The Ballad of Johnny & June brings love, music and electricity to Theatre Royal Plymouth
The Ballad of Johnny & June arrives at Theatre Royal Plymouth next week, bringing one of music’s most iconic love stories to the stage. Starring Christopher Ryan Grant as Johnny Cash and Christina Bianco as June Carter Cash, the production explores the joy, fire, humour and resilience behind a relationship that continues to resonate across generations.
Told with the input of their son John Carter Cash, the show goes beyond the legend to reveal the people behind the music. In this In Conversation, Christopher (CRG) and Christina (CB) talk about stepping into these much-loved roles, the power of songs that already live in people’s hearts, and why this story of love and redemption still feels so alive today.
L-R Christina Bianco (June Carter Cash) & Christopher Ryan Grant (Johnny Cash). Credit - Pamela Raith
You are bringing The Ballad of Johnny & June to Theatre Royal Plymouth this month.What does it mean to you to share this story with audiences?
CRG: I really love the fact that we get to tour a country where this isn't necessarily in their bloodstream in a way that it is in the American South. And so, to get to bring it to places like Plymouth, it's a whole new world to open up to, I think, one of the most iconic love stories of all time. And so I'm very excited that people get to leave not only hearing songs that I have grown up loving and know so well, but that audiences also get to leave with this sense of what makes their love story so beautiful.
Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash are such iconic figures. What has surprised you most about stepping into, well, stepping into Johnny Cash's life and telling his story on stage?
CRG: I think I've said that what always surprises me is, you know, John is this kind of like looming and legendary, iconic. He has this like dark outlaw aura around him. But what is so joyful to me is learning from John Carter and learning from interviews, how much of a kind of a dork he was.
CRG: He’s very funny, very goofy, very playful human being. And I think that is the most exciting kind of facet to play.
CB: I think that's, that's part of what drew them together. Yeah. I think that they appreciate each other's, appreciated each other's humour and playfulness.
And that's so much fun to bring to the stage every single day.
Christina Bianco (June Carter Cash) & Christopher Ryan Grant (Johnny Cash). Credit Pamela Raith
This show is told through the eyes of their son, John Carter Cash. How does that perspective shape the emotional core of your performances?
CB: It's good because it has John Carter Cash's input. He's sanctioned it. It is the truth.
And so when you are presenting facts and truths about the lives of these iconic people to audiences who have never learned these facts before, it's a privilege. It's daunting. And it's something that I certainly don't take for granted every single day.
Plymouth has a strong live music culture with audiences who really connect to storytelling through song. How do you hope local audiences will respond to the blend of theatre and music?
CRG: I hope when we leave the theatre at Plymouth, the stage door, and we get carried to the pub down the street where we all continue this musical tradition over drinks and guitars. That's what I hope.
The show explores love, conflict and resilience. What do you think makes Johnny and June's relationship continue to resonate so deeply with audiences today?
CRG: Who isn’t In love, out of love. Experiencing conflicting with the conflict with resilience.
It's Shakespearean. These are themes that will never not be prevalent in society and in your heart.
CB: And these two people were so open and honest and always exactly who they were to their audiences. Everyone really felt like they knew them. And I think the fact that they were so accessible and so open is part of what makes them still so loved to this day.
The music in this production is so well known and loved. How do you approach performing songs that people already have such a strong connection to?
CRG: Honestly, I just do, if that makes any sense. The more you try to put something on top of something that is already so perfect, in my opinion, is a disservice. So I let the music do the talking. I let the lyrics do their work in the same way that I would if I weren't doing Shakespeare. The structure is so perfect and complex and beautiful in such a simple package that the more you try to add on top of that, the worse it gets. So I just try to stay out of the way and let John kind of channel through what he's already done so brilliantly.
CB: I think I will talk about the fact that, you know, I'm someone who's known for doing impressions. And it was very important to me to not do an impression of June Carter and to find the bits of her that I genuinely connected to and to base my performance on that. And I find if with any role for any actor, you find yourself in the character, you're going to find the truth and it's going to be honest and it's going to be about a performance. And with June, I thankfully found that quite easy. She's playful, she's goofy, and she's optimistic and she wants everything to be right for everyone around her.
And she doesn't feel sorry for herself. And that's so much fun to play. And so I lead with that. And I try to find the Christina within that. And so far, it seems to have been successful.
The story of Johnny and June is one of music, legacy and enduring connection. What do you hope people take away from the show when they leave the theatre?
CRG: This is a story about redemption. It’s a story about love ultimately, it’s told through the lens but at the end of the day we want audiences to know that they're struggling with or whatever they're going through, there's light at the end of it.
If you can remain present and open with your loved ones and the people around you and your own self, then I think that's the message that there's always going to be a light at the end of the tunnel.
L-R Christopher Ryan Grant (Johnny Cash), Christina Bianco (June Carter Cash) and Ryan O'Donnell (John Carter Cash). Credit Pamela Raith
If you could sum up the ballad of Johnny and June in one feeling or moment, what would it be for you?.
CRG: Joy. There's so much joy on stage performing. I can feel it from all of my cast mates. There was so much joy putting it together from the very beginning. I can feel that from Des (McAnuff, director) and from John Carter.
And there's so much joy from the audience while I'm performing. And after the show, that is a word that has just kind of carried me through this entire process. I would add to that electricity.
CB: Electricity. The show is fiery, it's dynamic, it's fast and furious. And with that joy, we balance, I think, this fire, the fire of the relationship, the story, the music. So yeah, and the feeling with the audience is electric.
The Ballad of Johnny & June – the Johnny Cash musical – runs at Plymouth, Theatre Royal (16-20 June). For tickets: Johnnyandjunemusical.com
