Ring of Fire- Dark Horse Company Theatre production

Dark Horse Company Theatre was recently awarded Best Community Theatre Group by City Weekly

Ring of Fire is a story of a young man growing up in rural Arkansas, aspiring to be a singer. It is told through thirty-nine of the recorded songs of Grammy-Award Winner and Hall of Fame musician Johnny Cash.  Although Cash himself is not a character in the show, this musical features settings and circumstances which would be oh-so familiar to The Man in Black, such as a poor economic upbringing in the heartland, love and loss, hard work, family-ties, adversity, faith, and compassion for those down on their luck. 

His unique blend of hillbilly music, gospel, and the blues made Johnny Cash's music memorable and lasting. Like any good country song, his music speaks its truth directly with frank honesty.

As stated by Richard Maltby, Jr, Ring of Fire's original Creator and Director:

"To me, Johnny Cash's biography wasn't the most important story available to tell. Taking all the songs together, adding in the life he led, the person he was, the people he knew, loved, and sang about, it seemed to me that there is another story here. It's an almost mythic American tale -- of growing up in simple, dirt-poor surroundings in the heartland of America, leaving home, traveling on wings of music, finding love, misadventure, success, faith, redemption, and the love of a good woman -- and eventually returning home.

It's about the journey of a man in search of his own soul, which is what in fact emerges when you consider all the details of Cash's life together. That seemed to be a worthy story to put on a stage -- and the best part is we could tell it entirely in the songs.

I have complete faith that although we do not dramatize Johnny Cash's life, by the end of the show the audience will feel that they have spent the evening in the presence of an extraordinary and real man. In many ways Johnny Cash wrote and sang about the lives we all lead, regardless of where we lead them. If, watching this show, you feel yourself being drawn back to your roots, it isn't accidental -- even if you've forgotten what those roots are. I hope as we bring to life these wonderful songs, we will touch your heart, mind and soul as well, and take you too back to a part of your life you may want to return to."