Johnny Cash might have died over a decade ago, but his songs are still fresh in the minds of many people in the world. Ring of Fire: The Songs of Johnny Cash is a musical celebrating the man’s life and telling his story through the songs he sang. The show will be in Yorkton on February 10, presented by the Globe Theatre and the Saltcoats Historical Society.
Devra Straker is one of the five performers in the show, performing the role of Cash’s mother, his first wife, and June Carter Cash. The actors also function as the band, and they shift roles as the show covers his entire life, from youth, adulthood to his death.
“He was a family man, and the death of his brother had a serious effect on him as did his relationship with his father. It’s very common knowledge that he had his ghosts and fought his demons, but I also think that it was those things that allowed the everyday person to relate to his music.”
With a recording career that spans decades, Straker says the show ranges from the real hillbilly songs that Cash began his career singing to the more modern music.
“His music covered many genres, and I think that comes down to how so many people could relate to the music he wrote and how it was performed.”
As the woman in the show, Straker says it’s a different perspective on his music from some of the other people in the group.
“It’s interesting for me as a woman... I get a very different take on his music, having the opportunity to sing some of his stuff, not only June’s numbers but a couple of his songs.”
Straker admits that it can be an intimidating subject to cover, as Cash is an iconic artist and one everyone in the crowd would be familiar with, but she says that is in their mind as they put the show together.
“I feel like there’s a responsibility on us as the performers and actors. You want to tell the story but you want to be true who he was and how he originally released the music.”
This is not the first time Straker has brought a tribute show to the city, and says that there are certain artists that have an enduring legacy that lasts long after the artist themselves.
“I had the privilege of doing Patsy Cline a couple years ago with Globe, and brought that to Yorkton as well, and that was another artist that the music is timeless. Johnny Cash is in that same realm. He broke down a lot of barriers, people still listen to him today, people still know who he is, and I believe it will always be that way.
The show comes nearly 25 years after the man himself visited the city, performing once in 1991. That Cash performed in such a wide range of locations speaks to the character of the man, says Straker.
“It wasn’t about playing massive stadiums, he was playing in smaller communities like Yorkton and he was playing in prisons... If people wanted to hear music he would play. I think the fact that if you heard Johnny Cash actually perform one of the first things he would say was ‘Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.’ The reason he always said that was he never presumed people knew who he was. In his eyes, his heart and his mind, he wasn’t a superstar, he was just Johnny Cash.”
Straker is originally from Saltcoats, and the Saltcoats Historical Society is sponsoring the show. She describes it as a real privilege to come back to the city. Proceeds will go to the Saltcoats Historical Society.
“I’m so proud to be bringing this show with Globe to my community, and to be helping out my home town... What could be better than to do what I love, bring it back to my community and help them out at the same time?”
Ring of Fire: The Songs of Johnny Cash will be at the Anne Portnuff Theatre on February 10 at 7:30 p.m. For tickets call 306-744-2990 or visit Welcome Home Crafts or Gifts of Gold.
