Dolly Parton was widely regarded as the Queen of country music. But she was also the queen of preparation. This was exhibited by the role she played in helping curate the Broadway musical about her life.
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Before her passing on August 25, Parton personally handpicked the five leading actors to play her in the Broadway musical Dolly: A True Original Musical. The production will tell her life story in three different phases. That trails her from humble beginnings to musical immortality.
Parton Handpicked Actors to Play Her Life in Broadway Musical
A Friday (October 2) report from PEOPLE revealed who the Jolene creator chose as the five leading actors.
Per the outlet, Katie Rose Clarke, Carrie St. Louis and Norah Nunes will play the three different versions of Parton. Gabriel Ebert will play her Porter Wagoner, her early music collaborator. John Behlmann will star as Carl Dean, Parton's husband who she was married to for 58 years before his passing in March 2025.
Dolly is perhaps one of the most polarizing public figures in the history of entertainment. And being charged with portraying the country music icon in the month following her death will be no layup for the five leading cast members.
Show director Bartlett Sher says that the actors have been tasked with far more than showing us Dolly the entertainer. For many of the viewers, it will be their introduction to who Parton is as a person.
"Katie, Carrie, and Norah don't just play the Dolly we all know; they show us the real woman behind the glamor," he says. "Alongside John and Gabriel, these five actors are tackling roles that will become part of American mythology."
Sher also adds: "Behind these modern-day legends is a very human story of three people who loved, fought, made up, and helped shape Dolly into the woman the world adores."
The show will officially kick off on January 19, 2027. The day that Parton would have celebrated her 81st birthday.
