Dolly Parton Musical Finally Casts Lead Role, Details
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger
Dolly Parton is a legend. Her life story will soon be on Broadway. The upcoming show has finally found the lead role. Keep reading for all the details.
Singer Teases ‘Revolutionary’ Upgrade Coming To Dollywood
Dollywood opened its doors for the first time on May 3, 1986. Dolly Parton was on hand in March to open the park for the 2025 season. This year will be particularly special for visitors. Dollywood is celebrating its 40th season. Many of the park’s attractions got updates in the off-season.
Furthermore, a popular attraction is now a permanent fixture. The Imagination Playhouse is now a staple at the theme park. The playhouse features plays based on books found in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The library provides free books to children. It celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
Multiple sources revealed that Dollywood had record-breaking attendance last season. But that isn’t good enough for Dolly Parton. In an announcement during the 40th season celebration, the park unveiled even more plans for additions in 2026.
The park stopped short of ruining the surprise, but promised something big was coming. “We’re not ready to share the details, but I can tell you it will be a revolutionary new experience unlike ANYTHING anywhere else in the world,” an official at the theme park teased.
But right now, Dolly Parton is focused on grieving her late husband and making sure the musical about her life is ready for the stage. Her husband, Carl Dean, passed away in March.
Dolly Parton Musical Finally Casts Lead Role
Dolly Parton put out a casting call last year for the lead role in the musical about her life. The singer has a larger than life personality. So it’s no surprise that the musical cast not one or two people in the lead role. The upcoming musical cast three stage actors to play Dolly Parton.
Since the musical tells the singer’s entire life story, they needed different perspectives. So they cast three stage actresses of different ages to play the “I Will Always Love You” singer at different stages in life.
Katie Rose Clarke, Carrie St. Louis, and Quinn Titcomb will play Dolly Parton in the stage production debuting this summer in Nashville. The musical will head to New York City after.
✨BIG NEWS!✨ We’re excited to reveal the three incredible actresses who will bring Dolly Parton to life at different stages in the world premiere of DOLLY: An Original Musical in Nashville! Each one brings heart, talent, and that unmistakable Dolly sparkle 🌟 pic.twitter.com/wBcpMmxqNF
— Dolly: An Original Musical (@dolly_musical) May 5, 2025
According to Deadline, Katie Rose Clarke and Carrie St. Louis have Broadway experience. Katie Rose Clarke played Glee alum and Broadway vet Jonathan Groff’s wife in Merrily We Roll Along.
Carrie St. Louis has appeared on Broadway in Wicked, Rock of Ages, and Kinky Boots. The outlet notes that Quinn Titcomb, the youngest of the three, “made her professional acting debut at five years old as Lulu in the Broadway national tour of Waitress and appeared in the 2023 film Theater Camp opposite Ben Platt.”
When Does The Show Premiere?
Dolly Parton’s dream was to make her life story into a musical. That dream is coming true soon. However, fans still hold out hope for a biopic on the big screen, too.
As we mentioned, Dolly: An Original Musical won’t debut on Broadway in New York City until next year. However, a preview runs in Nashville this summer. The musical premieres at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on July 18 through August 31.
Are you excited to see Dolly Parton’s life story on stage? Sound off in the comments.
