DOLLY: A TRUE ORIGINAL MUSICAL will proceed on Broadway after Dolly Parton’s death

Dolly Parton, the singer, songwriter, screen performer and theatre composer, died in Nashville, Tennessee, on 25 August 2026, aged 80. Her family announced the death through her official social channels, and her publicist confirmed the news. Producers have also confirmed that her autobiographical musical, DOLLY: A TRUE ORIGINAL MUSICAL, will proceed to Broadway. No cause of death had been disclosed at the time of reporting, and authoritative reports have not connected her death to recently disclosed health difficulties or her cancelled Las Vegas residency.

The family’s video announcement was delivered by Parton’s nephew, Bryan Seaver. He said Parton had asked him years earlier to make the announcement when the time came. Australian reports carried 26 August publication dates because of the time difference, but the confirmed date and place of death are 25 August in Nashville.

According to reporting by the Associated Press and TheWrap, a production spokesperson confirmed that the musical would go ahead in accordance with Parton’s wish. Previews are scheduled to begin at New York’s St. James Theatre on 7 December 2026, followed by the official Broadway opening on 19 January 2027. The opening date would have been Parton’s 81st birthday. The December date is specifically the first preview, not opening night.

DOLLY: A TRUE ORIGINAL MUSICAL is based on Parton’s life. Its score combines songs from her catalogue, including I Will Always Love You, Jolene, Coat of Many Colors and 9 to 5, with new music she wrote for the production. The musical draws on both work already associated with Parton and material created for this account of her life.

Parton also co-wrote the book with Maria S. Schlatter. Bartlett Sher is directing the Broadway production, and Mandy Moore is the announced choreographer. Those credits place Parton at the centre of the project as its subject, a book writer and the composer of its new material.

The project was first announced in 2024. Earlier development coverage used the titles HELLO, I’M DOLLY and DOLLY: AN ORIGINAL MUSICAL, but the Broadway production now carries its current official title. It reached the stage in 2025 with a world-premiere engagement at Belmont University’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in Nashville. Its transfer to Broadway and the St. James Theatre booking were confirmed in July 2026. The new producer statement goes beyond the initial absence of a schedule change and confirms that the production will continue after Parton’s death.

DOLLY: A TRUE ORIGINAL MUSICAL also continues an established Broadway connection rather than marking Parton’s debut there. She wrote the music and lyrics for 9 TO 5: THE MUSICAL, which opened on Broadway in 2009. Her role in that production was composer and lyricist; in DOLLY: A TRUE ORIGINAL MUSICAL, she is also the subject and a co-writer of the book. That gives the forthcoming production a distinct place within her theatre work.

DOLLY: A TRUE ORIGINAL MUSICAL should not be confused with HERE YOU COME AGAIN, the separate Dolly-inspired musical comedy staged in Australia and previously covered by AussieTheatre. HERE YOU COME AGAIN is a different project from the autobiographical production Parton co-wrote and for which she created new music. The distinction is particularly relevant to Australian audiences who may know the earlier work from its local staging.

Parton’s theatre work formed one strand of a career spanning songwriting, recording and screen performances. The Associated Press reports that her recordings achieved sales of more than 100 million worldwide. She received 11 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999. DOLLY: A TRUE ORIGINAL MUSICAL brings that recording legacy into a stage work built around her own life while adding songs written specifically for the production.

Her legacy beyond entertainment includes the Imagination Library, the literacy programme she founded in honour of her father. The initiative distributes books to young children, extending Parton’s public work beyond her career as a performer, songwriter and theatre maker.

For Australian audiences, the Broadway project follows the local staging of HERE YOU COME AGAIN and sustained coverage of Parton’s theatre work. AussieTheatre reported the St. James Theatre engagement and schedule in July 2026 after following the biomusical’s earlier development. No Australian production of DOLLY: A TRUE ORIGINAL MUSICAL has been announced. The materially new development is that the Broadway plan remains in force after Parton’s death.

The confirmation settles the immediate question of whether the production will proceed, but not its detailed posthumous shape. Broadway casting has not been announced, and current reporting does not establish whether every new song or all revisions to the book had been completed before Parton’s death. No dedication, memorial element, recorded contribution or other posthumous alteration has been announced. Those questions remain open as the production moves towards its first Broadway preview in December.

Photo Credit: DepositPhotos.com