Bemidji Chief Theater Presents: Ring Of Fire

“Ring Of Fire” has taken over the Chief Theater in Bemidji, and the actors say audience can look forward to a fresh take on an old classic. The jukebox musical tells the story of Johnny Cash through his music, and for a man with a lot of music, naturally, there’s very little dialogue. Only seven actors make up the cast and they only rehearsed for tens days prior to opening night.

Eric Smedsrud, who plays Jason in the show, says, “Rehearsals started out as being kind of a lot. They were from 10 to 10 most days, but then once we started running the show, rehearsals started to ease up and it’s just been a lot of fun spending time with the cast.”

Abby Sexton, who plays Trenna, adds, “It’s been really cool to see each cast member sort of bring their own to the show and their own style – their own take on the music and just to give it its own life.”

While the actors have names, they all kind of take turns interpreting Cash’s songs and the themes they represent. The play contains 38 of Cash’s hits, including “Country Boy,” “A Thing Called Love,” “I Walk The Line,” and of course, “Ring Of Fire.”

Tanner Garrigan, who plays Mark in the show, says, “My favorite part is in Act II, we have a whole scene about the prison shows of Johnny Cash and it’s just, I love that sound of just a men’s choir singing in harmony and just auxiliary percussion and hammers and chains and it just sounds so cool, and getting to do that on a stage for all places is just a lot of fun.”

The show will run every night at 7:30 in the Chief Theater through the weekend.