Sept. 30: Check Out Another '9 To 5' Interview Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical leads a new streaming video segment on the Broadway World online magazine, "Upright's West Side Stories," where LA's Upright Cabaret producer/hosts Chris Isaacson and Shane Scheel interview theatre movers and shakers on the West Coast. At the media event at the theatre where the show is in a test run, they spoke with all four of its main stars as well as producer Robert Goldblatt, writer Patricia Resnick and Dolly herself. Watch it here.
Library Wins Another Award Dolly's efforts in early childhood literacy are earning her another honor. She and her Imagination Library have been selected for the International Visionary Award this year by the Asian Rehabilitation Services (ASA). The award will be recognized during the organization's Ha Ha Hollywood costume party Sunday at the Twin Palms Restaurant in Pasadena, Calif. Their website makes no mention of whether Dolly plans to attend. Check it out here. Thanks, Harriet!
Helping Out Another Good Cause Sony BMG UK has included a Dolly track in a compilation CD which is helping fight breast cancer. "9 To 5" appears on Girls Night In, released this week in Britain with £1 from every sale benefiting Breast Cancer Care's In The Pink campaign. Other artists on the two-CD collection include Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Pink, George Michael, Roy Orbison, Brittney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Tammy Wynette and more.
Sept. 29: Down One On CMT Although it started off in the pole position the previous week, Dolly's video for "Shinola" slipped one to No. 2 in its second week on the Pure 12 Pack countdown on CMT's digital cable channel, Pure Country, the network announced over the weekend. Vote for the video in next week's tally here!
Opposite Ends Of The '9 To 5' Spectrum Two competing newspapers over the weekend in Los Angeles had completely opposite opinions on Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical, now in a test run in the West Coast city prior to next year's Broadway opening. The Los Angeles Daily Newshere summed up the show as "What a way not to make a musical." It slammed the production as "overlong, pushily directed, rarely funny and largely joyless," arguing that the script does match Dolly's score because it copies too much from the film that doesn't translate well to stage, thereby sinking the action. Also, while her songs are good, they rarely advance the plot or give greater insight into the characters, the reviewer claims. On the other hand, Downtown LA Scene praised it here, saying Dolly's songs stood out in the stellar production, explaining that even though there are some uneven parts, Dolly, scriptwriter Patricia Resnick and director Joe Mantello "offer enough visual and aural treats to hold interest from the raising of the curtain to the final bows." Its reviewer agreed with many other critics that a couple of songs could be cut and some lame jokes could be removed from the script, but otherwise it was found to be a great show.
Sept. 27: More '9 To 5' Lovin' Another media outlet has issued a glowingly positive review of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical. Publication Gay Wiredhere calls her score "infectious" and the overall show "a hit that's sure to take Broadway by storm when it debuts there in 2009." The reviewer adds that it is "possibly the most faithful adaptation of a film to a Broadway musical" and that Dolly "continues to successfully make her case as a Renaissance woman . . . it's tough to take umbrage with much of Parton's score, which induced audience members to foot-tapping and hand clapping and whoops and hollers."
We Want 'Dolly!' A reader is urging fans to start an e-mail campaign to get satellite channel RFD-TV to begin airing Dolly's 1976-1977 television variety series. The same company that owns The Porter Wagoner Show, which does air on RFD, also owns Dolly's first solo TV series. E-mails may be directed to Assistant Program Director David Costner at davis@rfdtv.com and Program Director Jeremiah Davis at jeremiah@rfdtv.com.
Another Library Expansion Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program is coming to Petal, Miss., The Hattiesburg American reports here.
Dolly Works Another 'Office' Thanks to Don and Maggie for alerting me that Thursday night's premiere of The Office featured Dolly's "Here You Come Again" playing during a birthday party scene.
Sept. 26: 'Barbie' Is Gone From Charts Again Although it had come back for two weeks, Dolly's Backwoods Barbie is once again gone, having fallen back off the 75-position country albums chart, Billboard revealed Thursday in the Oct. 4 numbers. The disc fell from its previous position of No. 74 in its 29th week on the tally. Hopefully it will come back with sales following last Friday's appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Monday's The Ellen DeGeneres Show, but we'll have to wait until next week to find out when the first sales following those appearances are counted. In other chart developments, her 16 Biggest Hits drops two to No. 51 country in its 50th week. Jessica Simpson's Do You Know, with Dolly harmony on the Dolly-penned title track, loses two to No. 3 country and 14 to No. 18 pop albums and comprehensive albums in its second week. It also dips 18 to No. 21 on the digital albums list, one to No. 2 Candian country, 19 to No. 32 Canadian pop and off the Internet sales chart, down from No. 15. Patty Loveless' Sleepless Nights, with cover of Porter & Dolly's "The Pain Of Loving You," loses 14 to No. 27 country, 58 points to No. 144 pop and 17 spots to No. 34 Canadian country in its second week. George Jones' Burn Your Playhouse Down, with Dolly on "Rockin' Years," drops 13 to No. 41 country in its fifth week and falls off the top 200 pop albums, down from No. 168, and off the Internet sales chart, down from No. 19. Emmylou Harris' All I Intended To Be, featuring Dolly on "Gold," loses two three No. 46 country in its 15th week and is down seven to No. 45 Canadian country. Brad Paisley's Time Well Wasted, featuring Dolly on "When I Get Where I'm Going," holds steady at No. 4 on the country catalog albums list and rises three to No. 27 Canadian country, while 21 Number Ones by Kenny Rogers, including "Islands In The Stream," inches down one on the country catalog albums list to No. 22. Eva Cassidy's Somewhere, with her cover of "Coat Of Many Colors," drops 31 to No. 191 pop in its fourth week, also falling five to No. 27 independent label albums. Former Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker debuts at No. 1 country and No. 5 pop with 60,000 copies sold of his debut country CD, Learn To Love, while Sugarland's Love on the Inside holds steady at No. 2 country in its ninth week and declines two to No. 15 pop.
Another '9 To 5' Review, Interview A very positive review of 9 To 5: The Musical, which calls Dolly "irrepressible" and says "hovering all over it is the down-home honesty and engaging spirit of Parton, who continues to prove that she can do just about anything and have fun along the way," appeared in Thursday's Ventura County Starhere. And actress Megan Hilty is interviewed in The Gay and Lesbian Times in San Diego here about the show and what it's like to play a role originated by Dolly with her looking on. Broadway World has collected the press photos from opening night and posted them here, and Variety this week noted Dolly's sing-a-long saving of the unexpected stop in the opening night's performance with a piece here.
Thanks For Your Support! Thanks everyone for your continued votes in the BT Digital Music People's Choice Awards. Voting ends on Saturday, so it's your last chance to cast a ballot. You may vote once per day per e-mail address here or by clicking on the icon below. Winners will be announced in early October.
Sept. 25: Musical Gets First Pretty Bad Review The only mostly negative review I've seen of 9 To 5: The Musical hit the web Wednesday from LA City Beat. Although the critic had a few nice things to say about the performers and Dolly's songs, that she accomplishes some character building through her music, the script by Patricia Resnick is slammed. "The script needs wholesale improvements before its scheduled Broadway opening next year," the paper opined. Read the full review here. Most reviews have been mixed but considerably more positive than this one. On a nicer note, the opening night is noted on Creators.comhere with a mention that Dolly made a special appearance with a look-a-like who showed up at the theatre.
