Ring of Fire at American Stage

ST PETERSBURG — American Stage recently kicked off its mainstage season with Ring of Fire, a musical based on the life and songs of American icon Johnny Cash.

Ring of Fire was part of the revival of Broadway “jukebox musicals” that exploded in the early aughts with smash hits like Mama Mia (ABBA) and Movin’ Out (Billy Joel). Debuting on Broadway in 2006, it ran for 58 shows to mixed reviews. Million Dollar Quartet, a musical portraying the early Sun recording sessions involving Cash, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins, did much better a few years later.

Jukebox musicals differ from traditional musicals in that they use established music, increasingly sourced from one band or artist who becomes the center of a story told primarily through their songs via performance rather than dialog or a diegetic manner.

In full disclosure, I am a big Johnny Cash fan, having listened to the Man in Black regularly since I was five, and my truck-driving maternal grandfather would hand me down his eight-track tapes after he’d tired of endless plays on his long haul jaunts. As a result, I still love Elvis and Jerry Lee and listen to a lot of Waylon, Willie, and Merle, but Cash remains king.

Troy Brooks and Morgan Tapp. Photo by Chaz D. Photography

In other words, I’m the target audience, and, in my opinion, American Stage knocked it out of the park. Perhaps 2006—not quite three years after Cash’s passing—was not the best time for its initial run. He was doing phenomenal work with Rick Rubin during the ‘90s with the American Recordings, exposing him to a new generation of music lovers. Still, nostalgia for his earlier catalog didn't go mainstream until the film biopic Walk the Line hit (around the same time Ring of Fire was on Broadway).

Ring of Fire includes dozens of Cash classics, including the title track, Daddy Sang Bass, Folsom Prison Blues, Country Boy, Five Feet High and Rising, I Walk the Line, I've Been Everywhere, and The Man in Black. The big surprise for me was the inclusion of Hurt, a Nine Inch Nails Cover produced by Rick Rubin that served as the icon’s final hit.

Mikhail Roberts and Kara Arena. Photo by Chaz D. Photography

As with any jukebox musical, the musicians make or break the show, and American Stage has assembled a crack cast that can burn down a stage. Mikhail Roberts personifies Cash’s tortured soul singing while nailing the physical language in his strumming and stage play. Kara Arena’s beautiful voice is perfect for the June Carter Cash parts, while Morgan Tapp’s fiddle is the icing on the cake.

Tristan Braboy’s solid guitar work, Troy Brooks’ crack percussion and bass, and Max Dalton’s swing round out the stellar cast. Steven Mitchell’s rustic set makes for the perfect backdrop and is well-matched by Alexa Cassandra Duimstra’s costumes.

Directed by Helen R. Murray, Ring of Fire runs through Oct. 20. Click here for schedule and ticket information.