Wildwood Fire: the love story of June Carter and Johnny Cash. Only, this isn't like Walk The Line. This is June's side of the story. In this show, the audience gets a closer look at how she deals with Johnny's addictions and her own. However, Mother Maybelle Carter is here to make sure June stays in line. We watch these two women tell this story with some of the greatest songs ever written. 

 

I love this story. I am biased because I cowrote it, yes, but the more research I do, the more I realize that we are kindred spirits. I tell people that June is my best friend and I haven't had the pleasure of meeting her. But I will one day! I know we are kindred spirits because whenever I tell her story, I tell my own.

 

This show was my Final Project for my education at Rosebud School of the Arts. After the project was complete and quite successful, the Artistic Director of Rosebud Theatre, Morris Ertman, asked if he could put it into Rosebud Theatre's 2015 season as a Spring Studio Stage Show. It took me all of two seconds to say yes! However, there were rewrites.

 

Last summer we did 35 shows of Wildwood Fire. We originally had 27 shows planned, we sold those out, added 8 more, and sold those out as well! This June was different than the first June Kelsey Krogman and I wrote. She was more emotional but couldn'd admit that she needed help. I felt like I was drowning in her words until I realized that's exactly how I felt: helpless. I love this June because she is so human. And something different happens in this show. The moment that June receives love and console from the audience, she makes the choice that she's been fighting the whole time: she choses Johnny. And I believe the audience is forever changed because of it. It's a universal story that everyone can see themselves in.

 

It was a blessed run. I believe it is a blessed show. And in every run, I know that June and Mother Maybelle were on stage with us, living the story with us. And I know The Lord was in the audience celebrating us. 

 

June taught me the most important thing. She taught me how to love again and how important it is to fight for that love, even if it's for yourself.

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

Since doing this show in the summer of 2015, the Artistic Director or Rosebud Theatre, Morris Ertman, had asked if I would be interested in bringing back Wildwood Fire as a part of Rosebud Theatre's Rosebud Presents Series, as a producer! It took me all of two seconds to say yes! We put up the show on February 13th, 2016 to a sold out audience of 240 people! The biggest show yet! The band that I'm a part of, The Dearhearts, opened for the show and it was a blessed show.

My cast mate, Alix Cowman, found an application for the Calgary One-Act Play Festival at The Pumphouse Theatre, so we enterted Wildwood Fire! We've had more positive experiences with the show but it was encouraging to find out our target audience was bigger than Rosebud Theatre and younger! After that, we were able to bring the show to the small community of Wildwood, Alberta! It was in a lovely community hall and we had an amazing team who baked, helped us set up the stage, and sent us home with a platefull of goodies!

Our next adventure will be on the Saskatoon Fringe Stage! Mother Maybelle and June Carter are ready to hop in the car and perform in a completely new place! We were proud to perform on the Kinsmen/Cosmo Seniors Stage from July 29th-August 6th, 2016 on the Potash Corp 2016 Saskatoon Fringe Festival! It was such a lovely experience to be welcomed into a city with a rural community feeling. We were featured on CTV twice and Global news once and had such a delightful time with those news teams. It was our first Fringe Festival experience and it was wonderful.

​

​

​

Since then we have toured the show to Langham, SK, with a three show run in their Community Hall and performed a few shows around rural Didsbury, Alberta, which is close to where I grew up. I had anticipated 3 shows in 2016 and we ended up doing 15 shows last year. It's safe to say this story is bigger than anything that I could of dreamed of and is blessed. It's been such a blessing for me to call it one of my "jobs". 

​

2017 has brought us 10 shows in total. The first in Regina, SK at the Living Hope Alliance Church, the second at Mayfair United Church in Saskatoon, SK, and the last at Oak Park Church of Christ in Calgary, AB.  I wrote to two theatres on a whim, one in Estavan (The Souris Valley Theatre) and the other in Regina (The Artesian Theatre). The Souris Valley Theatre was a connection that we made through The Potash Corp 2016 Saskatoon Fringe Festival. I hadn't heard anything since then so I thought, "That's alright, it was a cool connection and I will just surrender it." In late October of 2016, I received an email from the Artistic Director, Lyn Vilcu, reaching out to us for our information and timeline! I was so excited. We had four more shows set for September! But then I thought, "Why not see if I can get another theatre interested in Regina?" Thus, the connection with The Artesian was made and we performed 3 shows there. It was an incredible and blessed tour. I was so grateful to tell the story again, but most importantly, for the people we got to connect with. 

​

2018, I have no idea what you hold but I am excited and anxious. If you're interested in following along in our adventures, click the button below!

​

​

​

​

​