Patty Talks To CMT Parry Loveless has spoken with CMT.com about her current CD, Sleepless Nights, and its inclusion of the Porter & Dolly classic "The Pain Of Loving You." She tells the site: "I was 14 when I met Porter and Dolly and they co-wrote this. I remember singing it then when I worked with them. There's a 15-year-old girl singing on this with me, Syndi Perry. When Dolly hears her, she's just gonna be blown away. Syndi took me back to that time when I was 15. Dolly was like a big sister to me. I want to be like that now, with this kind of music." Read more of the interview here.
Library Doc Gets Noticed The Imagination Library documentary The Book Lady earns a mention on CMT's blogs here. The film premiered over the weekend at a film festival in Canada.
'Mountain Soul' 2009 Already Has Contestants Thanks to Frances for sending a link to an item in Knoxville's Metro Pulse about next year's Mountain Soul Vocal Competition in Sevierville, which requires contestants sing songs which Dolly wrote. Organizer Amanda Maples Marr said here that a few contestants are already sending in their entries for next May's contest. (Contestants are asked to look up their song choice on Dollymaniahere to confirm Dolly wrote it.)
Sept. 24: '9 To 5' Pics, Review, Revisit Special thanks to Diane for sending in some photos of her night at the 9 To 5: The Musical opening in Los Angeles, including the one at left. Check out the other images in a gallery posted here! Also, one of the most shinning reviews of the production came out Tuesday from Backstage, calling it "a surprisingly fresh musical frolic that has Broadway blockbuster written all over it." The piece, available here, continues with praise for Dolly's songwriting ("highly appealing and skillfully integrated"), although the critic agrees with others who have opined that the first act is too long, that one or two songs could be cut and that a joke or two are in poor taste and should be taken out. And what did Jane Fonda think of the show? She was quoted by FOX News here saying: "Dolly wrote all the songs, and they're wonderful. And you have to see the actress who's playing Dolly, Megan Hilty. She steals the show." Finally, coverage of the musical prompted Slate to offer a look at the recent DVD of the classic film with an extended commentary about it here.
'Backwoods Barbie' Tour Update The Green Bay pre-sale for members of the Dolly-ites online community at Dolly's official record company website, DollyPartonMusic.net, will be offered through the venue's own website starting Wednesday, her site announced Tuesday. The site also sent out an e-mail noting two other pre-sales that begin Wednesday but had already been announced on its tour itinerary page: Raleigh, N.C., and Des Moines, Iowa. The subject line of the message, however, called these the "final" pre-sales, indicating these may be the final dates to be added to her Backwoods Barbie World Tour this year. (One last pre-sale, for Milwaukee, is scheduled for Sept. 29 and has already been announced, so I suppose the e-mail was referring to these being the final pre-sales to be announced, not the final pre-sales chronologically.) In other tour news, only about 100 regular tickets to her Oct. 25 charity show in Richmond, Ky., remain available via Ticketmaster, but if you really want to get into things, there are about 10 VIP tickets left. These provide seats on the floor, valet parking and an exclusive reception after the show with food and drinks for the VIP ticketholders only. These tickets are available for $175 each by calling St. Mark Catholic Church directly at (859) 623-2989. Those who have already purchased VIP tickets should be receiving them in the mail this week.
Wal-Mart Drops CD Price Dolly has teamed up with Wal-Mart to lower the price on her current CD, Backwoods Barbie, which is available at Wal-Mart stores with an exclusive bonus live track of "9 To 5." The title is now being offered by the retail giant for the reduced price of $8.98. See a report here.
Always A Giver Dolly is among several dozen celebrities who have donated their purses to Handbag.com to raise money to fight breast cancer. The bags will be auctioned off via eBay Oct. 3-14 with the proceeds benefiting Cancer Research UK. Dolly's bag is pictured at left. Others participating in the campaign include America Ferrera, Annie Lenox, Ashley Simpson, Geri Halliwell, Judi Dench, Sharon and Kelly Osborne, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Scarlett Johansson. Learn more here.
Not The Best Of Associations Dolly's name has come up in a couple of places regarding a former Nashville minister whose compound was raided in recent days on charges of child pornography and child abuse. The connection is because in addition to his pastoring, flashy evangelist (and convicted felon) Tony Alamo used to run a very successful costuming business, making outfits for the stars including Dolly, Michael Jackson, James Brown and others. The Tennessean noted his arrest here, illustrating it with a photo of him and his wife with Dolly. ABC News reported on it here, recalling that he used to operate a restaurant in Alma, Ark., where then-Gov. Bill Clinton recalled in his autobiography seeing Dolly perform a concert.
Sept. 23: New '9 To 5' Reviews, Stories, Video Lots more tonight from the weekend's opening performance of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical. Image at left of Megan Hilty (Dorolee), Allison Janey (Violet) and Stephanie J. Block (Judy) with their box of "Rid 'O Rat" is a publicity image by Craig Schwartz and courtesy the Center Theatre Group. Click on it for a larger view.
Access Hollywood offered the best posting of them all with more than five minutes of footage from the musical itself: extended excerpts from "Shine Like The Sun," "One Of The Boys," "Get Out And Stay Out," "Backwoods Barbie" and the script's most famous scene (Violet's confrontation with Hart that leads to Dorolee's confrontation with him and her most famous line). Watch the footage here. The show also posted a blog on the opening here in which the writer cited the technical difficulties and Dolly's unexpected performance to cover them the reason "why I LOVE live theatre – you never know what youre gonna get, and sometimes you experience something so special, it's practically cathartic." (He added that the musical will attract both sophisticates and Middle America: "The themes are transcendent and the music is infectious. Yep, Dolly & director Joe Mantello have a hit on their hands.") The show also has story about it here featuring some celebrity quotes from famous audience members.
Entertainment Weekly notes that one particular line was axed from the official premiere. In preview shows, when the characters at the end tell what happens to each other in the future, Dorolee said that she and her husband go to work for George W. Bush until they realize he is "a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot," which always brought huge laughs and applause. However, some audience members were unhappy, and Dolly took some slack for it even though she only wrote the music and not the script. Dolly told the magazine's "Hollywood Insider" blog here: "That was not, I don't think, a right thing to do, and a lot of the fans were offended by it. It was just meant to be funny. But we don't want to offend half the people in the house, when I figure half are Republican and half are Democrat." So the line was removed and has been replaced with one of Dolly's own stage jokes from her current tour, as Dorolee says she considered running for president but decided there had been too many boobs in the White House.
The Los Angeles Times gives a mixed review here, saying the show has "only occasional success." It notes that Dolly offers "a fresh if patchy score" but the script is "lumpy in the overlong first half and curiously rushed in the second." It notes that Dolly's writing shows "much finesse" but the songs "don't advance the musical's emancipatory theme." Overall, the critic says the show could earn big bucks on Broadway ("the potential to rescue the next big bank failure") but it requires a lot of work before then. The paper's blog here gives some insight into how the film's original stars reacted as they came in and more details on Dolly's stretching for time when the set broke down.
The Advocate discusses the show through the lens of the large gay contingent present for the opening here, adding that Megan Hilty's character offers an homage to Dolly herself.
E! Online's Marc Malkin calls the show "a hoot" in his column here. He agrees with other critics that the first act is too long but predicts with the right trimming ("nippin' and tuckin'," he says using some Dolly language) "it's sure to be another hit for director Joe Mantello."
Humorist Mo Rocca got into the act with a column singling out Dolly's quick thinking and action when the set ground to a halt as the type of decisive leadership needed by whoever becomes the next president. Read his piece here (but remember that he is a comedian, so some of his comments, such as that Dolly was trying to outdo "Coal Miner's Daughter" with her "Coat Of Many Colors," are meant to be jokes and not serious statements).
