Musical chronicles the life of Johnny Cash; it features five singer-musicians
OCEAN CITY — Audiences this week will hear something familiar and something new with Johnny Cash’s music when the Greater Ocean City Theatre Company stages “Ring of Fire” Friday through Sunday on the Music Pier stage.
“‘Ring of Fire’ chronicles the life of Johnny Cash, the ups and the downs, and it’s told through the music from his catalogue,” director Jordan Cyphert said. “You hear a lot of the greatest hits, but also some deep cuts that some of the audience might not be familiar with — a little bit of something for everyone in there.”
The cast won’t try to impersonate the iconic singer, instead to interpret him.
“We are helping tell the story, his life story through his music with our on-stage band … so we all contribute in helping tell the story. We all take on different characters in Johnny’s life,” Cyphert said of the five-person cast.
“Throughout the show, the actor-musicians step out from the band and into the characters,” he explained. “We take turns playing characters and older Johnny Cash is the narrator. He’s telling the overall story while everyone else takes on these roles of characters throughout his life.”
“Everyone gets their solo moments, both instrumentally and vocally.”
Music director Eion Meldrum does double duty as the younger Johnny Cash.
“It’s a really fun collaboration. What’s great about the score is it’s very open to interpretation,” Meldrum said. “We have actors that play different instruments. … We get to have fun throwing in different instruments than you might not expect with a traditional musical.”
He believes “it’s going to be a very refreshing arrangement of the music. I think it’s going to be a really fun treat for the crowd and they’re going to love what they hear.”
Although the other four actor-musicians are new to the show, this is his second time doing “Ring of Fire,” but his first as music director.
“I love that we’re taking it on a new journey with the show,” Meldrum said, adding the “really wonderful cast of people” provide new spins on the music and have “some really great tricks up their sleeves.”
Meldrum said the favorite song he’ll be singing is “Sunday Morning Comin’ Down.”
“It’s one of the moments in the show … that not only do we get all the fun hits, but we also get some deeper moments from Johnny Cash and some of the more emotional tolls that both him and June Carter went through.”
Nicholas Carroll said his role as the older Johnny Cash means a lot to him.
“I think Johnny Cash has a really powerful story that resonated with a lot of different people. The music is what really hits home, so it’s nice to be able to dive into his life and his music at a deeper level,” Carroll said.
He believes the audience is going to enjoy the mix “and a lot of powerful moments. There’s a lot of deeper music that Johnny Cash and June Carter wrote together and separately, and we sort of get to run the gamut of their lives and their music careers. I think that that will really resonate with people and may be surprising,” Carroll said.
“I think it’s really exciting to see a show sort of unfold in front of you that was real events and real times and sort of make it entertaining and maybe give you a new perspective on what you thought you might have known before,” he said.
Cast member Kyle Wells Lahr is a musician who can play a range of instruments and has an eclectic background that runs from playing in bluegrass bands to video game soundtracks. He calls it “a smorgasbord of anything under the sun instrumentally.” He will be sticking to upright bass and acoustic guitar for this show.
“I love this. For me, in that early country era, especially for upright bass, it’s this percussion instrument because there was no drummer,” Lahr said. “Johnny Cash came out of the Tennessee Two where it’s just strings … so I get to really play it with the music rhythmically, which is super fun. I get to whip out a lot of slap bass skills and little tricks so it’s always a good time.”
He noted he gets to play the 1950s rockabilly type of music. “This is kind of a return to my musical home on this one,” Lahr said.
Stephen Blauch is another actor, singer and musician with skills on a range of instruments. He will be “doing it all” in the cast, playing acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin and fiddle.
He said he’s always loved the music of Johnny Cash and playing rockabilly, folk, Appalachian, Americana-style music.
“I get to write my own solos and kind of bring my own take to these and just have fun jamming with a really good band,” Blauch said.
“It’s going to be a fresh take on the Johnny Cash story. It shows not only the highlights of his career, but the lows, so it’s very multifaceted and there’s a lot to see. It’s not going to be just a boring one-note kind of show.
“For younger people who come to see the show, I think it keeps Johnny and his music relevant. And brings an interesting story to those who may not be interested with his music or familiar with his music,” Blauch said.
He is going to particularly like playing “Get Rhythm.”
“That’s always been my favorite Johnny Cash song, but we get to jam out in like an Opry-style setting and just play the blues,” he said.
Rounding out the cast is Hattie B. McKinney, a singer-musician-actor originally from Nashville, Tenn. Like the others, she’ll be part of the five-member band but also will step out portraying June Carter Cash.
“This music’s very familiar to me so it really does feel like a musical homecoming,” she said. “I love this style of music vocally, so it’s really exciting to get to use some of the songs that I grew up learning, singing with my brothers.”
McKinney said her favorite song in the show is “Jackson.”
“It’s such a fun duet and it’s one that a lot of people know and are probably going to be looking forward to,” she said.
McKinney said being part of this type of show is fun for her and will be fun for the audience because they will “see people accompanying themselves on instruments while singing while playing different roles. It’s fun for them to keep up with. I think it’s very engaging.
“And I think people are going to be impressed and really excited and just have a lot of fun getting to watch us do our thing,” she said.
McKinney noted her family is looking forward to seeing their Nashville girl portraying June Carter Cash because she often does shows that aren’t as familiar.
“They are so excited. This is something that’s relevant. I grew up thinking, ‘Oh, everybody plays guitar,’ you know, because I’m in Nashville, but I think this kind of music and these sorts of moments really resonate with a lot of people.”
The Greater Ocean City Theatre Company production of “Ring of Fire” will be on stage at the Ocean City Music Pier at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 10 and 11, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12. Tickets are $20 at oceancitytheatrecompany.com. The show was conceived by William Meade and created by Richard Maltby Jr.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
