Cause it BURNS BURNS BURNS - that RING OF FIRE!

If you went in knowing and realizing that there was no plot and no concrete characters, you'd have enjoyed it a helluva lot more.

It's a "Musical Show" actually.

But yeah, you're not wrong about that Tribute Concert thing.

Did you at least demand a refund?

Updated On: 3/2/06 at 10:14 PM

keaton, I've only ever walked out on "Phantom..." at intermission and it had been my third time seeing it and I was insanely exhausted and falling asleep. I felt rude staying.

I normally don't approve either.

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Perhaps "Inishmore" will go in to the Barrymore instead, since it doesn't preview until 4/18?

But that's not quite true, is it?

I mean, the story-songs have little plots, but there's also an undeveloped sense that the three couples are Johnny and June (the way the main, focused-on couple gets older during the show, the identical costumes, and the biographical elements like the man in black song and the old woman dying and leaving the old man behind. I did not know anything about Johnny Cash before reading the playbill bio, so I'm not bringing any outside knowledge to this, but the fact that show contains elements that are very similar to the biography the playbill gives makes me suspicious). Also, the reoccurring (and nonsensical) line about riding that train gives the feeling that the show is supposed to add up to an arc.

Now, is there a story-story? No. But it I just don't agree that the show does not appear to be making some effort at including a meta story as well as the mini ones.
And it fails. Because we just can't figure out exactly what they're doing.

Would I have liked it if they had been more upfront about the show being a musical revue? Probably not, since I'm not wild about country music or revues. But would it have been easier to sit back and enjoy the music (which had its moments) without the distraction of wondering whether this couple is the same as the couple from the previous time these two actors sang together? Yes. Plus, it would save all the awkward fake-comraderie "acting" that went on in the background all the time.

I just think it's incorrect to say that they absolutely aren't trying to have a plot. I don't think they've even made that choice. I think they are and they aren't, and it's time to fish or cut bait.

what's a "meta story"?

Okay folks. I saw this in Buffalo before it transfered, and it was a thoroughly entertaining, enjoyable and at times very poignant show. I knew exactly what it was before I went, as I think most of the audience did as well.

The show is just not meant for Broadway. It's a fantastic show with a ton of heart, and though there's no plot per se, it's not void of any heart or literary texture. There's a great deal of value in this show, it just needs more room to grow and be appreciated. It's not meant for Broadway though, and in mounting it there, I fear it will fail (more than it sounds like it already has) and not be done anywhere regionally.

Just please, see it with an open heart, and an expectation to only be entertained. That's all it intends to do, and it does it very well.

Ben

I was there last night also. I went in knowing abslutely NOTHING about Johnny Cash or any of his music, and, frankly, I enjoyed it (although, I have to admit I didn't pay to see it). No, it did not make me a fan of his music, and I can't say I can hum a single melody from it. But what it did have were some great performers, having a great time (and sitting in the front row, I was able to see every moment). I also think that Richard Maltby is a great director. No, this show did not have a plot, but there were themes and small narratives present, allowing your imagination to fill the gaps. Some parts worked better than others, and the show was a little uneven in tempo, but his staging was always top-notch (and I actually enjoyed the choreography, after some truly awful stuff seen recently...color purple, woman in white) Why is it that he keeps choosing songwriters I have no clue about to create these kind of shows. Now if he created this type of musical out of, say, Ben Folds music...I'd be the first in line.

Maltby is a fantastic director once he's picked out his material. But when he's choosing his material, he doesn't know what the hell he's doing.

WALK THE LINE the musical/RING OF FIRE: The Musical Tale of Johnny Cash's Life or something to that affect would have been FAR more interesting and, possibly, insanely enjoyable.

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Mr Roxy, unless you're a HUGE Johnny Cash fan, I'd say don't bother.

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