Fan Diane from Tennessee was in the house for the opening and the after-party and reports that everything was simply amazing. They saw the celebrities and watched Katie Cook from CMT interview folks for CMT Insider (she told them after the show that she thought it was amazing, too). Heading to the restroom during intermission, Dolly was right in front of them in the lobby and asked if they were having a good time. She says most of the celebrities were acting like crazed fans at Dollywood themselves, clammoring to get a few seconds with Dolly. Look for some photos coming soon! Thanks!
Paper: No Dolly For Edmonton It looks like Dolly's expected Nov. 16 performance at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, has, in fact, been shelved. Canada's The Edmonton Journal on Monday confirmed here that Dolly had originally planned a concert there but those plans were "ditched . . . at the last minute."
Sept. 22: Dolly's Musical Opens In LA Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical officially opened in Los Angeles on Saturday night amid much fanfare after several nights of preview performances. Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on how you look at it), about half an hour into the show the revolving set came to a stop, forcing Dolly to get up and entertain the crowd just like she did on the first night of preview performances a few days earlier. Once again, she led the crowd in "9 To 5" and "I Will Always Love You" as well as chatted with the crowd. The unexpected appearance lasted about 15 minutes. Early reviews were mixed. The OC Register gave the musical a score of seven out of 10 here, noting that the production is a bit extravagant for such a simple story. KTLA here said the show was "85 percent there" and needs some tweaking before next year's Broadway debut (thanks, Terry!). Variety says here the show is "mostly auspicious" but criticized some crass humor and a few other items its reviewer saw as shortcomings (although some of the things he complained as not fitting came directly from the original film, which made it sound like he had never seen the movie). Theatremania calls the show here "a pleasant diversion" but says some of the songs are filler that need to be cut before the New York run and that the overall production "lacks the freshness it needs to make it a truly first-rate musical." Bloomberg news service here offers a much more positive spin, saying while the end feels a little forced the songs are great and the actresses spectacular and the atmosphere fresh, adding "With a few song trims and a punchier ending, 9 to 5 may well find its approach is very much a way to make a living -- and even a killing -- on Broadway." The Hollywood Reporter gave a great turn here that "If you liked the film, you're going to love the musical," praising Dolly's songwriting, the actresses, the sets, the production and everything else, saying all "have done a sensational job." Although opening nights are typically reserved only for members of the press, celebrities and guests of the performers/producers/etc., this show had general members of the public present as well – because some ticketholders to the early previews that had been cancelled due to technical difficulties were provided tickets for the private opening night show. Photos from opening night are available from Yahoo here. Dolly and cast members were interviewed for NPR's Weekend Edition which aired on Saturday and in which she said she plans to write many future musicals after this experience. Take a listen here! The theatre has posted a steaming video on its website of scenes from the show to promote it here. And thanks to Christian for alerting me that CMT has announced that Dolly will be interviewed about the musical on next weekend's CMT Insider program, which premieres at 1:30 p.m. Eastern next Saturday (see repeat broadcast times in the TV listings on the left-hand side of this page). Image at left of Marc Kurdish (Mr. Hart), Megan Hilty (Dorolee), Stephanie J. Block (Judy) and Allison Janey (Violet) in the show is a publicity image by Craig Schwartz and courtesy the Ahmanson Theatre. Click on it for a larger view.
A Few More Pics From Dollywood Thanks to Sharon for sending in some shots from Dolly's Dollywood concerts last month, which have been added to comprise the 49th gallery of images in that section of the site here.
Watch Leno Online If you missed Dolly's interview and performance of "Shinola" on NBC's The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Friday night, the network has posted the entire episode for online streaming viewing here. And don't forget to watch her on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday. The program is syndicated, so check local listings for stations and times.
More From Dollypop And check out some images here and a story here from LA Weekly about the Dollypop art exhibit on display now at the WOW Gallery.
Sept. 20: 'Shinola' Debuts On CMT's 'Pure' Countdown The video for Dolly's current single, "Shinola," debuted Friday at No. 1 on the Pure 12 Pack viewer-voted countdown on CMT's digital cable channel, Pure Country. (Vote for it in next week's tally here!) She also chatted with Jay Leno and performed the song live on The Tonight Show on NBC that evening. On Friday she also filmed her appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show which is scheduled for broadcast on Monday. In related news, check out a clip with Ellen alongside an Access Hollywood piece about her reaction to last month's death rumors here.
'9 To 5' Opening Arrives All of her major co-stars from the 1980 film 9 To 5 -- Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman – are slated to be in Los Angeles Saturday night for the official opening night performance of Dolly's new 9 To 5: The Musical, and the show continues to get noticed in the press. Check out a great Los Angeles Times interview here and watch an Entertainment Tonight piece here. An interview with star Alison Janey from the LA Times is available online from The St. Louis Post-Dispatchhere.
Another 'Book Lady' Story Saturday also marks the premiere of the Canadian documentary about her Imagination Library literacy program, The Book Lady, and here's another story about the film, this time from Nova Scotia's The Chronicle Heraldhere
Help Out A Reporter, Belgium Your webmaster was contacted this week by a journalist writing for the Belgian newspaper De Standaard who is working on a piece about fans and is looking for a diehard Belgian fan of Dolly's, especially someone following her every step or even trying to imitate her. I couldn't think of any off the top of my head, but I know there are several readers of the site from that region of Europe, so I thought perhaps one of you could make a connection. If so, please e-mail the reporter, Jelle, here.
Don't Forget To Vote! You've just got one week to continue voting for Dollymania in the annual BT Digital Music Awards' People's Choice Award category. You may log in one vote per e-mail address daily by clicking here. Thanks, everyone, for your support!
Sept. 19: 'Barbie' Sticks Around, Jessica Does Well Now that it's back on the chart, maybe it will stick around for a few more weeks. Dolly's current CD, Backwoods Barbie, inches up one spot this week to rest at No. 74 on the 75-position country albums chart, Billboard revealed Thursday in the Sept. 27 numbers. The disc marks its 29th week on the tally. (Don't forget to watch her sing the current single, "Shinola," Friday night on NBC's The Tonight Show With Jay Leno!) Also on the list, her 16 Biggest Hits dips one to No. 49 country in its 49th week. As was reported here Wednesday night, Jessica Simpson's first country album, Do You Know, which features the Dolly-penned title track on which she also provides harmony vocals, is the week's No. 1 country and No. 4 pop album (followed by Sugarland's Love on the Inside, which loses one to No. 2 country in its eighth week and two to No. 13 pop). Simpson's collection also debuts at No. 4 on the comprehensive albums chart, No. 3 on digital albums, No. 15 for Internet sales, No. 13 Canadian pop albums and No. 1 Canadian country albums. Another new set, Patty Loveless with Sleepless Nights, shows up this week, debuting at No. 13 country, No. 86 pop and No. 17 Canadian country with her cover of Porter & Dolly's "The Pain Of Loving You." George Jones' Burn Your Playhouse Down, featuring Dolly on "Rockin' Years," drops four to No. 28 country in its fourth week, 46 places to No. 168 pop and four spots to No. 19 Internet sales. Emmylou Harris' All I Intended To Be, with Dolly on "Gold," falls two three No. 43 country in its 14th week and is down three to No. 38 Canadian country. Brad Paisley's Time Well Wasted, featuring Dolly on "When I Get Where I'm Going," holds steady at No. 4 on the country catalog albums list and loses five to No. 30 Canadian country, while 21 Number Ones by Kenny Rogers, including "Islands In The Stream," dips three on the country catalog albums list to No. 21. Eva Cassidy's Somewhere, featuring her cover of "Coat Of Many Colors," slips 24 to No. 160 pop in its third week, also losing seven to No. 22 independent label albums and falling off the 25-position Internet sales list, down from No. 24 the previous week.
