‘Ring of Fire’ musical unlikely to be cashing in

NEW YORK —  The Johnny Cash movie “Walk the Line” may have returned “the man in black” to the limelight, but a new Broadway musical based on his songs received a sharp knockdown by critics Monday.

Created with Cash’s blessing before his death in 2003, the musical “Ring of Fire” is one of the major productions to open on Broadway this year, and the weak reviews bode ill for its commercial prospects. Preview showings were a little more than half sold.

“Ring of Fire” features three dozen of Cash’s best-loved songs to present vignettes of American life. But the musical makes no effort to tell the story of Cash’s life, which was marked by drug dependency and spiritual rediscovery.

Cash’s character was brought to life by Oscar-nominated Joaquin Phoenix in last year’s biographical movie “Walk the Line,” which raised interest in the country-music legend and fueled anticipation over the musical. But the production has no Cash character. Instead, six main actors play three couples in various stages of life, and onstage musicians play Cash’s songs.

Out of a sample of 11 reviews Monday, only two were enthusiastically positive -- the Buffalo News and the Newark Star-Ledger. Most were mixed to bad.

“The man in black turns sunshine yellow in ‘Ring of Fire,’ the show that strings songs associated with Johnny Cash into an artificially sweetened candy necklace,” New York Times critic Ben Brantley wrote in his review of Sunday’s opening night.

“If the current bio-flick ‘Walk the Line’ portrays the craggy country singer as a man wrestling with demons, ‘Ring of Fire’ wrestles with a really bad case of the cutes,” he wrote.

The New York Post praised the cast as “excellent” and said some songs were imaginatively presented. But critic Clive Barnes said even those who love Cash’s music should be “wary of walking this particular line.”

“With few exceptions ... most jukebox musicals need a story line,” Barnes wrote. “But ‘Ring of Fire’ is basically just a Cash-and-carry anthology of an iconic singer.”

Newsweek said the show was “hammy.”