By: Elena Marsh and Caroline Reed
As the sun went down, musicians and actors gathered onstage for an evening rehearsal of the Theatre Alliance’s outdoor performance this week of Ring Of Fire: The Johnny Cash Musical.
The Theater Alliance has moved outdoors to a lot on 650 W. 6th St. across from the Crystal Towers apartments. The show opened last week on April 30 and will continue to run May 6-8 at 8:00 for its last set of shows.
While being outside yielded warm spring breezes and beautiful sunset backdrops, it also made the actors vulnerable to wailing sirens and heckling passersby. Over the course of their four-week rehearsal period for Ring of Fire, beginning April 5, the Theatre Alliance has had some unexpected audiences.
A couple in a grey truck pulled up to listen to the cast’s rendition of the titular song. After a round of applause, a woman leaned out of the car to exclaim that it was her birthday, and after a few congratulatory remarks, the band struck up the tune of “Happy Birthday” while the actors sang to her. She promised to come to the show before driving off.
Actress Amber Engel remembered a group of downtown Winston-Salem’s houseless population gathering on a nearby hill who, after having their fill of Johnny Cash, yelled requests for the actors to sing something different.
Director Jamie Lawson recalled feeling anxious about adherence to COVID-19 guidelines when he saw a local police patrol car approaching, only to find out the officers just wanted to listen to them perform.
However strange, Engel embraces the community engagement no matter what form it takes. “I really enjoy the people walking by that dance a little, or the cars that pull up to listen,” she said.
Back in early March, Theater Alliance held its first live performance of 2021, the musical Working. The show was based off of the 1974 nonfiction book derived from over 100 interviews of a wide variety of blue-collar workers.
The show had a limited run over a single weekend, with temperatures falling into the 40s.
“There were audience members in hats and gloves,” said actor Steve Robinson. “We were onstage in t-shirts and while it was great to perform live, the weather wasn’t ideal.”
Now, Ring of Fire finds itself opening in the North Carolina sweet spot with cool breezes and warm evenings. Of course, it certainly helps that Johnny Cash is on the musical menu.
Audiences can expect to see the return of the cast of Million Dollar Quartet, the twice produced Theater Alliance show based on the true story of the album created by Elvis Presly, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.
With low ticket sales over the past year, and some performances with only 25 audience members, Lawson wanted a show that would draw people to the new downtown location, “I wanted a show with an outside feel to it,” he says. “If any show was going to bring people out, Johnny Cash will. Especially in Winston-Salem.”
Ring Of Fire takes a tour through the musical cannon of Cash’s work and tells his life story through the 38 jukebox tunes fans know and love.
This show is special to Theater Alliance since its recent move from Northwest Boulevard to its new home on 6th St. But, not all has been left behind: every night the actors click their cowboy boots on a makeshift outdoor stage built from wood repurposed from the old theater’s stage.
As rehearsals began one Tuesday evening in April, actors sat in their cars applying hand sanitizer and putting their mics on. A woman stood flipping through the pages of a stapled pamphlet, checking boxes to make sure all health and safety guidelines were being met.
The onset of COVID-19 has forced Theatre Alliance to rethink the way it delivers theater, which meant performing through it all, from sweltering June afternoons to freezing December nights.
While most theaters in Winston-Salem struggled to fit their seasons around COVID-19 and the guidelines associated with it, Theater Alliance has stayed open and continued to perform outdoors. “Well for one, I love doing it,” Lawson said when asked about his secret to staying open.
Love of the craft is not all it takes; staying open also relies on tenacity and availability of resources, he continues, “We were lucky that our old space had a backyard where we could perform outdoors. We tried to adapt as much as possible.”
The outdoor theater on 6th Street seats around 100 audience members, with ticket sales already topping 70. As guidelines loosen and the new stage is built indoors, July is shaping up to be around the time that Theater Alliance can accept indoor performances seating at around 50% capacity.
