Ring of Fire Reviews- Page 3

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 12:20am

Variety is Mixed-to- Negative:

"Call it a Lawrence Welk Grand Ole Opry special or a non-ursine version of the Country Bears Jamboree, it's easy to throw water on "Ring of Fire." But that would be unjustly dismissive of the committed performers onstage, who sing and play the hell out of an eclectic selection from the Johnny Cash songbook in this spirited tribute revue. The show's biggest problem is not its thin concept or overstretched length but its incongruousness on Broadway. It's as if a twister had lifted the production out of some red state cornfield and plunked it down on unwelcoming 47th Street.

Will it play in New York? Probably not. Its reliance on Michael Clark's literal-minded projections to create atmosphere -- homey interiors, barrooms, railroad tracks, bland calendar vistas of farmland and countryside -- make this a decidedly low-tech offering for a $100 ticket.

But while the enthusiastic reception to the musical's tryout in Buffalo last fall may have encouraged producers prematurely to bypass the planned second stop in San Francisco and burn a trail to Gotham, Broadway branding stands to bolster its prospects as a touring vehicle, especially in the heartland.

Regardless of where it ends up playing, "Ring of Fire" will appeal more to Cash's traditional country fan base than to the hipsters who embraced his music either late in his career or posthumously, when the scope of his influence and his contribution to American music across several genres had become abundantly clear."



http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117929922?categoryid=1265&cs=1

Updated On: 3/13/06 at 12:20 AM

[Princeton78]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 12:26am

To jump on what Margo said about "Ain't Misbehavin'", I found it to be one of the most entertaining shows i've ever seen. Revues should take their cues from it.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 12:49am

I say this show close by Easter(April 16).

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 12:56am

Theatremania is Mixed (but unclear):

"But the six focal singers, seizing every acting opportunity that the pithy ditties provide, are not the only ones here bursting with talent. All 14 members of the troupe play instruments -- and only some of them are the band members. The second act opens with all 14 working guitars in "I've Been Everywhere." Multi-talents like Randy Redd, often found at one of the two onstage keyboards, also get a go at the center-stage spotlight. The entire cast two-steps and line-dances to Lisa Shriver's choreography, though the staging of both the title tune and I Walk the Line is disappointing.

It might be easy to dismiss this show as yet another "jukebox musical," but since Maltby is involved, maybe that term needs reexamination. After all, it could be said that it was Maltby, creator and director of Ain't Misbehavin' (1978 ), who's responsible for setting so many of the more recent theatrical catalogue studies in motion. Back then, such shows were called revues -- a genre that Broadway supposedly welcomes no longer. "Revue" is also a word that Maltby says he dislikes because it connotes a collection of songs performed in a non-theatrical style. The truth is that most of these musicals, no matter what they're termed, are simply cashing in on the popularity of the material. The only thing that distinguishes Ring of Fire from the rest of the mediocre pack is that it's literally Cash-ing in."

http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/7826

Updated On: 3/13/06 at 12:56 AM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 2:33am

Newark Star-Ledger is a Rave:

"Perhaps the most daring of them all -- at least in terms of content -- is Maltby's latest show, "Ring of Fire," which opened yesterday at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

For in this case, the writer-director smartly crafts a new Broadway attraction from the wonderful country music material linked to the great Johnny Cash -- a legend who rarely set a boot anywhere near Times Square. It's debatable, too, whether fans of Cash's songs are Broadway frequenters, just as folks who adore musicals are unlikely to go in for the Grand Old Opry. (Still, that didn't concern Hollywood when it came out with "Walk the Line.")

But, hey, a good show's a good show, whether it's staged on Broadway or in Branson, Mo., and the expertly produced "Ring of Fire" proves to be a happy entertainment.
____________________________________________________________

Making terrific use of a 14-member ensemble, all of whom handle instruments, Maltby partners certain players off. Jarrod Emick and Beth Malone tend to represent the more ardent sort of sweethearts. Jeb Brown and Lari White register as a raffish duo. Jason Edwards and Cass Morgan depict mature souls whose snowier heads scarcely mean there's no fire down below. Whether performing as individuals or in various assemblies, the leads and their colleagues are all good-looking, immensely talented people who rustle up these sterling songs to exhilarating life.

