Just two weeks before Dolly Parton’s death on August 25, 2026, the music icon talked about how excited she was for the upcoming Broadway premiere of “DOLLY: A True Original Musical,” scheduled to debut in New York City on January 19, 2027, which would have been her 81st birthday.
Much like she was with Hallmark Channel’s 2019 movie set at her Dollywood theme park, Parton was intimately involved in this show’s development. The world premiere was held at Nashville’s Belmont University in August 2025, one year before her shocking death. The musical about Parton’s life and career was so well-received that its upcoming Broadway debut was confirmed in early July. Parton was pumped to be part of the action despite recent health concerns.
Dolly Parton Said She Was ‘Definitely’ Planning to Attend Premiere Night on Broadway
On August 11, the social media accounts for “Dolly: A True Original Musical” posted videos of Parton answering fans’ questions about the show, including one about whether she planned to attend the premiere on her birthday. She said she definitely did, and hoped to help out as the cast and crew fine-tuned the musical.
“I plan to be in New York as much as I can be while we’re working on the show,” Parton said. “I don’t know that I’ll be there as much as I was when we were in Nashville, ’cause we were working up the show completely from here. And so I was there almost every single day. But I will be there as much as I can be.”
Acknowledging her age and recent health hiccups, Parton added, “Of course, Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I will definitely be there on the opening night. And I’ll be there as much as I can be during the previews as well.”
Parton loved being part of the development of her life story in musical form, but it’s not the first time she’s been involved in shows centered around her life and career. She played a role behind-the-scenes and in front of the camera for Hallmark’s “Christmas at Dollywood,” starring Niall Matter and Danica McKellar, who cried through her tribute to Parton on August 25, and a Hallmark special that celebrated the theme park’s 25th anniversary.
She also had a hand in NBC’s 2015 movie “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors” and 2016’s “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love.”
Dolly Parton Musical Follows Her Life Story, With New Music & Biggest Hits
Hours after Parton’s death was announced by her family, the musical’s social media pages posted a photo of the icon in a moment of reflection and wrote, “The girl from the mountains of East Tennessee with big dreams to change the world did just that. Thank you, Dolly. We will always love you.”
Fans who saw the show in Nashville flooded the comment section with praise for the musical and gratitude that Parton was able to guide the making of it, including one who wrote, “The way that this show is even more important now!! May it have a long run!!”
“DOLLY: A True Original Musical” is expected to still premiere on January 17, and not only includes some of hte icon’s biggest hits — including “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “9 to 5,” and “I Will Always Love You” — but will also feature never-heard songs Parton wrote for the show.
In another video on August 11, she revealed she’d written 14 new tunes for the musical, but they didn’t all make the cut, sharing that “there’s a lot of new songs in the show that people have not heard and I hope you enjoy those.”
When tickets to the show at the St. James Theatre went on sale in July, Parton said in a video, “This show is about how I made my way from the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee to the bright lights of Hollywood. It shows the good, the not-so-good, and all the in-betweens.”
Previews for “DOLLY: A True Original Musical” begin on December 7, though the first night is already sold out.
