BWW Reviews: RING OF FIRE Lights Up Totem Pole Playhouse

There are certain singers who transcend their genres, and wind up being loved by people who normally profess to dislike certain kinds of music - Tony Bennett is one of those singers, a man known for standards of the Great American Songbook who was rediscovered by hipsters, and who currently has college students in his audiences, even in his eighties. Patsy Cline has long been adored by almost everyone. kd lang, she of the lower-case initials, is one of those universal singers. But the granddaddy of them all is undoubtedly the late Johnny Cash.

RING OF FIRE, the Johnny Cash Broadway bio-musical, is at Totem Pole Playhouse, where his music is re-created for audiences who may never of seen him, but they've definitely heard him - because you can't help hearing Johnny Cash around you. Unlike many of the bio-musicals, it's blessedly free of continual chronological detailing, and wisely lets the music tell the story rather than acting every decisive moment of Cash's life.

Jason Edwards, a member of the original Broadway cast of RING OF FIRE, stars as the older Johnny Cash as well as directing the production. Though it's said to be a bad idea for actors to direct themselves, Edwards acquits himself admirably on both counts here. Without aping Cash in a full-on impression, Edwards certainly carries on Cash's spirit, as well as his gravel-rough delivery. Johnny Kinnaird plays the younger Cash, with equal skill and with the experience of three years of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET behind him. The only thing missing is a Sears Silvertone acoustic, Cash's legendary first guitar.

June Carter Cash is portrayed by Trenna Barnes, a veteran of the show and a Nashville session singer, as the older June and by Allison Briner as the younger. They're also fine performers, though Barnes feels more like the June Carter Cash that most Cash fans will remember, from her voice right down to her costumes.

The backup musicians with the show are no slouches either; they're a stage band of Nashville session men, and it shows. Particularly fun is fiddler Brantley Kearns, who could simply hang on to the stage and keep fiddling for another half-hour or more if you're a fiddle or bluegrass fan; he's a former fiddler for Dwight Yoakum, Jim Stafford, and others including David Bromberg. Kearns, like the other band members, also fills in on ensemble vocals, as well as taking a couple of solos, and is a delight to have on stage. Bassist Tim Wolfe also delivers some memorable solo work, and reminds us why the upright bass will never be replaced completely by electric bass guitars.

"Daddy Sang Bass" not only features the whole ensemble singing, but the band cutting loose. It's worth the price of admission by itself. The first act closing is the title number, beginning with a marvelous vocal solo by Edwards and then expanding in participants. Barnes performs a lovely solo of "All Over Again," while there's a wonderful duet of "Going to Jackson." But the highlight of the show may be the production number of "I've Been Everywhere," with enough actors and musicians lined up with guitars to make you think of the Eagles' live performances of "Hotel California". Ten or more guitars lined up on Totem Pole's stage is a lot, and it's both overwhelming and amazing. It's also purely delightful.

If anything feels like it's missing from the show itself, aside from the Silvertone guitar, it's the songs and arrangements from Cash's famous "American Recordings" sessions with Rick Rubin ("Cash," the main product, with songs by Nick Lowe, Kris Krostofferson, and Glenn Danzig as well as by Cash, is ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 greatest albums of all time). If anything's weak in this production, it's simply that Briner doesn't seem to have the vocal familiarity with the music and the genres that the rest of the cast has.

James Fouchard, as usual, has the best sets in the area's professional theatre. Other area stages should take a few lessons from his work.

Playing through June 13 at Totem Pole Playhouse in Fayetteville. Tickets are available by calling 888-805-7056, or through www.totempoleplayhouse.org.

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