Was Ring of Fire: The Johnny Cash Musical Show Hot with Critics?

Ring of Fire: The Johnny Cash Musical Show, developed by Richard Maltby Jr. and William Meade, is the latest jukebox musical headed for Broadway. The show offers a revue of Cash tunes. The tuner, directed by Maltby Jr., is premiering at Buffalo's Studio Arena Theatre with a cast that includes Tony winner Jarrod Emick and Cass Morgan. Did critics think the tuner is hot?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

Richard Ouzounian of Variety: "Surprise, everybody! The jukebox musical is alive and well, thanks to some fresh thinking from the man who virtually invented the form nearly 30 years ago--Richard Maltby Jr. Part of Maltby's savvy is that he just doesn't offer up the Cash hits… Aside from content, Maltby shows his skill in the staging of the show, giving it a look quite unlike any other revue… Despite the overwhelmingly positive impression the show leaves, there are some issues to be addressed here and during the next stop at the Curran Theater in San Francisco. Too many numbers finish without a satisfactory 'button'… There's also a stretch midway through Act I where the normally clear focus gets fuzzy... And finally, the first act could use a much stronger ending… But even as it plays right now, Ring of Fire is hot."

Richard Huntington of The Buffalo News: "This Studio Arena Theatre world premiere is a fabulous piece of entertainment, a show that gracefully, beguilingly, transcends its own limits at every turn… Maltby is something of a magician. By ingenious segues, inspired staging and a highly developed sense of the internal ebb and flow of the music, he creates the happy illusion that there is narrative where there is none… Maltby asks his cast to strive not only for musical excellence--the base requirement of any successful musical revue--but to also create a special kind of dramatic harmony among his players. This extraordinary cast delivers on both counts--stunningly."