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By H. Alan Scott
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There's one thing basically everyone can agree on: Dolly Parton is beloved. So it's only fitting that she's set to immortalize her life story, on her own terms no less, with Dolly: A True Original Musical.
The show begins Broadway previews this December before officially opening January 19, 2027, which happens to be Parton's 81st birthday. (Only Parton would stage a Broadway musical as the ultimate birthday party.) Dolly will tell the story of the country icon's humble beginnings in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee through her rise to superstardom. In a video announcing the project, Parton said the show would be "true in every sense of the word" and that it's about much more than the "sparkle and shine on the outside."
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"It's about where I really come from: where I've lived, what I've lost, what I've loved and how I've found my way and told it in my own words and through the music that's been part of me every step of the journey," Parton said.
The show will feature new original music from Parton alongside the classics, including "Jolene," "I Will Always Love You," "9 to 5" and "Coat of Many Colors." Originally titled Hello, I'm Dolly—Get the Hello, Dolly reference? Now I just want to see Parton in Hello, Dolly—the musical has been in the works for years, arriving as Broadway adaptations of music icons' lives have become their own genre, with Cher, Michael Jackson and Tina Turner all getting the Broadway treatment. It was only a matter of time before Parton got hers.
And while anticipation for this show has been building for years, it isn't actually Parton's first Broadway rodeo. She wrote the music and lyrics for 9 to 5: The Musical, an adaptation of the beloved film. But aside from the title song, that score was entirely new material, which wasn't exactly what audiences expected from Parton's Broadway debut. (They wanted the hits, as one would.) So while that production underperformed, it shouldn't be read as a warning sign for Dolly's potential.
What makes this musical so interesting is Parton herself. Jackson's show was a hit, but he remains a polarizing figure, and while Cher and Turner are widely popular, Parton's appeal is something rarer: truly mainstream and broad, drawing in everyone from big-city liberals to deep red-state conservatives. That doesn't just make Dolly a likely financial success; it makes it a rare example of a Broadway show that could bring wildly different people together under one roof. And when you think about it, that's all Parton has ever wanted. Like the song, we're all made up of a coat of many colors, and that's something that unites us. (That, and loving Dolly, of course.)
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