Any top-notch tribute to Johnny Cash requires a few essential elements, all of which are evident in the Milwaukee Repertory Theater production of Ring of Fire. First, there needs to be a Man in Black with enough seriousness to sell Johnny Cash’s somber tunes like “Folsom Prison Blues,” and yet keep a twinkle in his eye for light-hearted numbers such as “Daddy Sang Base.” Kent M. Lewis fits the bill nicely as a more “mature” Cash, while Corbin Mayer does an equally exceptional job as the more youthful Cash. Often the two actors are playing musical instruments together in this cavalcade of more than 30 of Cash’s songs. Somehow, thanks to the able direction of Dan Kazemi, it all works out fine. Filling out the cast are Alex Keiper, who plays all the female parts (from Mrs. Cash to June Carter), James David Larson and Paul Wyatt. All of them have ample time to shine in the spotlight, and the overall effect is sublime. The show loosely follows Cash’s life chronologically. It begins with his upbringing in Dyess, Arkansas, a New Deal colony to give poor farmers a chance to own their own house and land. Johnny started picking cotton with his family at the age of five. While Mrs. Cash marvels at the kitchen in her new house, one of the boys earns a laugh by exclaiming that the property has its own private outdoor outhouse. The Cash house flooded one year, causing Cash to write one of the most effective songs in Act I, “Five Feet High and Rising.” At the end of Act I, Cash has met his future wife, June Carter, and they sing a blazing rendition of “Jackson” (“we got married in a fever/hotter than a pepper sprout”). Other episodes touch on Cash’s reaction to his young brother’s death, and later numbers deal with Cash’s addictions and his recovery. Close harmonies blend some of Cash’s other favorites, and each member of the cast also rotates between a music shop’s worth of instruments, ranging from guitar and banjo to violin, dulcimer and string bass. The cast effortlessly weaves in and out of each song, handing off instruments to each other right and left until theatergoers are almost dizzy with delight. Among the favorite Cash tunes included here are: “Ring of Fire,” “I Walk the Line,” and “All Over Again.” Audience members who are only familiar with Cash’s country tunes will be surprised by his background in gospel, blues, folk, rockabilly and rock and roll. Each musical genre is represented here. This is the second appearance of Ring of Fire at the Milwaukee Rep. The show was such an overwhelming hit the first time it was produced in 1913, the creators decided to bring it back. That decision certainly was popular with the opening night audience, which erupted with an occasional hoot and holler along with lots of toe-tapping.
The simple set by Michelle Lilly consists of a structure of sturdy black bars, perhaps to suggest the prison background in which Cash sometimes played. The musical instruments are hung on the bars so that they become a set element, as well. Masterful lighting takes the audience from the flooding farm in Arkansas to the softly filtered light of Folsom Prison. Costume changes keep the visual element fresh. Alex Keiper’s outfits are particularly noteworthy; they run the gamut from a floral print dress (for an impoverished Mrs. Cash) to a flowing blue gown (for an aging June Carter).
The show’s encore number, “A Boy Named Sue,” gives Kent M. Lewis the excuse to show the great man’s comical side. When he tells his wayward father, “My name is Sue. How do you do? I’m gonna kill you,” the audience is already shaking with laughter. It’s a warm-hearted finish to a satisfying evening of Johnny Cash’s musical legacy.
