So I saw Ring of Fire last night. I actually didn't hate it.
I will say that I don't a know damn thing about Johnny Cash - Walk The Line is in the mail from Netflix right now - so I came into this relatively fresh. So while I can understand the gripes about the lightening up of the songs, hearing them for the first time, for the most part I was surprised just how hopeful and touching they were. Jarrod Emick was just superb as one of the showcase singers of Act One and is able to make all the songs sound really hearfelt. OK, I'll never get "Look at them beans!" out of my head ever again, but good for him for trying. Jeb Brown comes into his own in the second act, but I was never too won over by him. Jason Edwards is heartbreaking in Hurt, and manages to hold his own even when the 11 o'clock number comes off as awkwardly schmaltzy.
The three main women in the show were amazing as well, with powerhouse voices. One girl, Beth Malone, was great in her Broadway debut. Lari White is brilliant as well. The rest of the ensemble/band are just wonderful as well, my head and foot didn't stop bopping most of the night. They were really the highlight of the show. It just sounded amazing, orchestrations were exciting and uplifting. (Again, never really listened to his stuff before.) Lights were beautiful as well.
OK...so now the bad parts. The songs that translate well is maybe 60%. There are good portions of the show, especially in the beginning of the first act, and a good portion of act two, where while the songs sound great - at least in my mind - they just failed to connect. Or they just ran on way too long. Maybe making some of the number medleys would help? And while I got that they wanted to make stories out of the story-songs, and interesting idea, with a slim thread to help it along, not all of it worked. And some it treaded too far to what I understand to be Johnny's actual story - confusing the line between revue and biography. And some are just headscratchers - Five Feet High and Rising and that aforementioned song about the beans and the peas, for example - got way too "Broadway-ized" for their own good. The "prison" segment sorta runs away as well, and not in a good way. And the Grand Ol' Opry runs waaay too long for it's own good.
Also, the set. The woodwork looks fantastic! (When the show inevitably closes, I want to steal it for my flooring.) But the screens are probably the stupidest thing I've ever seen. I think they put more effort on Public Access graphics. Just horrible. Laughable and disappointing, especially considering who designed them - just throw him a couple more bucks to work with, would ya?!
As a revue of his music, it works for a good portion of it. As a Broadway musical, it's kinda pointless, and considering the source music, it's destined to fail. It'll make people like me want to find out more about Johnny and his music, but I can understand why so many people around me didn't care for it. When my head wasn't bopping, my eyes were glazing over, and overall I can't help but wonder how they expect this to work anywhere but as a touring revue. But for Broadway? The meat is there, but still it's really lean.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
Updated On: 3/1/06 at 09:45 PM
