Dolly Parton Broadway Bio Musical aiming for Spring 2025- Page 3

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 1/30/25 at 9:42am

CATSNYrevival said: "Has the 3 lead bio musical structure beenused successfully in a hit musical yet? Seems like the ones that turned a profit don't make use ofthat device."

MJ has three Michaels. Myles Frost and Stephanie J. Block won Tony Awards in shows with this structure.

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 1/30/25 at 10:12am

Dolly's early childhood was very successfully dramatized in two NBC TV movies, but it's hard to see that being done on stage. Perhaps her earlier career and relationship with Porter Wagner would musicalize well, but it's hard to see running a theme park as fodder for a Broadway musical.

Tina used one actor (with a brief appearance of a child actor) to cover Turner's entire life, and even that was a poorly told story held up only by Adrienne Warren's stunning performance. Covering an entire life as rich as Dolly's seems a tall order to transform into a compelling story in one show.

Updated On: 1/30/25 at 10:12 AM

[hyangsoo]

Posted: 2/2/25 at 5:25pm

The Cher Show has 3 Chers in it at different stages of her life.

[GottaGetAGimmick420]

Posted: 2/2/25 at 10:00pm

A friend's voice teacher said that callbacks have already started going out for some of the Dolly parts, so it does sound like things are still fluid

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 2/3/25 at 2:54pm

Oh boy, do I miss The Cher Show 

[lastmidnights]

Posted: 2/18/25 at 9:57am

NEWS: "Dolly Parton’s new musical, Dolly: An Original Musical, has revealed that out of the thousands of entrants in the “Search for Dolly” Casting Call, the following 15 people have been invited to attend in-person auditions to be held in New York City.
 
The actors being invited to audition are: Kathryn Adeline – New York City; Peri Barnhill – New York City; Elyse Bell – New York City; Alberta Brown – Halifax, Canada; Haley Brown – Los Angeles; Kylee Hennes -– Richfield, Wisconsin; Annelise Laakko – New York City; Tasha Lefler – Newport, Tennessee; Solo Lowit – Milton, Georgia; Kindred Moore – New York City; Norah Nunes – Houston, Texas; Kelly O’Brien – Aldbury, Tring, United Kingdom; Tricia Paoluccio – California; Cecilia Petrush – New York City; and Madeline Powell – New York City. See footage of the selected performers here!"

 

Not only does Elyse Bell sound terrific here, but she's got one of my favorite covers of "Meadowlark" ever (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiXat01azKM). Very excited, hope she gets to be in this production.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/18/25 at 10:27am

hyangsoo said: "The Cher Show has 3 Chers in it at different stages of her life."

So did SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical. 

[theatergoer3]

Posted: 3/10/25 at 4:27pm

Overheard someone saying Will Swenson is attached. 

Updated On: 3/10/25 at 04:27 PM

[barcelona20]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 11:23am

So I guess that nationwide casting call search was just a publicity stunt.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 11:26am

This type of format of having three actresses play the lead didn't work for Cher or Donna Summer. Hopefully Dolly Parton can figure out how to make it work.

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 11:41am

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 11:44am

Interestingly enough, Katie Rose Clarke was my first Glinda in Wicked while Carrie St. Louis was my most recent.

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 11:50am

Another reading Kerry Butler took part but didn’t get to play the role on stage. 
 

Interestingly, two performers from the open call have been invited to join the cast. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 11:53am

Those images are nightmarish. They look like Cindy Shermans.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 11:56am

But like... aren't Katie Rose Clarke and Carrie St. Louis roughly the same age/generation? And they're playing Dolly in two different stages of her life? I have questions.

[bwaylyric]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 12:02pm

bjh2114 said: "But like... aren't Katie Rose Clarke and Carrie St. Louis roughly the same age/generation? And they're playing Dolly in two different stages of her life? I have questions."

They'll differentiate each stage by the size of their cups.

 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 12:13pm

bjh2114 said: "But like... aren't Katie Rose Clarke and Carrie St. Louis roughly the same age/generation? And they're playing Dolly in two different stages of her life? I have questions."

 

Bea Arthur was one year older than Estelle Getty.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 12:50pm

TotallyEffed said: "bjh2114 said: "But like... aren't Katie Rose Clarke and Carrie St. Louis roughly the same age/generation? And they're playing Dolly in two different stages of her life? I have questions."



Bea Arthur was one year older thanEstelle Getty."

And your point here is...? For one thing, TV and film are very different than the stage when it comes to aging up actors. For another thing, whether or not they CAN make two actresses appear different in age, why wouldn't you WANT a slightly older, more seasoned Broadway performer to play the oldest version of Dolly if you have the opportunity?

[singer234]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 12:55pm

This makes more sense to me than The Notebook. The choice to have two different actresses playing like...16 and 24 was absolutely wild to me. Joy Woods could have done the whole thing.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 1:12pm

bjh2114 said: "TotallyEffed said: "bjh2114 said: "But like... aren't Katie Rose Clarke and Carrie St. Louis roughly the same age/generation? And they're playing Dolly in two different stages of her life? I have questions."



Bea Arthur was one year older thanEstelle Getty."

And your point here is...? For one thing, TV and film are very different than the stage when it comes to aging up actors. For another thing, whether or not they CAN make two actresses appear different in age, why wouldn't you WANTa slightly older, more seasoned Broadway performer to play the oldest version of Dolly if you have the opportunity?"

 

They are very different, indeed. It is much easier to age up actors on stage. Cameras are far less forgiving. Proud of you for answering your own silly question.

 

My point was pretty clear to anyone who can speak remedial English: actors have played roles very different from their actual ages with great success, many, many times.

Updated On: 5/5/25 at 01:12 PM

[singerunlimited]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 4:41pm

Wasn't the whole point of the search to find their Dolly? The optics aren't great after that whole "nationwide search," in my humble opinion.

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 4:53pm

singerunlimited said: "Wasn't the whole point of the search to find their Dolly? The optics aren't great after that whole "nationwide search," in my humble opinion."

Like Ken Davenport making a big deal about casting someone from the islands as Ti Moune in Once on This Island and then punting on that

[Wick3]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 4:57pm

At the very least Ken Davenport and his team actually went to Haiti and held real auditions there. Nonetheless, they still cast an unknown (albeit not from Haiti).

So is Katie Rose Clarke performing as the older Dolly (age 50+)? 

[Mskuphantm]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 7:36pm

thats what I am thinking with Katie Rose Clarke will play either the older or narrator Dolly..or she and Carrie St Louis will play the version the public never sees(sans wigs and makeup) vs the public image of Dolly

aDoes Katie Rose Clarke have one eye blue and one eye brown?  Is this a clue since Carrie St Louis eyes are Blue and the younger actress has brown eyes, is Katie Rose Clarke possibly portraying a version of Dolly if she didnt make it in the business what her life may have been?  or am I definitely looking for clues that arent there? 

Updated On: 5/5/25 at 07:36 PM

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 5/5/25 at 9:33pm

Regarding the optics mentioned above… The Broadway Body Positivity Project has posted on Facebook regarding the open audition for this and how actors were used to market this show, or something along those lines, and supposedly there’s a wider backlash about getting people to audition when they knew who they were going to cast etc.