Dolly Recognizes Porter At ACM Event Dolly couldn't be there in person, but she paid her respects to former mentor and duet partner Porter Wagoner during the Academy of Country Music's special awards presentation in Nashville Wednesday night. Wagoner, Brenda Lee, the Oak Ridge Boys and Conway Twitty were recognized with the ACM's Cliffie Stone Pioneer Awards. Impressionist Gordon Mote performed a dead-on impersonation of Wagoner on several of his songs, according to CMT.com here, and Dolly offered a videotaped greeting. Last year, Wagoner presented Dolly with her Pioneer Award from the ACM in their final public appearance together prior to his death in October.
Logo Posts Dolly Interview If you don't have LOGO and want to watch Jake Shears' Dolly interview, Jake's Adventure In Dollyworld, the network has posted streaming video on its website in four parts accessible here.
Reading About Dolly Thanks to Scott for alerting me to a Dolly quote in the new edition of Reader's Digest. She appears in the October issue in the form of a new cartoon sketch next to the quote: "I still close my eyes and go home – I can always draw from that," which the magazine attributed to her saying on CNN.com.
New Library Stories, Documentary Details Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen's activities to promote Imagination Library Week in Dolly's home state continued to get noticed on Thursday with pieces from The Bristol Herald Courierhere, Johnson City Presshere and Maryville Daily Timeshere. In addition, a story about the Library's Jackson County, Mich., chapter makes The Jackson Citizen Patriothere. Finally, the Canadian documentary about the literacy program, The Book Lady, earns some great marks from The Coasthere and The Cape Breton Posthere in advance of this weekend's premiere.
Sept. 18: One City's Confusion, Some Sale Dates Revealed Will she or won't she play Edmonton? Although a Nov. 16 show at the Alberta city's Rexall Place had been confirmed and reported here a couple of weeks ago, the date did not appear on the most recent itinerary released for Dolly's Backwoods Barbie World Tour. That led British concert site Gigwise on Wednesday to report that the concert there had been cancelled in its note here. However, local newspaper The Edmonton Journal on the same day reported here that the concert is still to take place. We'll have to wait and see which report is correct. In other tour developments, New Jersey's Star Journal on Wednesday noted the change of venue for her Halloween show from the Izod Center to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center here, explaining that tickets for the new venue will go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday via phone at 888-466-5722 or on the venue's website at njpac.org. The Des Moines Register told folks here that tickets for her Nov. 19 show there will go on sale Sept. 27 via Ticketmaster. Pre-sales have yet to be announced for Milwaukee or Green Bay, but public ticket sales are scheduled for Sept. 27 for Green Bay and Oct. 3 for Milwaukee. And the for-sale dates for her Nov. 5 concert in Raleigh, N.C., have changed. Instead of the Dolly-ite pre-sale starting Wednesday of this week, it will now begin on Sept. 24, and instead of the public sales starting this Friday, they will begin Sept. 26. (Although the Raleigh News Observer blogged here that the sale dates won't be announced until Friday.)
Simpson To Be No. 1 Dolly has a prominent role in the nation's No. 1 country album, it became known on Wednesday. Billboard magazine revealed that Jessica Simpson's first country collection, Do You Know, will stand atop the country tally this week when the full charts come out on Thursday. The CD will also debut at No. 4 pop with first-week sales of 65,000 copies. Dolly, of course, encouraged Simpson to not shelve her career after the young singer flubbed a performance of "9 To 5" during Dolly's Kennedy Center Honors tribute. As a result, Simpson shifted from pop music to country, and Dolly not only wrote the title track for her CD but also sings harmony on it as well.
Latest '9 To 5' Coverage More on 9 To 5: The Musical, which completes its LA "previews" on Friday night before its official "opening" night on Saturday, came from The OC Register Wednesday with a great interview with one of the show's stars, Stephanie J. Block. Read it here.
Library Week Celebrated In Tenn. "King Phil" shook his butt a little in Knoxville, reports say, as Tennessee's governor read books to pre-schoolers and parents as part of his promotions to publicize Imagination Library Week in the state. Gov. Phil Bredesen took Dolly's international early childhood literacy program statewide a few years ago, and it now reaches 50 percent of eligible children throughout her home state. Read more from The Knoxville News Sentinelhere, News Channel 11 here and The Johnson City Presshere. In related news, a piece about the upcoming documentary about the program's Canadian expansion, The Book Lady, which premieres this weekend, shows up in Metrohere, including a quote reacting to the film from Dolly herself.
Thanks, Y'all! Sincere appreciation to those who expressed their concern in recent days. Although life isn't completely back to normal yet after the remnants of Hurricane Ike blew through the region over the weekend causing significant damage across the area, power and Internet were restored to my home on Wednesday, which greatly helped! Everyone in the area should have power by the weekend, which will bring everything closer to normal.
Sept. 16: More Tour Dates Revealed (Still no power at home, so here's another abbreviated update!) Several new dates were announced Tuesday for Dolly's Backwoods Barbie World Tour. Her previously-scheduled Halloween show at the Izod Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., has moved to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. Ticketholders should contact their point of purchase for the original concert for a refund. The on-sale date for tickets at the new Oct. 31 concert has not been announced. A Nov. 5 date has been added in Raleigh, N.C., at the RBC Center. Dolly-ite pre-sale tickets should be available beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday, with public sales starting Friday, according to DollyPartonMusic.net. The other engagements announced Tuesday, which have yet to be reported on DollyPartonMusic.net and have yet to have ticket sale dates revealed, are Nov. 17 at the Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee, Wis.; Nov. 18 at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis.; and Nov. 19 at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines in Des Moines, Iowa.
Latest From Dollypop Folks just can't get enough Dollypop, the LA art exhibit at World of Wonder celebrating all things Dolly. Check out a great pictorial and story from Australian celebrity site Defamerhere, and thanks to WOW's Lindsey for sending along a link to the gallery's video montage from opening night here!
Sept. 15: Popping Open In LA! Thanks again to the Lane Twins, Gary and Larry, for keeping us all up-to-date with the VIP opening night at the Dollypop exhibit in Los Angeles. They tell me "From our Dolly door greeter to the biggest set of boobs to every flash on the Hollywood strip. It was a crazy night that only Dolly could inspire. From Dolly look-a-likes to live chickens, it was pure Dollymania!" A raffle was held for press night tickets to 9 To 5: The Musical this coming Saturday with money benefiting one of Dolly's charities, while Dolly music and videos (including her 1980s variety show clips) played throughout the evening. Many of the more than 100 pieces in the show sold, including the one made entirely of bubble gum, which went for $1,800 within five minutes of the doors opening. Check out their images from the party here!
Two More Pre-Sales Revealed Two of Dolly's upcoming Canadian concerts, first announced on Dollymania nearly two weeks ago, have been added to the tour itinerary available from her official record label website, DollyPartonMusic.net, with pre-sales for members of its Dolly-ites online fan community to begin at 10 a.m. local time Wednesday. The shows are Nov. 13 in Winnipeg and Nov. 14 in Saskatoon. Public ticket sales for Winnipeg begin Friday morning, with Saskatoon's starting Saturday. Notes about the Winnipeg show made The Winnipeg Sunhere (which also has a brief interview with her here) and Winnipeg Free Presshere. No word yet on when tickets will go on sale for the other date north of the border that has been reported on Dollymania: Nov. 16 in Edmonton.
