No one burned brighter than Johnny Cash and June Carter
Following sell out seasons at California’s La Jolla Playhouse and Canada’s acclaimed Citadel Theatre, Christopher Ryan Grant brings his acclaimed performance as Johnny Cash to the UK & Ireland tour, opening at Bromley’s Churchill Theatre on 2 March. Two-time Drama Desk Award nominee Christina Bianco stars as June Carter Cash.
John Carter Cash, son of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, has co-created the musical and shaped the show based on his own recollections and memories of his parents. John Cash says, ‘For a long time I’ve wanted to see the right musical made, something that wasn’t just recounting the same information that everyone’s seen before… It’s like characters are often portrayed in a two-dimensional way, but I wanted to show the more complicated parts of my parents’ nature. I wanted to portray the truth and beauty of the simple people that they were and the love they shared.’
The Ballad of Johnny & June is narrated by the character of John and told from his point of view. This acclaimed hit new musical shows why Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash remain one of the most iconic couples in music history, packed with a soundtrack of beloved hits — I Walk the Line, Ring of Fire, Hey Porter, Jackson, I’ve Been Everywhere, Wildwood Flower and many more. Cash adds, ‘I think the song choice is neat because the hits are there, but there are also songs that really tell the full arc of my parents’ lives.’
John Carter Cash said: “It has meant a great deal to me to be involved in bringing this new musical to the stage and see my parents Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash’s story told with such care, heart and honesty. Johnny and June’s music was inseparable from their lives, and this musical captures that truth through powerful story telling by a brilliant company, set to their genre-defining music. I have loved working with the creative team, and my family and I are both delighted and proud that audiences across the UK and Ireland get to see this celebration of their legacy.”
The script for the musical was written by Des McAnuff (who also directed)and Robert Cary, based on a string of in-depth conversations with John, whose contributions to the show have been invaluable, bringing vital insights and emotional truths to a story which, as Johnny and June’s only child, he is uniquely familiar with. He impressed McAnuff in the way he wanted to convey some tough reality, rather than airbrushed fantasy. “We realised that he didn’t want the fairytale, he wanted the truth, – The truth is so much more interesting than the fairytale.”
John recalls, ‘I sat down with Des and Robert for numerous hours where they dug deep into my life and my memories, and really looked into my experiences. It wasn’t like any other creative process that I’ve ever done. And then they would go ‘right’, and we’d come back and do it again, until they said ‘we want your character to tell the story’. They’d heard me relate the story to them so many times that they felt that the man who plays me should be the guide for the entire musical.’
Love is a burning thing, and no one burned brighter than Johnny Cash and June Carter. He was a small-town musician and storyteller with a voice that stirred the soul. She was a multi-talented performer and a music pioneer. Johnny Cash sold more than 90 million records worldwide, won 13 Grammy Awards and a lifetime achievement award in 1999. June Carter Cash won five Grammy Awards across her illustrious career. The pair married in 1968 and remained together until June’s death in 2003.
John Cash says finally, ‘This musical is as much about my mom as it as about my dad. It shows my mother’s strengths. It shows where she faltered. But it shows the beauty that they had in their love and their relationship.’
Bromley’s Churchill Theatre on 2nd – 7th March 2026, before touring the country.
Booking and full tour details: https://johnnyandjunemusical.com/
