PORTLAND, Maine — Although Scott Moreau has portrayed Johnny Cash hundreds of times in musical theatre productions, including “Ring of Fire” in Portland this month, he is, oddly enough, not a natural fit for the role. His singing voice, it turns out, is slightly higher than Cash’s.
That’s a challenge, but hardly an insurmountable one, and long ago Moreau figured out what he needed to do to nail the sound of Cash’s distinctive vocals. “I don’t warm up [before a performance], which is sort of the worst thing most singers could do,” he says. “The more warm I am, honestly, the harder is it to hit deeper notes.”
Warming up is out. So is casual conversation before the curtain rises. “I really try not to talk much at all if I’m not on stage, which socially doesn’t work very well. But it’s just what I’ve got to do to do the job.”
Having grown up in Litchfield, a small town outside of Augusta, Moreau is delighted to be performing in Maine, especially after a long absence from the stage brought on by the pandemic. When he looks out into the audience, there will be no shortage of familiar faces. “I’m sure my dentist will be there,” he says with a smile. So will his parents and brother, and his wife, and “lots of people from my high school days.”
Actors have to go where the work is, and it’s a nice break to be able to perform 45 minutes away from one’s hometown. “Yeah,” he says, “it’s really something special to be here to do it.”
“Ring of Fire,” presented by Portland Stage and Maine State Music Theatre, runs in the Portland Stage theater through August 29 and through digital on demand until September 12.