs, quickly coming to the conclusion that it would be near-impossible to duplicate Cash’s voice and stage presence properly. The pair decided to hone in on the themes and qualities that defined the country artist’s life and landscape: soul-searching, the American heartland, religious faith, poverty-stricken surroundings, a woman’s love, musical journeys, and the feeling of returning home.
Performers alternate perspectives
A total of six singers and musicians will take to the stage during the show, all playing their own instruments: Devon Busswood, Frankie Cottrell, Daniel Deorksen, Tainui Kuru, Patrick Metzger, and Caitriona Murphy. No one specific artist plays the role of Cash for the entire musical. Instead, the performers are divided into three era-spanning couples: young, middle-aged, and old. The musicians explore his biography by playing a selection of more than 20 songs from his massive recording archive, including “I Walk the Line”, “Folsom Prison Blues”, “Country Boy”, and “A Boy Named Sue”.
Johnny Cash (left) and wife June Carter Cash.
“Ring of Fire” catapulted Cash to long-term success
The musical is aptly named after “Ring of Fire”, a rhythmic ode to passionate love and one of Cash’s most popular singles. He released it on LP for the first time through his 16th album, Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash, which came out in 1963. The song topped the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in the U.S. for seven weeks straight, was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America when it had sold more than 500,000 units by 2010, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Interestingly, Cash didn’t write the track himself; it’s credited to Merle Kilgore and June Carter Cash, who would later become Cash’s second wife.
The musical premiered after Cash’s death
Ring of Fire opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in March 2006, three years after Cash passed away due to complications from diabetes. It’s now 17 years later, and Rachel Peake is directing the enduring audience favourite at the Arts Club Theatre Company’s Granville Island Stage. For audience members hoping to learn more about the show from the cast and crew, a Talkback Tuesday performance will take place on July 9 at 7:30 pm.
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