Support Dolly On CMT CMT.com has added Dolly's video for "Shinola" to its online streaming videos and is taking votes for it on its Pure 12 Pack countdown on its Pure Country digital cable network. Watch the video here and vote for it here!
A Note From Your Webmaster Apologies for the lack of an update on Sunday night. Your webmaster now lives in the area of the Midwest that was slammed with hurricane-force winds Sunday from the remnants of Hurricane Ike and the vast majority of buildings in the region have no electricity. Luckily, I was able to find one operating wi-fi connection in town to get this brief update posted today. Because of the outages, which could take up to a week to fully repair, updates to the website will likely be sporadic for several days. Thank you for your understanding.
Sept. 13: 'Pop' That Dolly! Los Angeles-area fans have much to cheer with this weekend's opening of the Dollypop show at the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery on Hollywood Boulevard. Several VIP guests – and a couple of Dolly impersonators (rumors, although those can never be trusted, were that Dolly herself might pop in) – got their first look with an artist reception Friday night prior to its public opening on Saturday. Co-curated by E! Online columnist and Dolly devotee Marc Malkin and Steven Corfe, the show, which continues through Oct. 8, features more than 100 pieces from dozens of artists. Gary and Larry Lane have some items from their personal collection on display and had the opportunity to see it early, so they sent in some preview shots of the artwork to give everyone a feel for what's going on. Check those out here. They promise more coverage of the VIP reception, too! Thanks, guys! Even CMT.com's blogs picked up on the show, noting it here.
They Weren't Mastering The Tickets Friday Dolly had some hot fans in Kentucky on Friday. Tickets were scheduled to go on sale at noon for her Oct. 26 Louisville show via Ticketmaster, but when 12 p.m. arrived, nothing happened. The venue claimed shortly after 12 that "technical difficulties" delayed the sale at all outlets, both physical and online, and that no one knew when it would be resolved and the tickets could be offered. Some fans, however, said they called Ticketmaster and were erroneously told by misinformed customer service operators that they were mistaken to believe tickets were supposed to be on sale that day because their records showed that the ticket sale date had never been announced. Of course, the ticket sale date was correct and had been announced. Whatever the problem was, it was worked out by mid-afternoon and the tickets were finally available.
'Very Best' Comes Back After a few weeks off the chart across the pond, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 is once again on the Irish tally, it was announced Friday. The CD re-enters Ireland's top 100 pop albums chart at No. 98 to log in a 58th chart week.
Read Some Quotes From Chattanooga More coverage of Dolly's acceptance of her National Medal of Arts was in The Chattanooga Times Free Press Friday. Read the story here!
Sept. 12: 'Barbie' Back At No. 75 After being off the 75-position tally for a week, Dolly's Backwoods Barbie is back on the country charts this week at its bottom spot, No. 75. The re-entry gives the album its 28th chart week in the Sept. 20 numbers. Elsewhere on the list, her 16 Biggest Hits rises two to No. 48 country in its 48th week. George Jones' Burn Your Playhouse Down, with Dolly on "Rockin' Years," inches down two to No. 24 country in its third week and 21 spots to No. 122 pop. Emmylou Harris' All I Intended To Be, featuring Dolly on "Gold," gains four three No. 41 country in its 13th week and is down three to No. 35 Canadian country. Brad Paisley's Time Well Wasted, with Dolly on "When I Get Where I'm Going," holds steady at No. 4 on the country catalog albums list and gains four to No. 25 Canadian country, while 21 Number Ones by Kenny Rogers, featuring "Islands In The Stream," falls two on the country catalog albums list to No. 18. Eva Cassidy's Somewhere, including her cover of "Coat Of Many Colors," rises four to No. 136 pop in its second week but loses two to No. 15 independent label albums and five to No. 24 Internet sales. Sugarland's Love on the Inside regains the No. 1 country spot in its seventh week but slides three to No. 11 pop while Now That's What I Call Country dips one to No. 2 country and eight to No. 15 pop in its second week.
Dolly Gets Her Medal See a shot from The Chattanooga Times Free Presshere from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies convention in Chattanooga, where she was the keynote speaker and received her 2005 National Medal of Arts that she had yet to be presented.
'Two Blondes With No Asses?' Among the latest reveals from Jessica Simpson about Dolly's appearance on her CD Do You Know is this one from an MSN Q&A: When Dolly finished recording her vocals for the title track, she looked into a video camera that Simpson's father had in the studio and exclaimed that Simpson had sung her butt off on the song, and she had sung her own butt off on the song, so now they were "two blondes with no asses!" Read more here. Thanks, Arelis!
Resnick Talks Of Musical Speaking of "9 To 5," Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical gets a little more coverage this week with an interview with scriptwriter Patricia Resnick discussing the show in The Jewish Journal of Greater L.A.here. Also, thanks to Bridget for alerting me to someone having posted most of the closing number to the show on YouTube here.
Don Talks Of Dolly Read Don Warden's reaction to his Steel Guitar Hall of Fame induction, how he got into the business, how he teamed up with Porter Wagoner and what he thinks of Dolly as one of her longest-serving employees in a new interview with Country Stars Central available here.
Presidential Posturing Dolly's back in the presidential campaign. No, it's not "Dolly for President," but rather her music that's making an appearance. You may recall that Democrat Hillary Clinton used "9 To 5" as one of her anthems on the campaign trail, and now Republican Sarah Palin gets some "Straight Talk" during her appearances, according to a note on Yahoo here.
Dolly Song On Top List Billboard this week released its tally for the all-time top songs on its Hot 100 pop singles chart, and while Dolly doesn't appear as a singer, she does as a writer. Based on chart performance, Whitney Houston's cover of her "I Will Always Love You" pops up at No. 68.
Sept. 11: '9 To 5' Goes Off With Entertaining Hitch Audiences were in for a nice, unexpected surprise at the first performance of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical Tuesday night after two previous delays due to technical issues. Dolly welcomed the crowd and told them if anything went wrong, she'd be back. Well, sure enough, the rotating set stopped rotating during the first act, and Dolly came to the rescue! Seated in the Orchestra section, she took to the foot of the stage, conducted a 10-minute question and answer session with the audience (during which she joked that they asked her to be in the show, in which case she'd have to call it "Nine-ty five," and chimed that "That little Megan, she takes me back 28 years!"). Then got the orchestra into it as she offered a sing-a-long with the audience on "9 To 5" and "I Will Always Love You." Then the set was working again and the show went on again. "Amazing!!!" reported attendee Gary Lane, shown at left with Dolly in the audience of the show. "Thank God the set broke down for 25 min just before intermission." (Click on the thumbnail for a larger version – also, his autographed program is below -- thanks, Gary!) Clips of Dolly's impromptu performance quickly popped up on YouTube Wednesday. Check some out here, here and here. The Los Angeles Times gives mention of the event here.
In related news:
E! Online blogger Marc Malkin tells us here what the show's writer Patricia Resnick shared with the crowd at a screening of the film Monday night in Los Angeles, including a comment that Dolly plans to release an entire CD of the songs she wrote for the musical that didn't make it. He also plugs the Dollypop art show he is curating at the World of Wonder in Los Angeles that opens Friday.
