Dolly Parton Musical to Hit Nashville Before Broadway
By Movieguide® Contributor
“Dolly: An Original Musical” will perform for Nashville before it heads to Broadway.
The production, based on Dolly Parton’s life, will run in Nashville starting July 18.
“Dolly Parton’s career is nothing short of extraordinary,” the news release said. “With over 3,000 songs written and 25 No. 1 hits, Dolly has firmly cemented her place in music history. But how did this ‘Backwoods Barbie’ rise to become a Living Legend?”
Parton announced the show on Tuesday at The Fisher Center in Nashville. “[I] always wanted to do my life story as a musical. I wanted to see it done while I’m still around, to be able to oversee it and make sure that it’s done properly in a way that I would want to see it, rather than to wait till I’m gone and let somebody else decide how they think it should be done.”
“It seemed natural for to me to be able to premiere the story of my life in Tennessee, ’cause I’m Tennessee born and Tennessee raised,” Parton said.
The show will include a lot of familiar tunes and “a whole lot of original songs” using “a lot of the country instruments.”
Some of her popular tracks that will be included are “I Will Always Love You,” “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “9 to 5.”
READ MORE: THE MAKING OF DOLLY PARTON: POVERTY, SOUL AND A FIRE FOR MUSIC
“I think they’ll appreciate me taking Nashville to New York with all those country sounds,” she continued. “And when I had a chance to do something bigger and broader where I thought, ‘Oh, I’m gonna get to have an orchestra — that’s gonna be great if I can have strings on this and that.’ It was exciting and fun for me to write the new stuff.”
Parton spoke about the musical ahead of the announcement, saying that this has been a long-time goal for her.
“Right now, I’m working on my life story as a musical, and so going on Broadway and opening my show on Broadway, that’s been a biggie in my mind for many, many years,” she said in early January. “That’d be the one that I want to make certain I get done while I’m still kicking, while I’m around to stay involved in it.”
Three actors will play Parton for each stage of her life portrayed in the play.
“I wish I had three of me a lot of times, the way I work,” she joked on Tuesday.
Parton’s DOLLY PARTON’S COAT OF MANY COLORS won the Movieguide® Epiphany Prize® for Most Inspiring TV Program of 2015. Her other movie, DOLLY PARTON’S CHRISTMAS OF MANY COLORS: CIRCLE OF LOVE, was nominated for a Faith and Freedom Award®.
READ MORE: HOW THIS COUNTRY LEGEND CELEBRATES CHRISTMAS: FOOD, MEMORIES AND JESUS’ BIRTH
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