Byron Civic Theatre’s ‘Ring of Fire’ wins at State competition

BYRON – The Man in Black is in town once again in Byron Civic Theatre’s RING OF FIRE – THE MUSIC OF JOHNNY CASH. The man, the legacy, the legend is celebrated in a high-octane tribute to Johnny Cash. This is no impersonation. This is the joyous and heart wrenching story of his life told in the songs he made famous. A tuneful, foot-stomping celebration of America’s legendary singer-songwriter as told through the songs he composed and recorded. Though he is never impersonated, his remarkable life story is told through his music, performed by gifted singers and instrumentalists.

The cast and crew of BCT’s RING OF FIRE is busy preparing for another production of the award winning show. “Back in October, BCT won the American Association of Community Theatre’s (AACT) State Festival competition in Springfield,” said BCT President, Dan Danielowski. “The next step in the competition cycle is to compete at the Regional competition in Michigan on April 18.” AACT Region 3 includes winning theatres from Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

At the State Community Theatre Festival, BCT competed against other community theatres from around the State. At the end of the weekend, BCT brought home several awards. Cast members Jill Marciniec and Doug Rappa won “Outstanding Performance” awards, Dan Danielowski won “Outstanding Set Design” and the entire cast won the “Outstanding Musicianship” award in addition to being named “State Champion” for the 2015 AACT Festival Cycle.

At the competition in Michigan, RING OF FIRE will follow the same rules.

“We have to cut the show to under 60 minutes,” explained Director Steve Bartscher. “Plus be able to set up the staging, instruments, and sound system in 10 minutes.”

To accomplish this, BCT designers have developed a system where most of the needed equipment is preset on rolling platforms with two cables that connect the instruments to the main house system.

“We can actually set up the entire show in 6 minutes,” said Bartscher.

RING OF FIRE invites the public to a “send off” performance on Sunday, April 12 at 2 p.m. A donation will be taken to help defray the costs associated with taking RING OF FIRE to the Regional Festival.

For more information please visit our website at www.bctmagic.com. Please address any questions to [email protected].