Encore performances are a rarity in community theater.

A show’s run might be extended to include an extra performance in the last weekend, maybe, but plays and musicals are never so popular that they demand a re-run just a year later. But response to Theatre of Gadsden’s “Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash” was so tremendous last February — with sold-out shows every night of the two-week run, totaling about 1,500 audience members — that TOG has decided to bring back the unexpected favorite, starting Jan. 26.

“It was an amazing thing in terms of the popular reaction,” said Forrest Hinton, board president of TOG. “You work when you put together a season to try and appeal to people, but we had no idea how that would work out.”

Hinton said the show’s broad appeal helped make it a success. Audiences weren’t constrained within the lines of age or race or gender, something that can probably be attributed to Cash’s status as an icon. One doesn’t need to seek out Johnny Cash music to hear his songs; he’s in movies and truck commercials and on the radio, even now, years after his passing. Cash has been covered by dozens of artists, from Bob Dylan to Keb’ Mo’, and he’s returned the favor, reworking Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden songs into arguably superior versions.

New cast member David Carn, business development manager and general counsel of Back Forty Beer Company, joins the 12-member ensemble portraying Cash through various points in his life, illustrated by songs and the brief scenes interspersed between them. Carn said the show’s dozens of songs effectively encapsulate Cash’s career, sometimes with wild turns in terms of mood and era from song to song.

“There are some juxtapositions that I think illustrate very well, in a quick couple of minutes, the breadth of his career, all the way from the early days way back when, all the way up to Rick Rubin and his really stripped-down, dark Americana stuff,” said Carn.

Hinton echoed the sentiment, admitting that while saying the audience will laugh one minute and cry the next may sound cliché, there’s truth to the statement.

“There is emotion in the songs that will have you rolling in the aisles one minute and in the next minute, you’re sobbing,” he said. “It’s a well put-together show.”

Audiences will recognize several of Cash’s hits, including “I Walk the Line,” “A Boy Named Sue” and, of course, “Ring of Fire.” The show also takes a stroll into Cash’s gospel forays, as well as his aforementioned modern rock covers. All instrumentation is performed by the cast members on-stage, with no backing tracks or sing-along tapes.

Hinton said he’s used to audiences recognizing familiar songs from shows before, but the reaction to Cash tunes are something else entirely.

“In something like ‘South Pacific,’ a familiar song will play and people will go, ‘Ah,’ but in this show, a familiar song starts and people stand up and shout, ‘Yeah!’” said Hinton. “It’s a very visceral response.”

“Ring of Fire” runs at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26, at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27 and at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 28. at the Ritz Theater, 310 N. 27th St. in Gadsden. General admission is $17, $15 for students, seniors and military, and there are $3 discounts for groups of 10 or more. Order tickets by calling 256-547-7469.