Dolly Parton Broadway Bio Musical aiming for Spring 2025- Page 6

[Ke3]

Posted: 7/22/25 at 4:44pm

See these posts about the show make me both worried and excited. I don't care to hear Dolly's greatest hits if there are other lesser known songs that tell the story better. Dolly's cultural cache reaches farrrrrr wider than people who know her catalog. Dolly has very few pop hits so "most" people outside of country fans and music fanatics are only going to know the big songs like Jolene, Here You Come Again, 9 to 5, and I Will Always Love You. Focusing on a specific moment in time is more conducive to telling a good story than trying to cram almost 70 years of fame into a 2 hour 30 minute window. All of that being said, everything else described sounds dreadful.

(Can someone use the spoiler tag and tell me if Light of a Clear Blue Morning is used in the show? Love that song!)

[Matt Legg]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 1:32am

Probably some spoilers below... I have no idea how to toggle the spoiler button.

I was at the 4th show tonight.  It's a little bit shorter (3 hours) and a couple of songs seem to have disappeared from act 2. We were in the front row so I was eavesdropping on the "Changes" notes in the pit.

The orchestra is massive. I think I counted 18 people down there.  But even some of them looked bored by the time we were 90 minutes in to act 1.  The pit stretches from one side of the theater to the other and was full.

I appreciate the set pieces... I think I have seen so many projection related shows that it was nice to see some actual sets move.

I am a huge fan and have followed her work for 50 years, but the song choice is just bizarre.  For act 1... 90 minutes mind you, there are only two songs that average people would genuinely know. And even at that, Tennessee Mountain Home got little to no reaction.  It was a mixture of obscure album cuts and some songs I assume are new.  As everyone mentioned, The Bridge just ended the act with a thud.

Similarly, the first song of the show, 2009's "My Mountains, My Home," really did not get the show off to a great start.  I kind of cringed at Katie Rose Clarke's vocals during that one.  She spent the first age just wandering the stage looking depressed.  Carrie St Louis did a nice job carrying the Dolly vocals and persona.  Act one has a song entitled "Horny on a Runaway Bus" that was also rather cringe.

Act two features a few more "hits," but even at that, there are only 4.  I am a huge fan-- I don't need a greatest hits show, but I can't imagine tourists flocking to hear 3 hours of songs they do not know. Someone asked about "Light of a Clear Blue Morning."  My favorite Dolly song too and it was the best number in the show.  There was life and energy on the stage! 

I was also surprised by the waste of some of my favorite actresses.  Beth Malone is on that stage for less than 10 minutes and she does not even appear until over 2 hours into the show. She sings part of a reprise and that is it.  I also would have liked a little more Klea Blackhurst.  It is so great to see her on the stage, admittedly for just a few minutes.

There really is not a proper finale yet.  Show ends with a new song that Dolly plans to push as a single.  I was a bit insulted that after the actors left they play instrumental versions of some of Dolly's best like Two Doors Down, Baby I'm Burning and Islands in the Stream. Would have been so nice to hear some of those. 

So overall a mixed bag.  If Cher and Summer did not satisfy audiences with at least giving them the hits, I don't think this is really going to win over crowds.

Updated On: 7/23/25 at 01:32 AM

[BroadwayBen]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 10:52am

I'm seeing it Saturday...Will report in on any further changes! 

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 4:43pm

I understand to desire to cash in a legacy like Dolly, Cher, Tina, Donna, etc. However, I truly feel that all a musical can really do is remind the audience that there is no way to capture the magic of the performer. They are set up for disappointment. Especially with someone like Dolly. And there's not going to be any way to please everyone. In the end you end up with something unfocused and lacking power that no one really likes. The Cher Show was a perfect example. It was better in Chicago but still not great. 

 Dolly is bound to come off as some hammy show that would play in Branson or Pigeon Forge. 

If I'm honest, as a long time Dolly super fan, I'd have preferred something more like Girl From The North Country. Something originated at somewhere like The Public that focuses on her more unknown and gothic catalog. 

The Bridge is an amazing song and it's gonna get eaten alive in a show where people wanna see Dolly drag and hear 9 to 5. Now that's a song I'd be fine never hearing again. 

I just dont think all the trims and fixes in the world can save a show trying to encapsulate a woman like Dolly Parton. Dolly herself is all heart and a musical about her is gonna come off as anything but. It's gonna be a musical built by machine. 

[merle57]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 10:26pm

People have forgotten that Funny Girl was about Fanny Brice 23 years after she died - so there was no living performer to compete with. Further, Fanny Brice left little film evidence, so Barbra got to create her own ESSENCE of Fanny which worked very well.And she did not perform any of Fanny's famous songs until the film incorporated I'd Rather Be Blue and My Man.   Cher and other recent bio musicals are competiting with living legends who have extensive recordings and tons of film and television performances whcih create comparisons and disappointment. .It is very hard to capture thae energy and star magtic of the original persona polished and perfected over the years. I wonder if contemporary audiences go in expecting to see a duplicate of a live concert with the original star and anything less will automatically disappoint unless the storyitself  is riveting and surprising. Also, downbeat life stories, while factual, are bound to be downers and suck the energy out of the song list since we only know the star in the fabulous years of the career.  The star is born  template about overcoming obstacles to conquer despite the broken romance has become such a cliche going back to the 1920s. I hope they can whip this show into shape because Dolly herself is such an amazing legend and has overcome so many obstacles to make her mark. 

Updated On: 7/23/25 at 10:26 PM

[Wick3]

Posted: 7/24/25 at 9:49am

Bettyboy72 said: "I understand to desire to cash in a legacy like Dolly, Cher, Tina, Donna, etc. However, I truly feel that all a musical can really do is remind the audience that there is no way to capture the magic of the performer. They are set up for disappointment. Especially with someone like Dolly. And there's not going to be any way to please everyone."

I agree. Dolly fans will most likely rather save their money and go to Las Vegas and see the legend herself at her residency at the Colosseum than see this on Broadway.

 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/24/25 at 10:05am

Wick3 said: "Dolly fans will most likely rather save their money and go to Las Vegas and see the legend herself at her residency at the Colosseum than see this on Broadway."

I think this is a problem with a lot of these jukebox shows.

The novelty of Jersey Boys is that it was recreating something that doesn't exist - in that form - anymore.

With people like Cher and Dolly, they're still actively working and it's not like the tickets to the stage musical are cheaper than seeing them live.