Spare yet handsome design, airy dances and a genuine atmosphere of celebration help to make "Ring of Fire" shine brightly. It's sure as heck not your typical Broadway entertainment -- and isn't that a "Ring" worth grabbing?"

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/ledger/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/114222897480440.xml&coll=1

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 8:32am

I guess all the REALLY bad reviews get to come from those of us who saw the show. The critics seemed to think it was MUCH better than we did.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 10:32am

Newsday is Mixed:

"When you think Johnny Cash, do you think spangles? Do you think ham bone and hoedown, aw-shucks smiles and down-home spunk? If you like your country music slick and shiny, "Ring of Fire," the sparkling new Broadway revue inspired by Cash's song catalogue, may be just the toe-tapping, clap-along hootenanny for you.

If, on the other hand, you appreciate the darker strains that gave even Cash's corniest novelty songs an inimitable, lived-in texture - you've wandered into the wrong barn dance, partner. No mistake, director-creator Richard Maltby Jr. has done a masterful job shaping a good-time anthology from tunes written or made famous by the black-clad Arkansas troubadour with the voice-of-God baritone. And Maltby hasn't flinched from Cash's outlaw narratives or abject Christian laments so much as he's sewn them into the show's warming quilt of generic Americana.
_______________________________________________________________

But the quandary that nags every jukebox musical comes into sharp focus here: Do these songs live onstage? Cash stood stone-still and delivered them with the voice of a man who had hit bottom and lived to tell. The gravity-free "Ring of Fire" not only doesn't sound those low notes; it uses what might be called a karaoke-video aesthetic to illustrate the songs with a reductive literalness.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/printedition/ny-etring4660386mar13,0,5502971.story


The Post is Negative:

"JOHNNY Cash ain't misbehavin' - and that ain't good.

"Ring of Fire," the new musical that opened last night at the Ethel Barrymore, was presumably intended to do for the Man in Black what the 1987 hit "Ain't Misbehavin' " did for Fats Waller.

Broadway theatergoers whose only acquaintance with the Grand Ole Opry comes from Robert Altman's "Nashville" might well be wary of walking this particular line, even if they love Cash's music as much as I do. It might seem like a country mile."

http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/63040.htm

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 10:45am

So who's starting the petition for a cast recording?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 10:49am

Well, with these reviews, it may run a little while and get one anyway.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 10:53am

Don't let bryan hear you say that. We may never hear the end of it.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 4:13pm

Hmmm...far more positive than I think most of us expected. Maybe I'll rush it and see for myself what all the talk is about.

[thez914]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 6:11pm

WTF?! Theatremania.com's review blows - there's absolutely no indication as to the quality of the show. And to be honest...all the reviews have been vague. I can't decide what to think about this show...everyone on this board hated it, and while there hasn't been any outward praise in reviews, no one has really bashed it either.

What's the deal?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 6:13pm

They've been advertising a cast recording as "coming soon" at the souvenir stand. So it has funding.

[Wings Haint]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 9:40am

Indeed it must have funding, and a studio in Nashville most likely. What is missed is a specialness in the arrangements; movement that makes sense for the cast; a genuine evoking of the nostalgia of the times he lived in. Who listened to whom in forming this plate of grits with no trimmin's? Some faint old truth was missing in all that smiling and actors-as-set-dressing direction. Sweeney's minimalist trend to scale back, use less people, and move them about more to seem like there's more people onstage was just insulting. In Sweeney, we knew exactly what we were missing and missed it. In Ring of Fire, we are treated to a trite and true formula - another mundanely-executed jukebox revue trying to pass itself off as a Broadway show. As Mammy would say "just a mule in horse harness." Otherwise, they should have premiered it in Nashville. Buffalo reviewers have been positive because the Buffalo Studio Arena was so heavily invested in the process.
Updated On: 3/14/06 at 09:40 AM