'Ring of Fire' performers captivate audience / LJWorld.com

Archive for Thursday, February 14, 2008

By Dean Bevan - Special to the Journal-World

February 14, 2008

The music of Johnny Cash came to life at the Lied Center Tuesday in Phoenix Entertainment's "Ring of Fire." Directed by Joe Calarco, eight vocalists and eight instrumentalists held the stage for over two hours, performing 34 of The Man In Black's songs for an appreciative audience.

As the performance unfolded, the audience could reflect on the remarkable variety of the Cash's music. He recorded more than 1,500 songs and was one of modern music's most successful crossovers, inducted into both the Country Music and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and attracting a following from gospel, folk and even alternative-music fans.

Throughout the evening, no effort was made to reproduce his inimitable baritone but rather to do justice to the songs themselves. Only on signature songs like "Folsom Prison Blues" and "Ring of Fire" did this strategy not quite succeed, as it suddenly became evident that much of the numbers' special charm depended on that gravely voice.

But the performers put their hearts into the songs, and with good results. Scott Stacy was convincing in "Big River," "Jackson," "Delia's Gone" and "Man in Black."

Erin Parker, the company's balladeer, gave moving and lovely renditions of "I Still Miss Someone" and "All Over Again," as well as lighting up the sassy lyrics of "Jackson."

Jeremy Wood shone in "A Boy Named Sue," "If I Were a Carpenter" and "I Walk the Line," nicely joined in the latter two by Erica Cantrell, a credible stand-in for June Carter.

Julie Meirick, at times representing Cash's mother, Carrie, showed versatility in numbers as different as "Ring of Fire" (with Steve Benoit), "Flushed from the Bathroom of Your Heart" (deadpanned with guitarist Della Mason-Stacy, and sung in a voice that could cut metal) and the bluesy "Tear Stained Letter," channeling Janis Joplin.

The band - keyboard, guitars, fiddle, mandolin, bass and drums - backed the vocals to perfection, and its members sang and danced with the vocalists as well. Jens Kramer electrified the crowd with high-octane fiddling, including one segment played while limboing almost to the floor.

Choreography by Karma Camp mostly followed the conventions of country music, but was crisply and energetically executed, and rocked the house in the upbeat "Hey Porter." A simple set - towers with stairs and balconies at left and right - made for effective staging.

For the finale, all 16 members of the company played guitars and sang "I've Been Everywhere," a fitting reminder that, musically, Cash really had been everywhere.

Dean Bevan is professor emeritus of English at Baker University. He can be reached at bevan@ku.edu.