The Ballad of Johnny and June - Northern Arts Review
at York Grand Opera House
The Ballad of Johnny and June - Northern Arts Review
I grew up on one of the finest record collections of all time. When I got my first record player, I was seven. It was a fetching shade of burnt orange, it took fat D batteries and, unlike the toy version I had before, this one could play real records. Alongside the turntable, I inherited a red box of 45s that my mother had collected during her teenage years. Inside, there were about fifty double-sided singles crammed so tightly together, it was a miracle they never warped. That box served as the best introduction to music a kid could have. From Elvis to the Beatles, Motown to Atlantic, I had immediate access to a dragon’s hoard of musical treasure.
Now, I admit that my selection criteria for my favourites were not sophisticated, generally gravitating towards bright paper designs or interesting graphics. Truth be told, I may never have listened to Neil Diamond if his records didn’t feature an explosive ‘Bang!’ coming from the barrel of a gun. So, it comes as no surprise that Johnny Cash’s I Walk the Line, with its bright yellow Sun Records logo, caught my attention. And the gloriously golden design didn’t let me down. His smooth, bourbon-soaked voice drew me right in, and I suspect that he and Leonard Cohen are jointly responsible for my love of baritone voices to this day. As I grew older, I was fortunate to live through a time of his musical descendants: Tom Petty, Nick Cave, Bruce Springsteen and the like, and it’s hard not to find his influence just about everywhere you look—even Nine Inch Nails. Yet, for as much as his music left an indelible mark on my mind, I confess to knowing little of his life outside of the 2005 biopic. When I saw the chance to enjoy an evening of Cash and Carter favourites and learn a little bit more about the “Man in Black”, I jumped at the opportunity to see The Ballad of Johnny & June at the Grand Opera House York.
The Ballad of Johnny & June is directed by two-time Tony winner Des McAnuff, whose credits include Jersey Boys and The Who’s Tommy, and is co-written by McAnuff alongside Robert Cary, with input from Johnny and June’s son, John Carter Cash, who also narrates the piece. The show premiered at California’s La Jolla Playhouse in 2024 before a run at Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre and now finds itself midway through a substantial UK and Ireland tour. Built from the real Cash and Carter songbook, the musical follows the couple’s decades-long orbit around one another, from a chance meeting on the touring circuit through the years of drugs, alcohol, fame and family that followed. Told from the perspective of their son acting as a narrator, the show treats us to both the hits (I Walk the Line, Ring of Fire, Jackson) and a look behind the curtain at the lives of the couple behind the music.
To see my full review, please visit Northern Arts Review
See you in the shadows my loves,
Sean x
