The Ballad of Johnny and June
★★★☆☆ Heartfelt
Festival Theatre: Tue 28 Apr – Sat 2 May 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
The Ballad of Johnny and June at the Festival Theatre is a big-hearted, tuneful musical guaranteed to please country fans.
The touring musical from Trafalgar Theatre Productions and originally seen at La Jolla, San Diego, details the lives of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, country music’s iconic couple. It features over 30 songs associated with them, such as Ring of Fire, I Walk The Line, Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down and Hurt.
Christina Bianco (June Carter Cash) & Christopher Ryan Grant (Johnny Cash). Pic: Pamela Raith
The book is by Des McAnuff (who also directs) and Robert Cary, with Johnny and June’s son John Carter Cash listed as executive producer and story consultant. Despite the family involvement, this is certainly no sugarcoated version of events, confronting addiction and relationship problems. Like many a jukebox musical, the narrative is secondary to the songs and at times is on the perfunctory side, but it all hangs together pretty well.
Perhaps understandably, Cash’s story seems to take up more time than that of Carter, who still tends to be overshadowed. (It should be pointed out that since Charlene Boyd’s excellent show about her in 2024, Carter has finally been posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame).
striking presence
The central performances of Christopher Ryan Grant (Johnny Cash) and Christina Bianco (June Carter Cash) certainly give the production the soundest of foundations. Grant, without simply imitating him, provides an excellent version of Cash’s bass-baritone voice, and has a striking presence. Bianco’s command of singing and comedy means that her Carter is thoroughly infectious.
John Carter Cash himself is a narrator figure throughout the story, and is portrayed with a calm affability by Ryan O’Donnell. All other parts are played by a versatile ensemble (Celyn Cartwright, Abigail Matthews, Peter Peverley, Christopher Short, Chomba S. Taulo and Anne-Marie Wojna). Wojna in particular impresses, with her portrayal of Cash’s first wife Vivian extremely affecting.
Anne-Marie Wojna, Ryan O’Donnell (John Carter Cash), Christopher Ryan Grant (Johnny Cash). Pic: Pamela Raith
The music is provided by an excellent live band under MD Connagh Tonkinson. The ensemble numbers are vibrant, in particular the opening rendition of Jackson. Ron Melrose’s arrangements tread a clever path, with only the merest of ‘musical theatre’ flourishes adding to the starkness of the originals. Peter Fitzgerald’s sound design is also striking, although there is the odd problem.
While Grant’s vocals as Cash are crystal clear, this isn’t always the case for everyone. In particular, one of the couple of original songs, about the Carter Family of musicians from which June came, features half-spoken, half-sung lyrics that are very difficult to make out.
McAnuff’s direction is sympathetic and atmospheric; that atmosphere is enhanced by Robert Brill’s slatted set, which contains a guddle of furniture and equipment, and can easily become a bar, studio or Folsom Prison.
accomplished
Amanda Zieve’s lighting is equally thoughtful. There are moments in the second half, where shafts of light pick out the browns of Brill’s set and Sarafina Bush’s carefully chosen costumes, when the setting is appropriately sombre for the emotions on display. The end of the production successfully evokes a reflective mood, something that is rather undermined by the singalong reprise before the curtain call that apparently is obligatory in all such productions.
While this is all very accomplished, there is certainly still a by-the-numbers feel. It is undoubtedly aimed at existing fans of the duo, who will however already know everything that is portrayed on stage. Those fans will certainly get their money’s worth, however, from a musically strong production of considerable charm.
Running time: Two hours 30 minutes including one interval
Festival Theatre, 13/29 Nicholson Street, EH8 9FT
Tuesday 28 April – Saturday 2 May 2026
Daily at 7.30 pm; Matinees Wed, Thurs, Sat at 2.30 pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Company website: johnnyandjunemusical.com
Cast of The Ballad of Johnny & June. Pic: Pamela Raith
ENDS
