Overview
- On Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, producers announced Katie Rose Clarke, Carrie St. Louis and 11-year-old Norah Nunes will play Dolly at different ages, with John Behlmann as Carl Dean and Gabriel Ebert as Porter Wagoner.
- Preview performances will begin December 7, 2026 at the St. James Theatre and opening night is scheduled for January 19, 2027, the date that would have been Parton’s 81st birthday.
- Bartlett Sher will direct the Broadway transfer and the production keeps key music leaders from the Nashville premiere, including music supervisor Stephen Oremus and longtime Parton arrangers Richard Dennison and Gregg Perry.
- The show uses a book by Dolly Parton and Maria S. Schlatter and features Parton’s hits alongside new songs she co-wrote, some described as among her final work following her August 2026 death.
- Producers are partnering with the New York City Department of Education to provide 30,000 free student tickets in the musical’s first year, with group and limited individual allocations to be detailed via DollyMusical.com.