Buddy cash icon johnny

A NEW musical based on the life of country legend Johnny Cash is set for the West End stage.

Ring Of Fire is the latest show from the American producers of box office hits Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story and Fame - The Musical.

It will feature 40 of Cash's classic songs, including the title track, Hurt and A Boy Named Sue.

Executive producer Bill Mead said: "There will be no Johnny Cash impersonator on stage, as the star of

the show is the music." The show is already scheduled for a Broadway run but there are plans to follow that with a UK tour and transfer to a major West End venue.

Mr Meade added the show had been three years in the planning. "We'd like to get Ring Of Fire there for a tour for the late autumn of 2005 and plan to take it to the West End in 2006," he said.

Auditions for the stage play are underway in New York but a British cast will be

recruited for the UK shows. Ring Of Fire will chronicle the country icon's life, loves and religious faith, as well as his songwriting relationship with wife June Carter Cash.

Cash died aged 71 in September last year from complications related to diabetes.

The so-called "Man In Black" recorded an astonishing 1,500 songs on 45 solo albums, and had 14 Number One country hits. He also won 11 Grammy awards.

Cash's life is also the subject of a new film, Walk The Line, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.

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