It’s safe to say Dolly Parton approves of the woman playing Dolly Parton. In fact, during a rehearsal for Dolly: A True Original Musical, Broadway star Carrie St. Louis moved the country icon to tears.
Videos by American Songwriter
The sweet moment happened when St. Louis was tasked with singing Parton’s 1971 track “Coat Of Many Colors” after the superstar herself.
“I was like, ‘No pressure, just following the Dolly Parton. That’s fine,” St. Louis told American Songwriter with a laugh.
When it was Parton’s go with the song, she, predictably, sounded “amazing.”
“I mean, she’s 79 years old and just sounds the same. That voice is so amazing,” St. Louis recalled. “I just started weeping. I was like, ‘I can’t believe I’m getting a private concert from Dolly Parton right now.’”
St. Louis was then forced to put her awe aside and perform the song herself.
“I sang ‘Coat Of Many Colors’ and I looked up when I finished and she was sobbing,” St. Louis said of Parton. “We just had this moment together. She said, ‘That touched me so much.’ It was really special. We really bonded. For her to be so supportive of me singing her songs. I don’t even believe it’s real.”
Landing the Role of Dolly Parton
The road to landing the role of a lifetime wasn’t an easy one. St. Louis embarked on a year-long audition process, during which she developed the role over the course of four workshops.
While her workshop contract didn’t guarantee that she’d play the part when the show made its way to the stage, St. Louis eventually found out that she’d been hired for the job.
“It’s just been so incredible to be a part of something from the very start,” St. Louis said. “[I got to] kind of build it with Dolly and with the creative team, so it’s been a total dream.”
St. Louis first met and sang for Parton during a read-through of the book. Leading up to the big moment, St. Louis said she was “shaking from head to toe.”
“I finished and I looked up and she came up and gave me a huge hug,” St. Louis recalled. “She was just so kind and so generous.”
From that meeting on, St. Louis and Parton have been together nearly every day.
“She’s there all day every day, every single rehearsal, eight hours a day, she is there,” St. Louis said of Parton. “… She’s very hands-on and involved, which is a luxury. That’s not usually the case with these bio-musicals. Getting to be around her, it just helps us inhabit her spirit and her energy and her voice.”
Becoming Dolly Parton
St. Louis’ “us” refers to herself, Katie Rose Clarke, and Quinn Titcomb, all of whom play Parton at different stages of her life.
Titcomb, the youngster of the group, plays Parton as a child. St. Louis takes over when Parton moves to Nashville through to her stint on The Porter Wagner Show. Clarke takes the reins from there, playing Parton from her move to Los Angeles to the present day.
The show, which officially opens on Aug. 8, has been in weeks of previews at Nashville’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. Putting on the Broadway-bound show in the place where Parton found success has been a special part of the process for both St. Louis and Parton.
“We all just feel so supported by Nashville. It’s been such an incredible town and the audiences have been so wonderful,” St. Louis said. “Dolly loves Nashville and owes so much of her career and her life to Nashville, so she wants to give back by having her show start here. That feels the most true to her.”
The true Dolly, St. Louis said, is a woman who’s kind, with an unreal work ethic and an unfailingly positive outlook.
“The odds were stacked against her from the start, living with twelve kids in one tiny little house in the Smoky Mountains. Now she’s the biggest star on the planet,” St. Louis said, before sharing what audiences can take away from Parton’s story.
“If you have a dream, pursue it,” she said. “… [The show has] so much heart, and it’s really her thanking all the people that have helped her along the way.”
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.