Nashville rolled out the pink carpet for one of its most beloved icons on Friday, August 8, 2025, as Dolly Parton and her closest friends, family and collaborators attended the Nashville premiere of DOLLY: A True Original Musical at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Belmont University. The evening marked a major milestone for the production, which is currently enjoying its run in Music City before heading to Broadway in 2026.
“I’ve lived my whole life to see this show on stage. I’ve written many original songs for the show and included all your favorites in it as well. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll clap, you’ll stomp, it truly is a Grand Ol’ Opera. Pun and fun intended,” Parton shared.
While walking down the carpet in a pink gown adorned in rhinestones, pearls, butterflies and other embellishments, Dolly Parton detailed the most meaningful moment of the show. “Well, so many of those moments are in the play. So especially anything to do with Carl, my husband, who I loved more than life. And so just kind of seeing John Behlmann play Carl Dean is just a joy and a sadness,” she explained to Music Mayhem. “So I cry, and I laugh, so that’s a real high point for me. But there are so many things that are so meaningful to me.”
Ahead of the show’s official Nashville launch, friends, family, actors and fellow country stars gathered in the venue’s Paisley Ballroom to celebrate the special occasion. The event drew an impressive guest list, including Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe and his wife Courtney Sixx, Zac Brown and his fiancée jewelry designer Kendra Scott, Christian pop duo FOR KING & COUNTRY, hit songwriter Desmond Child, comedian Danae Hays, TikTok influencer Demps (Kaitlynn “Katie” Dempsey), Grand Ole Opry member Bill Anderson, Moriah Smallbone, Natalie Grant, Just Jayne, Annie Bosko, Mason Ramsey, Belle Frantz, Callie Twisselman, Harper Grace, Elizabeth Nichols, Danica McKellar, Becca Bowen, Nikki Lund, Jaclyn Stapp and many more.
The cast and crew of DOLLY: A True Original Musical also made their way down the red carpet. Director Bartlett Sher, producer Maria S. Schlatter, and the three actresses portraying Parton at different stages of her life, Carrie St. Louis, Katie Rose Clarke, and Quinn Titcomb, posed for photos alongside co-stars John Zdrojeski (Porter Wagoner), John Behlmann (Carl Dean), Tabitha Lawing (Little Judy Ogle) and more.
“A great artist is a great thing, and we have one of the greatest artists working in America and that she expresses herself so beautifully through music and has lived such a powerful life where she’s been so honest and forthright in how she uses music to bring people together to change the world,” Bartlett Sher gushed of Parton. While, Schlatter added, “I think Dolly’s such a great example to me about wanting success and wanting to strive for things and working hard to achieve things so that she can give back to other people. And that purpose is what fulfills people and gives them true happiness. And Dolly is the most beautiful example of that.”
Parton then continued, “I had a good time working with Maria and with Bart on this whole project. So that’s been one of the great joys, just working with this great group of people. Not only are they great artists, they’re great people. So it’s just a joy to be able to work with that many good people for this long. And it’s been great. We have no problems, and we’ve made friends for life.”
Carrie St. Louis opened up about what it’s been like to work alongside the country music legend. “I just think she is a clear channel to a higher power, and we are so lucky that we get to live in the same time as Dolly Parton,” St. Louis shared with Music Mayhem. “She’s been there all day every day for every rehearsal, which is just a testament to how hardworking she is and how much her fingerprints are all over this production, which is so wonderful and such a gift.”
She went on to recall her favorite moment with Parton during the rehearsal process. “I think one of my favorite moments is when I sang ‘Coat of Many Colors’ for the first time for her, and I was so nervous. And we got to the chorus, and she started harmonizing with me across the room and I almost passed out, but I went home and then afterward got up and everyone was crying, and she gave me a huge hug and said how beautiful it was. And I was like, wow, I can do anything now. I’ve sung in front of Dolly Parton.”
Several members of Parton’s own family were in attendance as well, including Heidi Parton, Jada Star Roberts, Rebecca Seaver, among others.
DOLLY: A True Original Musical, directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher and written by Dolly Parton and Maria S. Schlatter, takes audiences on a journey through Parton’s legendary life and career, from her humble beginnings in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee to dazzling millions in her signature sparkly heels. This inspiring “rags to rhinestones” story features many of her biggest hits, including “I Will Always Love You,” “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” and “9 to 5,” along with brand-new songs Parton wrote just for the show.
While fans wait for DOLLY: A True Original Musical to open on Broadway in 2026, with dates and location still to be announced, they can still see the show in Nashville at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts now through August 31, 2025.
