The Johnny Cash musical is a celebratory, toe-tappin’ night at the theatre.

Any creator of a jukebox musical must start with a simple question: How much of the artist’s life story will be part of the show? In the case of Johnny Cash and Ring of Fire, the answer is “almost none.”

The 2005 musical, now up in a solid production at Golden’s Miners Alley Playhouse, presents itself more as a concert, with 38 songs from the Cash repertoire performed in rapid succession by a five-person ensemble. Directed by Kate Gleason and featuring Cooper Kaminsky, David Otto, Mitch Jervis, Clark Destin Jones and Caitlin Secrest, Ring of Fire is a true gift for fans of the legendary singer-songwriter.

Instead of having a single performer portray Cash, Ring of Fire shares the spotlight among the ensemble — all of whom play guitars and other instruments to represent Cash and his backup band The Tennessee Two. With Jones and Otto on the younger side, Kaminsky in the middle and Jervis on the older side, the song mix is organized roughly into time periods reflecting the different stages of Cash’s life.  Secrest handles plenty of the songs as well while also portraying June Carter Cash.

It’s an interesting approach in that it relieves any individual from having to “be” a one-of-a-kind figure like The Man in Black. At the same time, it also negates the chance to celebrate Cash as the groundbreaking American musician he was — or to address his infamous dark side. Indeed, his name is not really ever mentioned in the show — we certainly don’t hear his iconic show opener “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.”

Co-creator Richard Maltby, Jr. is quoted saying that’s all by design — that Ring of Fire is not a biography but rather a musical inspired by the life and music of Johnny Cash.  If it’s a bio you want, there are plenty of books available about Cash; in Ring of Fire, it’s all about the music.

Cooper Kaminsky, left, and Clarke Destin Jones in ‘Ring of Fire.’ | Photo: Sarah Roshan Photography

A well-rounded production

The well-equipped performance space at Miners Alley is an ideal venue for a musical like this one, and Sound Designer John Hauser has the acoustics dialed in nicely, as usual. Jonathan Scott-McKean McKean’s rustic, functional set offers multiple levels for the performers to move around in and costumes by Crystal McKenzie provide another level of authenticity.

In the early days, when Cash and the band get a shot at auditioning for Sam Phillips, they hit him with a gospel-heavy number that gets a hard pass from the legendary producer. Apocryphal or not, the boys come back the next day with a freshly made rockabilly number “Cry! Cry! Cry!” that wins him over and sets them on their path to stardom.

Ring of Fire covers the gamut from those early days all the way up to Cash’s later years when he found renewed success covering modern songs like Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt.” All of the hits are in here, from “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Big River” to “I Walk the Line” and, of course, “Ring of Fire.” (Despite there being 38 songs, I still missed “Boy Named Sue” and Cash’s cover of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.”)

This Miners Alley production soars with a talented, versatile and energetic cast that flies through the Cash canon with a lot of joy and passion. It’s truly a foot-stompin’, toe-tappin’ celebration of an extraordinary body of work that has mostly definitely stood the test of time.