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Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Dolly Parton Wants to Find Actors to Play 'Dolly' in Upcoming Broadway Musical 'Through Different Means'
www.broadwayworld.com: According to an interview with People Magazine, Dolly Parton says she wants to find actors to play herself in the musical based on her life through "different means."
3 comments:
Julia Adilman
said...
I feel like Dolly Parton is such an iconic woman and this Broadway musical about her life would be so fun! I had no idea that this was even happening, but I would definitely be interested in seeing it. I think this idea of auditioning people through “different means” is quite interesting. It’s kind of hard to tell what they mean by that since much information was not provided. However, I feel like, even though they are going to try to go out of their way to find performers that are perhaps not as privileged or well-known yet, I still feel like they won’t be as successful with this idea. I think oftentimes ideas like this are repeatedly done poorly in the industry, and they still seem to find a way to cast and give people opportunities who would have already otherwise had them. I mean, in Dolly Parton’s case, they really are just looking for a white female performer, which is already someone who comes into the industry with a lot more privilege and opportunity than others.
As much as I love Dolly Parton, I’m quite hesitant about this musical. Her music, story, and spectacle are phenomenal, but I’m not sure if another iteration needs to exist. This is quite a biased statement on my part, as I’ve never really cared for biographic commercial musicals, but with the movie we have, Dollywood, her many movie musicals, and previous musical on Broadway, I’m just not sure why another Dolly moment is necessary. And to reiterate, I do say this as a huge fan; I’ve seen her in concert, there’s a poster of her lyrics in my room, etc. All my critiques aside, I am excited to hear that the casting will be taken out of New York. There is an undeniable elitism to Broadway in its anchor point in New York. While it's inevitably necessary given the logistics of everything, so many talented individuals are left out of the equation. It makes sense given Dolly’s past growing up in a small town. Even with all my negativity, I am excited to see this musical grow, and wouldn’t be surprised if I end up as an audience member at some point.
I absolutely love Dolly Parton, she has been a staple artist throughout my whole life. Partly because I lived in Nashville, TN and she is the country music sweetheart, but also her whole energy is just everything. I absolutely love 9 to 5 and Jolene will forever be a culturally recognized masterpiece. I still remember the interview where she uses her acrylic nails as basically a washboard, she is an absolute queen. I am very excited for a musical about her, and am very eager to see who is cast as the icon herself, and try and fill her shoes. For how old she is, she is still absolutely dominating live performances and looks fantastic while doing it. She is incredibly inspiring and I think it is cool that Dolly is going into non stereotypical avenues to find the star, and am curious to see how all of this plays out.
3 comments:
I feel like Dolly Parton is such an iconic woman and this Broadway musical about her life would be so fun! I had no idea that this was even happening, but I would definitely be interested in seeing it. I think this idea of auditioning people through “different means” is quite interesting. It’s kind of hard to tell what they mean by that since much information was not provided. However, I feel like, even though they are going to try to go out of their way to find performers that are perhaps not as privileged or well-known yet, I still feel like they won’t be as successful with this idea. I think oftentimes ideas like this are repeatedly done poorly in the industry, and they still seem to find a way to cast and give people opportunities who would have already otherwise had them. I mean, in Dolly Parton’s case, they really are just looking for a white female performer, which is already someone who comes into the industry with a lot more privilege and opportunity than others.
As much as I love Dolly Parton, I’m quite hesitant about this musical. Her music, story, and spectacle are phenomenal, but I’m not sure if another iteration needs to exist. This is quite a biased statement on my part, as I’ve never really cared for biographic commercial musicals, but with the movie we have, Dollywood, her many movie musicals, and previous musical on Broadway, I’m just not sure why another Dolly moment is necessary. And to reiterate, I do say this as a huge fan; I’ve seen her in concert, there’s a poster of her lyrics in my room, etc. All my critiques aside, I am excited to hear that the casting will be taken out of New York. There is an undeniable elitism to Broadway in its anchor point in New York. While it's inevitably necessary given the logistics of everything, so many talented individuals are left out of the equation. It makes sense given Dolly’s past growing up in a small town. Even with all my negativity, I am excited to see this musical grow, and wouldn’t be surprised if I end up as an audience member at some point.
I absolutely love Dolly Parton, she has been a staple artist throughout my whole life. Partly because I lived in Nashville, TN and she is the country music sweetheart, but also her whole energy is just everything. I absolutely love 9 to 5 and Jolene will forever be a culturally recognized masterpiece. I still remember the interview where she uses her acrylic nails as basically a washboard, she is an absolute queen. I am very excited for a musical about her, and am very eager to see who is cast as the icon herself, and try and fill her shoes. For how old she is, she is still absolutely dominating live performances and looks fantastic while doing it. She is incredibly inspiring and I think it is cool that Dolly is going into non stereotypical avenues to find the star, and am curious to see how all of this plays out.
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