The Rockford Register Star in Rockford, Ill., this week talks with one of the actors in the show and its producer because both of them, and the musical's director, all finished at the city's Boylan Catholic High School. Read that piece here.
Dolly and the lead cast members of the show have autographed a pair of jeans on the Clothes Off Our Back charity auction. The event benefits America's Second Harvest, The Art of Elysium, Hope North and H.E.L.P. Malawi. The auction ends next Wednesday, Sept. 17, and as of press time Wednesday night, bids sat at $100. Check the item out here.
Bredesen To Hand Dolly Her Arts Medal Three years after she was named as its recipient, Dolly is finally getting her National Medal of Arts. However, the person bestowing it on her Thursday is Tennessee's Gov. Phil Bredesen, not President George W. Bush. Dolly was honored with the Medal in 2005 but declined the invitation to accept it with the year's nine other honorees in a White House ceremony with Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. Instead, she was scheduled to be in Oklahoma performing a concert on the night before the awards were to be handed out and in North Carolina the day after the ceremony to help her brother break ground on his theater, with the travel demands preventing her from making it to D.C. The Medal will be presented to her in Chattanooga when she addresses the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies at 1 p.m. Thursday as its keynote speaker. The event, though, is only open to convention registrants. Read more from The Chattanooga Times Free Presshere.
Dolly To Head Smokies Anniversary Dolly has been named the Great Smoky Mountains National Park 75th Anniversary Ambassador, it was announced Thursday. She has composed a new song about the mountains for the anniversary and will donate the rights to the song for one year to the Friends of the Smokies charity. Read more from The Maryville Daily Timeshere. The park reaches the milestone birthday next year.
Classic Dolly Videos On iTunes Thanks to Christopher for calling my attention to the addition of two Dolly videos to the downloads this week at iTunes: 1998's "Honky Tonk Songs" and "The Salt In My Tears." Click on the links above to download them discounted to $1.49 each.
Tour Makes News Some of the recent additions to Dolly's fall leg of the Backwoods Barbie World Tour made Live Daily Wednesday. Check out the piece here.
'Woahdeo' Returns To Stampede The stick horse "Woahdeo" is returning to Dolly's Dixie Stampede dinner theatre in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., it was announced this week. The family event, sponsored by Food City, debuted last year. It takes place on Sept. 27.
Sept. 10: Dolly's Park Scores In Annual Honors Amusement Today has announced its recipients of the 2008 Golden Ticket Awards, and Dolly's Tennessee theme park took home numerous honors. Dollywood was a finalist in more categories this year than any other park in the world, coming in at or very near the top in eight separate categories. It took first place for a new award this year, Best Christmas Show, for its Smoky Mountain Christmas festival. Second place honors were bestowed for Friendliest Park, Best Shows, Best Food and Best Wooden Roller Coaster (Thunderhead – also No. 2 last year after two years at No. 1). A third place finish came in Cleanest Park, fourth for Best Landscaping and 10th place for Best Park on the globe. Although not a finalist, the park was mentioned in a ninth category, Best Steel Coaster, where its Mystery Mine ranked No. 47 out of the top 50 globally.
Jones Gets Kennedy Honor Country icon George Jones, who has performed with Dolly on a handful of recordings over the years (including one from 1988 that popped up on his collection of previously-unreleased duets a couple of weeks ago, Burn Your Playhouse Down), was announced Tuesday as one of this year's recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors. In a statement reacting to the award, The Possum exclaimed: "I can't believe that I have been included in the same company as previous winners that are country music legends: Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Roy Acuff and Willie Nelson." This year's other honorees are Barbara Streisand, Morgan Freeman, Twyla Tharp and Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who. Read more here.
Hear Simpson CD Jessica Simpson's Do You Know, featuring Dolly harmony on the title track which she wrote for Simpson, came out Tuesday, and if you want to hear the entire CD before buying, CMT.com has posted streaming audio of it on its website here.
Sept. 9: Jessica Gets Many Mixed Reviews Jessica Simpson's debut country disc, Do You Know, hits stores on Tuesday, but the reviews started coming out en masse on Monday, and the words were not all kind. Several critics noted that Dolly's composition, "Do You Know," on which she also sings, is the CD's sole stand-out tune or one of just two acceptable tracks, showing by comparison how mediocre the other songs on the album are. The Houston Chronicle called it here: "a torchy, sweeping song, a gorgeous mix of instrumentation and female wails. Parton draws something intriguing out of Simpson that, until now, hasn't been apparent. It's too bad, then, that Parton wasn't asked to bring more of that complexity to the rest of the album." The Los Angeles Times agreed here, noting the first verse Simpson sings alone is passable enough as a country song, but when Dolly harmonizes, "the voltage increase in palpable. The gap between novice and master couldn't be clearer." The Hartford Courant nods as well, saying Dolly the songwriter offers "the best song on the album," calling the tune "stirring" but lamenting here that her "hushed harmonies also show that Simpson has plenty of room to grow as a country singer." The Dallas Morning News gives the collection a "C-" here, saying other than its first single and Dolly's closing number, the CD "proves totally listless . . . . Here's an album book-ended by two great cuts. And those two tunes are the only things holding the project together." The Sacramento Bee has similar thoughts here, saying the songs on the disc "aren't awful, mind you, they're just not memorable" and that the CD's middle is "thin and unconvincing," save only for the first single kicking it off and Dolly's contribution ending it for "a strong opening and finish." The Miami Herald offers here the only negative mark I saw about Dolly's song, calling it a "just-OK tune" and saying other than the first single, "Come On Over," the album is "undistinguished, forgettable and no better or worse than the average formulaic Carrie Underwood." (In the same article, the paper also gives a mixed review for Patty Loveless' Sleepless Nights, also coming out Tuesday, saying her powerful voice gets a bit too much if you listen to the entire CD in one sitting, but listening a little at a time gives "a rich treat," singling out her cover of the Porter & Dolly classic "The Pain Of Loving You" as one of the stand-out tracks.) In other news, some have taken to questioning in recent days whether the duet is a same-sex love song given that the two ladies sing about lying in the afterglow and other suggestive lyrics when the harmonies sound more like two singers performing a duet "to" each other rather than one primary singer and one back-up singer. Examples of articles picking up on this, whether that subtext was the producers' intentions or not, include The Advocatehere and After Ellenhere. Simpson will be all over the tube in coming days plugging the release and will almost assuredly talk about Dolly's participation, including appearances on Good Morning America Tuesday, The View and The Late Show With David Letterman Thursday, The Early Show on CBS next Tuesday and Rachel Ray a week from Wednesday.
Dolly Returns To 'Ellen' In addition to her previously-announced stop with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show later this month to plug her current CD (Backwoods Barbie), current single ("Shinola") and the LA test run of her 9 To 5: The Musical (which as of press time Monday evening was still scheduled to premiere Tuesday night after two earlier delays), Dolly's publicity stops in Los Angeles will also include an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to air on Sept. 22, it was announced Monday. DeGeneres' other guest for the program will be actor Simon Baker. The show is syndicated, so please check local listings for stations and times. She appeared on the program in 2004 to promote For God And Country and in 2006 to plug her Academy Award nomination for the song "Travelin' Thru."
Another N.C. Library Starts Up The first kids in Haywood County, N.C., have received their initial books from Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program, The Mountineer reported Monday in a story posted here. The program, active in nearly 900 communities across the U.S., Canada and U.K., provides one free, expert-chosen, age-appropriate, hardcover book every month from birth to age 5 to every child whose parents sign up in a participating community. It distributes in excess of 5 million books each year.
