Back in 2005, the feature film “Walk the Line” told the fiery, decades-long love story of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, the long-reigning king and queen of country music.
The movie was a box office success and it was nominated for five Academy Awards. But there was one problem. The screenplay softened the couple’s rough edges and changed details of their lives to give it a more polished “Hollywood” treatment.
Now comes “The Ballad of Johnny and June,” a new musical about the Cashes that is making its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse later this month. Directed and co-written by Des McAnuff, who served as the Playhouse’s artistic director from 1983-1994 and from 2001-2007, “Johnny and June” aims to tell a more honest behind-the-scenes story about their lives, relationship, music and addictions.
Co-bookwriters Robert Cary and director Des McAnuff at rehearsals for La Jolla Playhouse’s world premiere musical “The Ballad of Johnny and June.”
(Courtesy of Rich Soublet II)
McAnuff, and his “Johnny and June” co-bookwriter, Robert Cary, never met the Cashes — who both passed away in 2003 — but they do have a family historian on-hand who knew the legendary couple better than anyone: musician/producer/author John Carter Cash, 54, their only child together.
McAnuff said John Carter Cash, whose nickname is “JC,” has insisted on telling the unvarnished truth about his parents in “The Ballad of Johnny and June.”
“The most useful thing JC told us is that he wanted the real story,” McAnuff said. “He didn’t want us to sugarcoat anything. The movie they made was a fairy tale, where June comes in and saves Johnny but that’s not the real story. The disease that afflicted the Cash-Carter family is addiction. It takes no prisoners. JC wanted us to be frank about that.”
“The Ballad of Johnny and June” got its start a few years before the pandemic, when “Jersey Boys” producer Michael David and music producer Tommy Mottola reached out to the Cash estate about creating a musical. A meeting in Nashville was arranged with JC Cash and McAnuff was invited to join the group.
McAnuff won his first Tony Award in 1985 for directing the La Jolla Playhouse-born musical “Big River” — recognized as the first Broadway musical with a country music score. JC told McAnuff that “Big River” was his dad’s favorite musical and he would be thrilled to have McAnuff steer the project.
John Carter Cash, photographed in 2015 accepting a CMA Lifetime Achievement on behalf of his late father, Johnny Cash, served as an adviser and is a central character in La Jolla Playhouse’s world premiere musical “The Ballad of Johnny and June.”
(Evan Agostini / Associated Press)
“It was one of those falling in love meetings,” McAnuff said, of sitting down with JC the first time. “I told JC one of my few regrets of that (‘Big River’) period was I didn’t take advantage at the time to meet Johnny. JC was incredibly sweet about how much Johnny loved the production.”
When it comes to choosing a director for a musical about famous music artists, JC couldn’t have chosen better. “Johnny and June” is McAnuff’s fifth in this style, and all but one of them were born at La Jolla Playhouse. He co-wrote and directed “The Who’s Tommy,” which won him his second Tony Award in 1993 (he also directed a 2024 Tony Award-nominated revival of “Tommy” that opened on Broadway March 28). He directed the Playhouse-born, Tony-winning 2006 musical “Jersey Boys” about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. He returned to the Playhouse in 2017 to direct the world premiere of “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” which opened on Broadway in 2018. He also directed the 2017 Broadway musical “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations,” which premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
To co-write the book for “Johnny and June,” McAnuff recruited Robert Cary, a longtime friend who he has worked with on three past shows, including “Summer” and a still-in-development musical named “Independence.”
“He’s somebody I really trust and I believe we complement each other,” McAnuff said. “I consider Rob as something of a Yale wit with a vast general knowledge and he’s a very good and generous partner.”
To shape their story, McAnuff and Cary listened to the entire catalog the couple’s music. They read multiple biographies on the Cashes — including two written by JC. They read Johnny Cash’s writings and poetry and they visited the Cashes’ hometown of Hendersonville, Tenn.
“Gradually we created our block of marble and chiseled away,” McAnuff said of the book-writing process, which has included a reading and two workshop productions. Eventually a story emerged.
In “The Ballad of Johnny and June,” there are three central characters, the third being JC, who serves as the story’s narrator. McAnuff describes the JC character as “the telescope you need” to clearly see the inner workings of the Cashes’ relationship. In the script, JC is considering getting married, and he looks back on the highs and lows of his parents’ marriage to consider whether that’s a risk he’s willing to take.
An archival photo of June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash, who are the subject of La Jolla Playhouse’s world premiere musical “The Ballad of Johnny and June.”
(Photo courtesy of The John R. Cash Revocable Trust)
The ‘Ring of Fire’
“The Ballad of Johnny and June” will cover more than just the couple’s 35-year marriage. It will follow June from age 11 to her death at age 74 and Johnny from age 8 to his death at 71. While Johnny Cash achieved the most enduring fame, June Carter Cash was a star first.
