[NEohioPAL] Review of "Ring of Fire" at Actors' Summit

[Bob Abelman]

Actors' Summit's 'Ring of Fire' merely smolders

 

Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the Cleveland Jewish News on 5/9/14

 

 

It does not bode well for Actors' Summit's current production of Richard Maltby Jr.'s "Ring of Fire" that the original version lasted only a month on Broadway in 2006.  

 

The show, which received abysmal reviews and generated little interest, took the country, gospel and rockabilly songs made famous by the legendary Johnny Cash and used them to narrate isolated events in the lives of assorted archetypal Americans.   Corny and contrived, the show came and went with little fanfare.

 

In order to have an afterlife in regional and community theater, the jukebox musical was significantly revised and turned into a musical revue.  It offers the same songs as the original but they are performed by musician-actors - none of whom actually play or imitate Johnny Cash - with a smattering of Cash's own back-story.  

 

As such, "Ring of Fire" is more tribute concert than musical theater. 

 

The songs are strung together chronologically but, oddly, the evening begins with "Hurt," one of Cash's last recordings, and ends with one of his earliest recordings, "Hey Porter."  Collectively, the songs do not really tell the story of Cash's evolution as a singer/songwriter and the piecemeal narration spoken between songs does not tell a comprehensive story of Cash's life.   Gone is the corniness of the source material, but the contrived still lingers.

 

To help make a greater connection between song and songwriter, director Neil Thackaberry projects photographic images from the Cash family album on two screens above the stage.  Trouble is, they do not always coincide with the timeline of the songs and only add to the disconnect implicit in the work itself.  

 

Clearly, "Ring of Fire" is all about the music and is best appreciated accordingly.

 

So it is unfortunate that Actors' Summit chose to fill the stage with actor-musicians (Scott Davis, Dana Hart and Brian Mueller) and an actor-singer (Jennifer Browning) rather than professional musicians who can act and sing.  

 

Everyone in this production knows their way around their instruments, but there is surprisingly little virtuosity to help showcase the music and bring some theatricality to the presentation.  And because much of the acoustic guitar, banjo and mandolin playing get lost amidst Mueller's electric guitar, J.T. Buck's piano and Scott Sexton's percussion, this concert seems a tad flat and uninspiring.  

 

While the playing is merely serviceable, the singing is superb and includes some gorgeous harmonies spearheaded by Browning.  Hart offers a particularly solid rendition of Kris Kristofferson's "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," a dark portrait of a hangover that requires a rough-edged baritone that summons Cash's spirit while avoiding the pitfalls of impersonation.

 

Still, there is no avoiding Cash's trademark low notes in many of the songs that are sung during the evening.  None of the featured performers is able to go that low, opting instead to jump an octave.  

 

While this may seem like a minor musical adjustment, heartache and hard times just can't be found in those middle-range notes. Neither can the darkness that resides in the Man in Black that serves as the cornerstone of "Ring of Fire."  

 

WHAT:           "Ring of Fire"

WHERE:        Actors' Summit, Greystone Hall in downtown Akron 

WHEN:           Through May 25

TICKETS:      $10 - $33, call 330-374-7568 or visit www.actorssummit.org

  
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