It’s jukebox musical time in Greater Cincinnati.

 

“Almost Heaven: Songs of John Denver” makes a two-night stop at the Carnegie on Wednesday and Thursday. The “Rocky Mountain High” bio/revue is sung by a five-person cast “against a backdrop of stunning visual images Of America in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” which sounds like it means a slide show of Colorado and Haight-Ashbury… Call the box office at 859-957-1940.

Denver’s 29 songs are out-stripped by 38 by Johnny Cash in a one-night whistle-stop at the Aronoff of “Ring of Fire” on April 5. Casting guy Mark Minnick says the show starts out loosely following his life (early years, wooing June Carter, prison then goes into pure concert mode.)

Nobody, says Minnick, sounding moderately horrified, impersonates “The Man in Black.” Four men and four women sing the songs, backed by eight onstage musicians. Just about everybody hails from Nashville, Minnick adds, so the show sounds like authentic country, not Broadway. Call the box office at 513-621-2787