I don’t even remember the first time I met Dolly Parton. I grew up in Sevierville, Tennessee, just like she did. In Sevierville, people love Dolly like their favorite aunt, who knows how to make the best cinnamon bread, rescues them from tough situations, gives them money when they need it, and always knows exactly what to say.
There’s a statue of her sitting on a rock on the courthouse lawn, her theme park, Dollywood, and the local radio station used to be called WDLY.
I know much of the world rightly has her on a pedestal. They love her songs, her movies, her persona, her positive attitude, her forward-thinking, her willingness to help, and her philanthropic heart.
I love her because, at her core, when we’re together and she relaxes, I see unmistakable glimmers of Dolly Rebecca Parton from Locust Ridge in rural Sevier County.
Later this summer, Parton’s musical Dolly: A True Original Musical will open at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville. The production will start with preview performances on Friday, July 18, and is scheduled to open on Friday, August 8. The show will run through Sunday, August 31. Tickets start at $40 and are on sale now at www.dollymusical.com
Parton will write the score, which will include some of her biggest hits along with new songs she has written, especially for the musical. “Dolly: A True Original Musical” will reflect her journey from growing up in the East Tennessee mountains to becoming one of the most famous figures in the world.
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“Dolly: A True Original Musical”
“I want them to see the person inside of me, the life, the things you go through, the things you truly do have to sacrifice,” Parton said of the musical. “Everybody thinks it’s all glamorous and glory and money and fame, but there’s so much more to a life like mine. There’s so much more to life (before you were successful) and, the prices that you have to pay, the miles that you have to travel, and the sacrifices that you make. It’s a triumphant story, and I want ’em to go over there like, ‘Whoa, I’m glad I went to that. I feel like I went to church.’”
Through a lifetime spent in journalism, I’ve been fortunate enough to spend several days with Dolly over the years. At one point, I was with her so frequently that my daughter was convinced I should be able to get Dolly to read a book to her class. I was there for reading in the school day, and she stood up and said that her mommy knew “Dolly Apartment.”
Dolly and I aren’t that close. But I’ve interviewed her a few times at Dollywood. I spent the day with her once on a press day, watching her do phoner after phoner in a tiny room at her manager’s office. It was hours of the same questions from the international press and her answering them with enthusiasm as if she’d never heard it before – much less two minutes prior.
Funny thing. One of our photographers snapped a picture of her that day singing. Her mouth was open in an unusual shape – and the paper ran it. I got a call about a very angry Dolly Parton on a Sunday morning. I can’t really write what was said. Yes, that bad.
When our beloved Smoky Mountains caught on fire in November of 2016, leaving the area devastated. Dolly stepped in, not only hosting a telethon but giving locals thousands of dollars each to sustain them until Sevier County could rebound.
Dollywood Nearly Burned—the Mountains Did
There aren’t adequate words to describe how it felt watching the mountains burn. My dad always told me the mountains would keep us safe, but on that late day in November, it felt like they were attacking us. Dollywood was under siege, too, with its onsite firefighters combating flames so close that sparks threatened the park. Please know that’s about more than just protecting some rides – Dollywood is the largest employer in Sevier County. If that went up in flames, people’s livelihoods went with it.
I spent the entire day of Dolly’s all-star telethon with her at her management office, watching her prepare and celebrities come and go. I knew she was saving our neighbors one song – $1 – at a time. She raised more than $9 million that night.
Dollywood was under siege, too, with its onsite firefighters combating flames so close that sparks threatened the park. She always called me Chelsea because she thought I looked like Chelsea Clinton. We could be in public, at a press conference, and she’d call me out.
“I see you back there, Chelsea!”
It became a joke.
Once, I told her she and my dad used to ride the school bus together. She looked at me like, “Yeah, right.” Then I explained they lived on Maples Branch. Almost in disbelief, she looked at me and said, “Our bus did go there.”
Dolly Parton and My Dad Rode the Same School Bus
Perhaps my favorite Dolly story occurred in 2019 when she celebrated 50 years as an Opry member. There were two shows that night, and she performed in both of them. I watched the first one from the audience and then went backstage to hide in a dressing room and write. I was in there for maybe five minutes, and the door cracked open. It was Dolly.
“Oh good, it’s just you,” she said. “Can I come in?”
She was also looking for a place to hide, and I was honored she felt comfortable enough to hide with me.
I said, “Sure, I’m just writing about you.”
She asked me what I thought of the first show. I told her that I loved it—that “Tennessee Mountain Home” made me cry.
She nudged me with her foot and said: “You just cried because it reminded you of your daddy.”
Dolly Parton Shows People Mountain Magic
Possibly – probably – right. But it was the most human moment between two Sevier County women who know to their very bones what it means to grow up in Sevier County surrounded by the Smoky Mountains. There’s a magic there – an unmistakable, unbreakable tie that binds you together. We know those people because we are those people.
I expect her “Dolly: A True Original Musical” will convey that magic, and I’m sure I’ll cry all over again. Not just for my daddy but out of pride that maybe the rest of the world will see it and understand how special it is, too.
(Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
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