The Man in Black Is Back

Johnny Cash, with his craggy features and long, black coat, cut a majestic figure in the annals of American music, but his earthy baritone and his songs — stark, sometimes outspoken and always well-wrought — were his real legacy. It’s those songs, nearly three dozen of them, that make up Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash, a musical tribute created by Richard Maltby, Jr. (Ain’t Misbehavin’) and conceived by the late musician and producer William Meade. The show opens tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Stage Theatre. But this will be more than a simple revue, says director and cast member Jason Edwards. Much like Mama Hated Diesels, in which Edwards also performed here two years ago, Ring is more a string of vignettes, some of them comic, each resting solidly on the laurels of Cash’s vivid lyrics and melodies.

It helps that the cast includes a crack, hand-picked cast of ten musicians, Edwards being just one of them. “[Keyboardist] Jeff Lisenby — he’s like a professor. He can play everything,” Edwards raves. “[Guitarist] Brent Moyer is a Nashville journeyman. And [fiddler] Brantley Kearns — I knew his fiddle playing was good, but he’s such a natural actor, too.” That, he adds, provides a foundation for an evening that’s pure joy for audience and cast alike: “It’s a gift. I’ve played in musicals a lot in my career, but I never thought I’d be in a musical where I could stand on the stage and hear ‘Folsom Prison Blues.'”

See Ring of Fire at the Stage, in the Denver Performing Arts Complex, daily except Mondays through May 13; for tickets, which start at $35, call 303-893-4100 or go to www.denvercenter.org.

Fridays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays, 1:30 & 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 1:30 p.m.; Tuesdays-Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. Starts: March 23. Continues through May 13, 2012