PREVIEW
Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash
July 20 to Aug. 11
Citadel Theatre
9828 101 A Ave., Edmonton
Tickets: Start at $30 plus fees. Call 780-425-1820 or visit citadeltheatre.com
Edmonton is a hotbed of country music and somehow it is perfectly fitting that Citadel Theatre’s next production is titled Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash.
This Broadway jukebox musical, running July 20 to Aug. 11, celebrates the Man in Black’s legacy as a biographical narrative and musical concert.
His post-war tunes came at a time when North America was finding its groove and it connected with folks of every spectrum. Cash himself was a contradiction in terms: a wild gentleman, a rustic poet, a saved singer, an American music hero and an everyman.
In looking back there are few singer-songwriters that loom as large as Cash. Both his life story and song catalogue are legendary.
“Johnny was quite a sophisticated composer. And that voice of his – that basso profundo made him special. And whether he did it consciously or not, he found a way to speak to people of all walks of life,” said music director Steven Greenfield.
On a personal level, Greenfield goes on to say, “He had special kinship with prisoners, especially people that spent many years in prison. He came from a farming family that was destroyed by the Depression and had to find their way back. He certainly didn’t come from a spoiled upbringing.”
Hey Porter, Folsom Prison Blues, Man in Black, A Boy Named Sue and Jackson are just a few of the 34 songs filling the jam-packed evening that provides a spotlight into Cash’s life.
The account of Cash’s life unfolds chronologically from growing up on an Arkansas cotton farm to his first releases with Sun Records to his performance at the Grand Ole Opry where he meets June Carter.
Act II follows the singer-songwriter’s raucous touring schedule and his addiction to potentially lethal cocktails of uppers, downers and alcohol that kept him performing up to 300 concerts a year.
The second act also covers his Folsom Prison Blues concert and his redemption as well as the end of Johnny and June’s life. While the narrative unfolds in sequential order, the music does not.
“The songs are pulled from every era and they don’t necessarily follow a chronological order,” said Greenfield.
Tracey Flye, who made her choreographing debut in Tin Pan Alley at St. Albert Children’s Theatre and now has credits in more than 140 international productions as a director, choreographer and actor, returns to her home turf to direct Ring of Fire.
Interpreting Cash’s life and music is a bold cast featuring Julien Arnold, Matt Blackie, Quinn Dooley, Lawrence Bibor, Jonas Shandel and Daniel Williston.
Richard Maltby Jr. created and directed the first Broadway production in 2006 Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre. A reconceived version introduced David Abbinanti’s additional arrangements.
“The complexity of Johnny’s music continues to inspire me. The biggest draw will be all those terrific songs. This is a portrait of a man’s life in his own words.”
