Ring of Fire- Page 4

[BigGuy]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 12:23pm

I saw the show on Friday night, February 18. I received my ticket for free from a stranger passing by whose guest was a no-show. Most of the time, I've gone to jukebox musicals using services that paper the house -- free is a lot cheaper than the $3.00 (three dollars) I usually pay -- but psychologically it's about the same cost.

I liked the show.

Here's why.

This show has great singing and great music. The orchestrations are fresh. The singers are also the band, like in Sweeney Todd, and they are all talented. And, the sound is clear like a bell and not PUMPED UP IN VOLUME. Many, many shows are far too loud. This is the first time I've gone to a jukebox musical that I haven't needed to use my earplugs.

All the music is live; nothing's canned. Prerecorded music is all over Las Vegas, Branson, off off-Broadway, and dance performances. Live music is better.

30 songs or so are dramatized by well-lit costumed singers performing in front of changing backlit pictures. The show has a few sentences of voice over describing Johnny Cash's private and performing life, but assumes the audience is familiar with him. The songs selected and their placement in the show abstractly present his biography -- most are presented in chronological order.

I spoke with young people (20's) in the audience who were disappointed that there was no real story. Most said they liked the movie "Walk the Line" better. Older people (50+) thought the singing and instrument playing was really fine.

Even without a book to tie the songs together, it's far higher quality than a lot of cute off-broadway shows like, say, "Oil City Symphony", "Pumpboys and Dinettes", or "Johnny Guitar". It's not worth $106.25 for an orchestra seat ($100 seat, $1.25 required contribution for theater maintenance, and $5 ticketron charge), but it is worth $23 to $35 from TDF online. $55 from TKTS in Times Square would be steep. I'm real cheap, but I think at $40 or less, it's worthwhile to see.

The last Broadway musical I saw was the Harvey Fierstein/Rosie O'Donnel Fiddler for $38 from tdf online. I liked Ring of Fire a lot better. Also, compared to Cats, which seemed to be a non-book musical to me, it's much better music much better presented.

Updated On: 2/20/06 at 12:23 PM