Dolly Parton is legendary. No matter which corner of the world you find yourself in, you will likely meet someone who can hum the tune to ‘Jolene’ — or any other of her iconic country music hits. Dolly is expanding her musical endeavours with the world premiere of her autobiographical stage musical: Dolly: An Original Musical.
Unfortunately, Australian audiences may be waiting a while before the musical makes its way Down Under. Dolly announced that the premiere is slated to be in country music haven Nashville in July 2025. Following that, it will make its way to Broadway in 2026.
When an audience member asked why now, Dolly responded, as reported by Variety, “Well, I ain’t getting no younger, but as I tell my husband, I ain’t getting no older either — 21 and a half, you know?
“But I actually have always wanted to do my life story as a musical,” she continued. “And I just thought that 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.”
She teased the crowd, saying that even though they may think they know everything about her life, there’s more to learn. And that includes original songs! Dolly shared that she wanted to bring an element of country music “flavour” to Broadway with her new material:
“We’ve got some bigger songs that are really tailor-made to what I thought how Broadway would be, but still keeping that country flavour.”
Expect plenty of typical country music instruments in the musical’s orchestra. Plus, of course, the musical will include her legendary hits “Jolene” and “9 to 5′ and many others. As the musical covers her life, three different actors will portray the country music star at different stages of her life.
“I’ve lived my whole life to see this show on stage. I’ve written many original songs for the show and included all your favourites in it as well. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll clap, you’ll stomp, it truly is a Grand Ol’ Opera. Pun and fun intended.”
Dolly Parton, statement on the ‘Dolly: An Original Musical’ website.
Numerous outlets previously reported that she was heading to Broadway with the musical Hello, I’m Dolly. Musical aficionados will know that Hello, Dolly! is already an iconic musical — and a movie adaptation starring Barbra Streisand. Perhaps that is why the official musical is now named Dolly: An Original Musical.
This isn’t the only creative endeavour the star has put out in recent months. A documentary on the 1980 film 9 to 5, Still Working 9 to 5, came out on October 11, 2024. It reunited the original stars of 9 to 5, Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman. You can watch it now on Apple TV+.
Furthermore, this isn’t even the only musical featuring the iconic hits of the legendary singer. Here You Come Again is a musical featuring most of Dolly’s biggest hits — along the same lines as Mamma Mia based on the music of ABBA and All Shook Up or ELVIS: A Musical Revolution based on the music of Elvis, and TINA: A Tina Turner Musical based on the music of Tina Turner.
