Jan. 31: Paper: Dolly, Queen To Fight With Food Food will be flying in one scene of Joyful Noise starring Dolly and Queen Latifah, according to a report from The Marietta Daily Journal. The paper says the two stars visited Howard's Delicatessen in Smyrna, Ga., last week to see where they'll be having a food fight in a scene for the film. Read more here. Thanks, Chuck!
'9 To 5' Heads To Dayton Done with its two-week engagement in Chicago, Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical is now on its way to Dayton, Ohio, where it opens Tuesday and runs through next Sunday. The Dayton Daily News over the weekend offered an interview here with Dolly and star Dee Hoty about the show, including a cute anecdote from Dolly about watching Dayton native Allison Janney lose her skirt in a preview performance when the show was on Broadway. (Assuming an expected ice storm misses us, your webmaster will be at the opening night Tuesday, although the paper notes Dolly won't be in attendance due to filming in Atlanta.)
Jan. 29: Morrow Gives 'Gnomeo & Juliet' News Knoxville News Sentinel columnist Terry Morrow has some details on the new Gnomeo & Juliet animated film that comes out Feb. 11 with a Dolly cameo. He reported here this week that it was Elton John, who provides the film's soundtrack, who personally asked her (and Ozzy Osbourne) to provide voices for minor characters in the tale, and here that Dolly not only appears in the previously-known scene from the trailer where she starts the lawn mower race but also in a dance number at the end of the picture.
Kansas Library Expands Andover, Kan., is getting Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program, The Augusta Gazette reported here Friday.
Jan. 28: Grascals Disc Rises On Charts The Grascals' Cracker Barrel exclusive, Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin, with Dolly on three songs, sees some respectable gains in its second week on the charts, the Feb. 5 numbers released Thursday by Billboard showed. The collection holds onto the No. 1 bluegrass spot while it advances three places to No. 23 country, one to No. 15 independent albums, 14 to No. 99 all-genre pop chart and 13 to No. 95 on the "current" pop chart. It falls off the 50-position Heatseekers tally, down from No. 2, Also on the bluegrass list, Rhonda Vincent's Taken, with a Dolly duet, dips two to No. 12 in its 18th chart week. On the overall charts, Taylor Swift's Speak Now remains steady at No. 1 country and falls seven to No. 8 pop in its 13th week, while Jason Aldean's My Kind of Party advances two to No. 2 country and falls two to No. 13 pop in its 12th week.
In Memoriam: Charlie Louvin Charlie Louvin, a country music pioneer who influenced Dolly's music, died Wednesday of cancer at age 83. In a statement to The Los Angeles Timeshere, Dolly responded that he was "one of my truly good friends, someone I loved like a brother. The Louvin Brothers were my favorite when I was young and growing up in the business." Over the years, Dolly recorded several of his songs, including singing harmony on Emmylou Harris' cover of "When I Stop Dreaming" (which they recalled was the first song that the two sang with Linda Ronstadt when they got together for their first private jam session in the mid-1970s), "Cash on the Barrelhead" for her first bluegrass album, "The Angels Rejoiced" for the 2003 Grammy-winning Louvin tribute album and "Circle of Friends" with Louvin himself on his 2006 CD.
P'Forge Stampede Buffalo Return The buffalo that roamed Dolly's Dixie Stampede dinner theatre in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., are back. After a two-year absence, the beasts returned to the venue when its 2011 season started on Jan. 14. In a press release, Dolly noted: "Families really enjoyed getting such an up-close look at these beautiful buffalo. For lots of people, my Dixie Stampede is as close as they've ever gotten to an actual herd. After two years, folks wanted to see them back in the show, so I'm glad to welcome these beautiful animals back, all eight ton of 'em!"
Paper: Dolly Shops In Atlanta The Atlanta Journal Constitution got a tip of where Dolly stopped to shop recently while in town filming the movie Joyful Noise. Check out the note here.