In 1929, June was born into the Carter Family, a well-known touring country-folk group that she joined as a singer at age 10. In 1950, she and her family members joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Two years later, she married the first of her three husbands, singer Carl Smith.
Born in Arkansas, Cash’s childhood was marked by poverty and tragedy. His 14-year-old brother, Jack, was killed in an industrial wood saw accident and 12-year-old John (he adopted the nickname “Johnny” years later) helped dig his brother’s grave. After a stint in the Air Force, Cash married his first wife, Vivian Liberto, in 1954. He soon recording country music and touring in 1955.
After the success of his 1956 song “I Walk the Line,” Cash was invited to perform on the Grand Ole Opry, where he met Carter backstage and they both expressed admiration for each other’s music. Decades later, she wrote of that meeting that she was instantly attracted to Cash. In the 1950s and early ‘60s, Cash and Carter sang and toured together and somewhere along the way they fell in love.
An archival photo of June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash, who are the subject of La Jolla Playhouse’s world premiere musical “The Ballad of Johnny and June.”
(Photo courtesy of The John R. Cash Revocable Trust.)
Out of respect for their families, Cash and Carter never discussed when they first became lovers, but this musical will touch on that issue.
“If the relationship started up when they were both married to other people, they’re not going to admit that. We do deal with it through implication. If we don’t absolutely have a fact, we won’t throw it up there. But we have our beliefs,” McAnuff said.
Because Cash and Carter often incorporated their own life experiences into their songs, some of their song lyrics became part of the mythology that surrounded their relationship. The song “Ring of Fire” is a good example. Cash’s first wife, Vivian, claimed he wrote the song while intoxicated and its cryptic lyrics were about his struggle to remain faithful to her. But Cash said Carter wrote the song for her sister, then he decided to re-recorded with mariachi horns, and made it a hit.
“There’s all kinds of tales,” McAnuff said about “Ring of Fire.” “You can’t tell what the absolute truth is.”
An archival photo of June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash, who are the subject of La Jolla Playhouse’s world premiere musical “The Ballad of Johnny and June.”
(Photo courtesy of The John R. Cash Revocable Trust)
Carter divorced her second husband in 1966 and the Cashes separated that same year. They married in 1968, had their son JC in 1970, and remained inseparable to the end of their lives. Cash died just four months after his wife passed away on May 15, 2003. He had chronic health issues that contributed to his death, but family members said he died of a broken heart.
“I do honestly think that when she died it tore a big hole in his heart,” McAnuff said. “I think there’s no question that her loss was linked to his death.”
It was no secret that Cash battled drug and alcohol addiction for most of his adult life. During the course of his music career, he was arrested seven times for drug possession, intoxication and other petty crimes. What is less well known is that Carter also struggled with addiction.
“I hope one of the things that people take away from (‘The Ballad of Johnny and June’) is to recognize that all of the success in the world doesn’t protect you from addiction to alcohol or narcotics,” McAnuff said. “In fact, success can sometimes be a kind of enemy and a challenge. A saying I like is ‘for every hour you log in the air, you do double-time on the ground.’”
The cast and creative team for La Jolla Playhouse’s world premiere musical “The Ballad of Johnny and June.” Director and co-writer Des McAnuff is at center in black hat with blue band. His co-writer, Robert Cary is standing third from right.
(Courtesy of La Jolla Playhouse)
The backstage family
McAnuff said the team creating “The Ballad of Johnny and June” — which is being co-produced by Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Canada, which will re-stage the musical in November — is filled with many of his old friends and past collaborators, including music supervisor/orchestrator Ron Melrose, scenic designer Robert Brill and musicians from the original “Jersey Boys” pit band.
Johnny Cash will be played by Christopher Ryan Grant, an actor, singer and musicians who understudied the role of Johnny Cash in Broadway’s “Million Dollar Quartet.” The role of June Carter Cash is played by Patty Murin, who originated the role of Princess Anna in Broadway’s “Frozen.” And JC Cash will be played by Van Hughes (Broadway’s “American Idiot”), who worked with McAnuff on the musical “Independence.”
McAnuff said rehearsals “Johnny and June” at the Playhouse have been going so smoothly it has been a “joy ride.”
He also said he’s excited this musical is making its premiere just as country music is experiencing a national resurgence, thanks in part to Beyonce’s new top-selling country album “Cowboy Carter” and the rising stardom of country bad boy Morgan Wallen. These singer-celebrities are this year’s queen and king of country pop culture. But 50 years ago, those crowns were worn by Johnny and June.
“I truly believe they were the royalty of country music,” McAnuff said, “and the marriage between the Carter family and Johnny Cash was like a royal marriage.”
‘The Ballad of Johnny and June’
When: Previews May 28 through June 8; opens June 9 and runs through July 7. 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 1 and 7 p.m. Sundays
Where: Mandell Weiss Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla
Tickets: $25-$119
Phone: (858) 550-1010
Online: lajollaplayhouse.org