Dolly Parton's Broadway-bound musical will have its world premiere this summer in Nashville

Axios

30-01-2025

Before Dolly Parton takes her life story to Broadway, she's making a pit stop in Music City.
Driving the news: Parton's "Dolly: An Original Musical" will have its world premiere this summer at Belmont University's Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.
The hometown run begins July 18 with performances through Aug. 17. Tickets starting at $40 are on sale now.
Why it matters: Feedback from Nashville audiences will help shape the show before it heads to Broadway in 2026.
Belmont students are getting experience with the Tony-winning creative team as they fine-tune the show.
What she's saying:"It just seemed natural and right for me to be able to premiere the story of my life in Tennessee because I'm Tennessee born and Tennessee raised," Parton said Tuesday while announcing the premiere.
State of play: The musical will tell Parton's "rags to rhinestones" life story. Parton says it will capture "the prices that you have to pay, the miles that you have to travel and the sacrifices that you make" on the road to stardom.
"Everybody thinks it's all glamorous and glory and money and fame, but there's so much more to a life."
The musical will feature gems from Parton's sprawling catalog of hits, such as "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You." But she's also writing new material to capture the dramatic arc of the story.
The musical's director, Tony-winner Bartlett Sher, teased one of Parton's new compositions, "God, Sex and Music" as his favorite in the show.
Zoom in: Belmont is making the most of this partnership. The university launched a program called Dolly U that will allow students to work with and learn from the professionals bringing Parton's musical to the stage.
An early crop of students has already helped with workshop productions of the show.
More than 100 are participating now, and Belmont plans to keep the program going through other collaborations with Parton.
Between the lines: Broadway shows can take years to produce, and shows often evolve considerably during production. "Out-of-town tryouts," like this run in Nashville, give the creative team a chance to see the show performed in front of a crowd.
Changes are typical as writers and actors determine what works and what doesn't.
The intrigue: It's a dynamic process that will be catnip for theater lovers who want to see how the sausage is made. Songs might get scrapped, retooled or moved around. New songs or dialogue might get written.
"If you see it in the first week, it's going to be different than if you see it in the second week because we're going to be making changes every day," Sher said.
The bottom line:"It's so different than country music or the world that I live in," Parton said. "I really have come to admire and respect the great talents that really get up there and do this."