Ring of Fire: The Life and Music of Johnny Cash at Flat Rock Playhouse
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into Flat Rock Playhouse’s opening night of Ring of Fire: The Life and Music of Johnny Cash. As a first-timer at the theater, I will say that I’m actually a fan of its distinct on-site parking layout, but that just could be because we arrived an hour early. (Yes, I am chronically early to everything). I also hadn’t done much digging into the history of playwright Richard Maltby, Jr.’s musical before heading into the Village of Flat Rock, but as someone who grew up in a country music family, the legacy of Johnny Cash is something that just gets brought up at holiday dinners on the regular.
Luke Darnell does a great job conveying the emotion in many of the Man in Black’s songs. He doesn’t try to emulate Cash’s voice or swagger, but instead plays him as the humble man Cash was with a perfect balance of relatability and theatricality. Truly, the entire small ensemble (Chris Blisset, Brian Russell Carey, Elizabeth Nestlerode, and Marcy McGuigan) is impressive, as they all perform the instruments that accompany the songs while moving props around the stage while remaining in character. And I did appreciate the simple set, with the projected backgrounds to show movement from Arkansas to Memphis to the set of The Johnny Cash Show.
The costuming by Ashli Crump is top notch for the majority of the performance, with the dresses worn by Nestlerode’s June looking almost identical to ones worn by the real June Carter Cash. However, the clothing donned at the beginning of the performance, during Johnny’s recollection of his early life in Arkansas, is a bit jarring as the Cash family is supposed to be super poor, and yet the clothes are all nice casual wear.
The play deftly handles the death of Johnny’s brother, Jack (Carey), giving it the reverence that such a pivotal point in Cash’s life demands. But the rest of his life story is heavily sanitized. His first wife, Vivien, is barely mentioned outside of McGuigan’s performance of “Cry, Cry, Cry,” and Cash’s addiction struggles are glossed over, despite being a major part of his life.
The storytelling may be a bit suspect, but if you want to sit back and enjoy the music of Johnny Cash from impressive singers and musicians, Ring of Fire is worth the drive. However, if you want a more in-depth look at his life, warts and all, just rewatch Walk the Line.
Ring of Fire: The Life and Music of Johnny Cash runs through Saturday, May 6. For details and tickets, visit FlatRockPlayhouse.org.
(Photo by Treadshots)