Sept. 8: Dolly In St. Louis, Ricky At Dollywood Special thanks to Amber Eads for submitting a few photos from Dolly's recent appearance in St. Louis to induct former road manager Don Warden into the national Steel Guitar Hall of Fame, including the one at left. See them all here. In addition, thanks to Greg Brookshire for sending in some shots from the weekend's Barbeque & Bluegrass Festival opening at Dollywood with Ricky Skaggs' show, in addition to seeing where Porter Wagoner's memorial rose is presently sitting in a pot and eventually will be planted. Take a look at them here.
Latest Library Additions A couple more communities have signed up for Dolly Imagination Library literacy program: Rock Hill, S.C., as reported in the Rock Hill Heraldhere, and Union County, Ohio, as reported in This Week Maryvillehere.
Sept. 6: Louisville Tickets Just Days Away After word of the concert was first reported here Wednesday night, ticket information for Dolly's Oct. 26 engagement at the Louisville Palace in Louisville, Ky., was released on Friday. Seats will be publicly available through Ticketmaster starting at noon Eastern next Friday, Sept. 12. No word yet on whether a Dolly-ite pre-sale will be offered, but if there is one, I'd expect it to be announced on Monday or Tuesday.
'Barbie' Gone In Denmark, Too It had a good Danish run, going higher on the pop charts there than in any other country, but Dolly's Backwoods Barbie is gone overseas this week. The new Denmark pop albums tally on Friday showed the disc fell out of the top 40 CDs, down from No. 36 the previous week, its seventh there. It peaked there at No. 6 pop thanks to a television advertising campaign.
TV Reminder Don't forget to watch the American premiere of Scissor Sisters lead singer Jake Shears' interview with Dolly on Jake's Adventures In Dolly World, airing Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern on LOGO. The show repeats Monday and the following Saturday as well.
Post Mention Dolly's turn as Broadway composer gets another nod in the Big Apple, this time from The New York Post with a piece posted here on Friday.
Sept. 5: 'Barbie' Gone From U.S. Charts Although I'd expect it to return following her performance of current single "Shinola" on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno in a couple of weeks, for now Dolly's Backwoods Barbie is gone from the charts this week, it was announced in Billboard's Sept. 13 numbers released Thursday. The album has fallen out of the 75-position country albums chart, down from No. 60 the previous week, its 27th since coming out in February. Her 16 Biggest Hits slides seven to No. 50 country in its 47th week. Burn Your Playhouse Down by George Jones, featuring the duet "Rockin' Years" with Dolly, loses seven in its second week to come in at No. 22 country and is down 22 to No. 101 pop. Emmylou Harris' All I Intended To Be, with Dolly on "Gold," drops four to No. 44 country in its 12th week and loses two to No. 32 Canadian country. Brad Paisley's Time Well Wasted, featuring Dolly on "When I Get Where I'm Going," gains one to No. 4 on the country catalog albums list and increases seven to No. 29 Canadian country, while 21 Number Ones by Kenny Rogers, with "Islands In The Stream," rises three on the country catalog albums list to No. 16. Eva Cassidy's Somewhere, with a cover of "Coat Of Many Colors," debuts at No. 140 pop, No. 13 independent label albums and No. 19 Internet sales. Now That's What I Call Country debuts at No. 1 country, No. 7 pop with 50,000 copies sold in its first week, while Sugarland's Love on the Inside loses the top country spot after five weeks to come in at No. 2 country in its sixth week but holds steady at No. 8 pop with 47,000 units moved.
'9 To 5' Delayed A Few More Days Already delayed once for technical issues, Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical has been delayed again, it was revealed Thursday. Playbill reported here that once again technical issues were to blame, citing a statement from the Los Angeles theatre running the world premiere that: "I hate disappointing these early preview audiences, but thankfully we have the ability to add performances later in the run to help re-locate our audiences. And once they see the show, they will understand why we are taking the extra time to meet this musical's large technical demands. 9 to 5: The Musical is one of the biggest shows ever produced at the Ahmanson, and big shows, with this quality of cast and creative team deserve the utmost support in their development. To do any less would be a disservice to all." The show's Saturday and Sunday performances have been cancelled, following the earlier cancellation of this week's Wednesday, Thursday and Friday shows. The musical will now premiere Tuesday night. Its preview run will continue through Sept. 19 before its official opening on Sept. 20. The show will then continue through Oct. 19. Two new performances were added, a Sept. 14 matinee and early evening performance on the closing night Oct. 19. Ticketholders for the cancelled dates will be allowed to exchange tickets for future performances. The show begins previews on Broadway in March with an official April opening in New York.
'Shinola' Getting Noticed Dolly's "Shinola" music video gets some marks from The Daily Trojan, the student newspaper of the University of Southern California, with a review here Thursday.
Concert Coverage The Scarlet Scuttlebutt in East Brunswick, N.J., on Thursday plugged Dolly's upcoming concert in nearby East Rutherford with a piece here. Meanwhile, the Dolly-ite pre-sale for her Reading, Penn., show originally scheduled to begin on Thursday has moved to Friday morning, it was announced on Thursday.
More On Irish Interview The Ulster Herald over in Ireland previewed Dolly's radio interview this weekend with Pio McCann by publishing a story Thursday available online here. You'll be able to listen to the interview, which airs during the program between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. Eastern time Saturday, here.
Sept. 4: Two More U.S., Three Canadian Dates Added Five new dates for Dolly's Backwoods Barbie World Tour have been confirmed, Dollymania can report: two in the U.S. and three in Canada. She is scheduled to play the Louisville Palace in Louisville, Ky., on Oct. 26; the Sovereign Center in Reading, Penn., on Nov. 7; MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Man., on Nov. 13; Saskatoon Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon, Sask., on Nov. 14; and Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alta., on Nov. 16. Only the Pennsylvania date, though, has been added to the itinerary on her official record label website, DollyPartonMusic.net, which will offer Dolly-ite pre-sales for that show beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern Thursday with public ticket sales beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern on Saturday. Ticket sale dates for the other four concerts have yet to be announced. In related news, The Virginian Pilot on Wednesday plugged her upcoming date in Norfolk, Va., with an announcement here.
Collins CD Postponed Again The Judy Collins tribute disc Born To The Breed, which features Dolly performing "The Fisherman's Song," has been delayed once more, her record label has announced. Hopefully this is the final date, as it has been set to coincide with a benefit concert that Collins will perform with some of the CD's contributors (but not Dolly) in New York a few days before the album hits stores. The collection is now scheduled for Oct. 14. Reserve your copy here!
More Simpson Chatter Jessica Simpson, whose CD Do You Know featuring Dolly comes out next Tuesday, continues to cite her as the reason she still sings. She gushed about Dolly to E! Online's Mark Malkin here, explaining how Dolly "totally took me under her wing and helped me up and over the cares of the world."
Hear Dolly On Irish Radio DollyPartonMusic.net on Wednesday revealed that a Dolly interview will air on The Pio McCann Show on Ireland's Highland Radio 103.3 FM. The broadcast, which will be available in live online audio here, will be noon to 2 p.m. Irish time on Saturday, which is 7 a.m. until 9 a.m. Eastern time in the U.S.
More '9 To 5' Interviews Thanks to Bridget to pointing me to a new posting Wednesday from Theatre Mania covering the press event in New York a few weeks back to promote 9 To 5: The Musical. The video has interviews with Dolly and each of the show's leading ladies, plus more footage from the re-written theme song performance than pretty much any of the clips I've seen yet. View it here.
Vote For Dolly Greg alerted me that Dolly was left out as a choice in this year's Country Weekly Most Beautiful Woman In Country Music poll. (She was one of the choices offered to readers last year in its first "most beautiful" poll and in each of the previous years when the magazine called it the "sexiest woman" poll.) He asked me to encourage everyone to visit the poll here and vote for "Other," writing in Dolly as your choice. Thanks!
Bluegrass Fest Approaches If you want some good music and good food, get the car gassed up and head over to Dollywood for the next month! Although Dolly won't be there, the park's third annual Barbeque & Bluegrass Festival kicks off Friday with headliner Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, who play both Friday and Saturday. In a press release, Dolly noted: "It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of bluegrass music, and I love great barbeque, too. I love to sing one and cook the other, so it's only natural that I would treat folks to my Barbeque & Bluegrass festival at Dollywood each year. Whether it's your ears or your appetite, you'll find something you'll love!" Others performing during the event include The Del McCourty Band Sept. 7 and 8, Cherryholmes Sept. 9 and 10, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Sept. 14 and 15, Seldom Scene Sept. 19, The Grascals Sept. 24 and Rhonda Vincent and The Rage Sept. 27 and 28 in addition to dozens of other artists. The festival continues through Sept. 28. In related news, Dollywood's Splash Country, its adjacent water park, is readying to close down for the season. The park's final four days of operation for 2008 are Sept. 6 and 7 and Sept. 13 and 14. It will open back up on May 16, 2009.
Library Expands In Ohio Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program has come to Brown County, Ohio, The Georgetown News Democrat reported here Wednesday.
Sept. 3: Two Concerts, Four Pre-Sales Announced Two new concerts have been added to the schedule for Dolly's Backwoods Barbie World Tour and four pre-sales start on Wednesday, Dolly's official record label website, DollyPartonMusic.net, announced on Tuesday. The new dates are Oct. 17 at the Mizner Park Amphiteatre in Boca Raton, Fla., and Nov. 6 at the Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va. Dolly-ite pre-sales for both shows begin at 10 a.m. Eastern Wednesday (the former via Ticketmaster and the latter via its venue website). The other Dolly-ite pre-sales, which also kick off at 10 a.m. Eastern Wednesday and are also through Ticketmaster, are for two previously-announced concerts which were added to the DollyPartonMusic.net tour itinerary for the first time on Tuesday: Oct. 21 in Jacksonville, Fla., which had been reported in the local newspaper there on Friday, and Oct. 31 in East Rutherford, N.J., a date which was first reported by Dollymania nearly a month ago. Public sale dates for the four shows are: 10 a.m. Monday for Boca Raton, 10 a.m. Friday for Jacksonville, 9 a.m. Saturday for East Rutherford and 10 a.m. Friday for Norfolk, all times Eastern.
Dolly Recognized, More Photos The Tennesseans celebrities columnist, Beverly Keel, on Tuesday profiled Dolly's recognition of two of her friends: former road manager Don Warden at the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame over the weekend and the late Dottie Rambo at Dollywood a couple of weeks ago. Read more here. In related news, thanks to Susan for sending in a few more shots of Dolly from the weekend, including some from Rambo's rose planting ceremony. They're available here in that section of the website.
Do You Know Blogging From Shinola? CMT.com's blog picked up on some major Dollytude in the video for her new single, "Shinola." Read the piece here. Alas, a CMT premiere of the song, though, has yet to be announced.
Talk '9 To 5' With Writer If you're out in LA next week and just can't get enough of "9 To 5," check out a screening of the film next Monday with a discussion afterwards with the film screenwriter, Patricia Resnick, who also penned the script for Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical which opens in the city on Saturday. The Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Boulevard will host a screening of the original movie at 7:30 p.m. Monday with the discussion featuring Resnick to follow. Tickets are $10 general, $9 students and seniors.
Library Expands In Minn. Children in the Duluth, Minn., area may now register for Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program, The Duluth Budgeteer reported Tuesday. Read the story here.
Sept. 2: Dolly Fetes Don In St. Louis Thanks to Christian at Country Stars Central for the teaser photo at left of Dolly with several attendees at the national Steel Guitar Hall of Fame ceremony over the weekend in St. Louis, including former road manager Don Warden, shown at the center of the photo next to Dolly (click on the thumbnail for a larger version). Here's what he has to report: "This past weekend Legendary Steel player and Wagonmaster Don Warden was officially inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in St. Louis , Missouri alongside fellow players Norm Hamlet and Julian Tharpe. The special occasion brought out a vast number of stars such as Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Jack Greene, and Leona Williams! This month Country Stars Central will be honoring Don Warden by placing him on our cover beginning September 7th. Also make sure to check back in then for an EXCLUSIVE interview with Don as well as some other surprises! Make sure to check out the coverage from the ceremony along with pictures here." Thanks, again!
'Very Best' Gone In The U.K. The final quarter of the top 100 British albums chart came out Monday, confirming that The Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 is gone. The CD fell from the top 100 from last week's position at No. 91 in its 10th week this year. It had peaked in the top 10 last year but returned to the charts this year with Dolly's tour of the region.
Showing That Big Heart A special needs adult from North Carolina made it across the mountains the other week to meet Dolly during her appearances at Dollywood. Read the touching story from The News Herald in Burke County, N.C., here.
And The Winner Was . . . Wonder what went on in the recent Dolly look-a-like contest up in Maine? There's a report from The Sun Journal in Lewiston here.
Sept. 1: Mixed Results Overseas Although Dolly's spot on the top 100 pop albums in the U.K., if she hangs on another week, wasn't immediately known (The Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 was at No. 91 last week but just the top 75 were known as of press time Sunday night), one album with a Dolly connection does show up quite high. Somewhere, a collection of previously unreleased recordings by the late singer Eva Cassidy which features her cover of "Coat Of Many Colors," debuts at No. 4 on the British tally. The Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 is gone, however, Down Under, where the CD fell out of the top 20 country albums list this week in Australia, down from No. 17 last week. Finally, her Backwoods Barbie loses 13 to No. 36 in its seventh week on the Danish pop albums chart.
Kudos For Don Warden No photos or detailed reports yet, but I understand that Dolly serenaded former road manager and Wagonmaster Don Warden Saturday at his induction into the national Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in St. Louis with renditions of "I Will Always Love You" and "Coat Of Many Colors."
'9 To 5' Program Released In anticipation of next Saturday night's world premiere of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical, Center Theatre Group has released the program for the run, which takes place at the theatre through Oct. 19 in advance of its Broadway run next spring. Take a look at it here. Thanks, Solomon!
Special thanks to Diane for sending in some photos of her night at the 
Dolly is among several dozen celebrities who have donated their purses to 
As was expected, Dolly's official record label website, 
Special thanks to Amber Eads for submitting a few photos from Dolly's recent appearance in St. Louis to induct former road manager Don Warden into the national Steel Guitar Hall of Fame, including the one at left. See them all 
Five new dates for Dolly's Backwoods Barbie World Tour have been confirmed, Dollymania can report: two in the U.S. and three in Canada. She is scheduled to play the Louisville Palace in Louisville, Ky., on Oct. 26; the Sovereign Center in Reading, Penn., on Nov. 7; MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Man., on Nov. 13; Saskatoon Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon, Sask., on Nov. 14; and Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alta., on Nov. 16. Only the Pennsylvania date, though, has been added to the itinerary on her official record label website, 