Jan. 27: Dolly Chats With Another Chicago Paper While she was in Chicago to promote 9 To 5: The Musical, Dolly spoke with several media outlets, and The Windy City Times added itself to that list Wednesday by releasing its interview with her from the show. Read it here.
'Noise' Gets Permission In Another City Dolly will be in Newnan, Ga., for a few days next month to film a couple of scenes for Joyful Noise, thanks to approval for the shooting given by city officials this week, according to The Times Heraldhere Wednesday.
Jan. 26: July Hollywood Concerts Announced The first two concerts to be announced from Dolly's 2011 world tour came to light on Wednesday with a pair of July dates in Los Angeles. The Hollywood Bowl placed its season tickets on sale and announced its major concerts of the season, which include Dolly's first engagements at the legendary facility, which she will play July 22 and 23. Subscription series tickets are on sale now, with single-concert tickets becoming available May 7. Read more from The Los Angeles Timeshere and here.
Preview 'Year' Film On FaceBook The filmmakers behind the Canadian picture The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom on Wednesday released the trailer for the movie, and you can hear its cover of "The Seeker" as well as hear a snippet of Dolly's voice-over from the project. Watch it on their FaceBook page here. Thanks, Jason!
HBO Taps Dolly Song On Show Thanks to Keith for letting me know that HBO's Big Love on Sunday used Dolly's "Wildflowers" in its episode.
Jan. 25: Dolly Spotted In Atlanta Dolly is back in Atlanta filming Joyful Noise, and she was spotted Sunday afternoon leaving Bring It On: The Musical from the local Alliance Theatre. A fan in the box office saw her leaving and got her to stop for a picture and sent it to the Atlanta Journal Constituionhere. Thanks, Bobby! In related news, The Newman Times-Herald reported that the film is seeking permission to shoot in that town. The story here reveals that the scene features Dolly driving and picking up her grandson, who is hitchhiking, then they sit on the porch at night in the next scene. The story also revealed that a subplot of the movie features an interracial romance between Dolly's grandson and Queen Latifah's daughter.
Jan. 24: 'I Am Strong' On GAC, TCN
Although it has been available for online viewing for several weeks from AOL, CMT.com, Yahoo, YouTube (in the media player above or by clicking here) and many other websites, including Dollymania.net, The Grascals video with Dolly for "I Am Strong" has been added to the televised playlists for cable channels Great American Country (GAC) and The Country Network (TCN), according to Cybergrasshere. The song is the lead single from the band's Cracker Barrel-exclusive CD Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin, a portion of proceeds from which benefit St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
Chicago Coverage Continues Coverage continued over the weekend of Dolly's Chicago appearance at 9 To 5: The Musical, with some new pictures from LGBT publication Chicago Pridehere and a picture and story from Northwest Indiana Timeshere. In related news, the tour's next stop, Dayton, Ohio, started getting coverage over the weekend in The Flyer News, which interviewed cast member Kenneth Joseph "K.J." Hippensteel in advance of the show's six nights in that city starting Feb. 1. Read more here.
'Very Best' Gone Down Under Sony's 2007 overseas compilation The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Vol. 1 this week drops back off the Australian top 20 country albums chart, down from No. 13 in its 71st chart week since release.
Seattle Parties For Dolly Ending the week of her birth with its third annual tribute concert to her, Seattle rocked out to Dolly music Saturday at the Conor Byrne, My Ballard.com reported over the weekend here.
Jan. 22: Chicago Coverage Continues
Media coverage of Dolly's birthday stop in The Windy City on Wednesday to promote 9 To 5: The Musical continued on Friday, including a longer (but low quality) YouTube video from Chicago Theatre Bloghere and in the media player above of the cast celebrating her special day on stage after the show. The local bakery that made her cake, Angel Food Bakery, also snagged a shout-out from Center Square Journalhere. Photos from the evening made their way onto NBC Chicago here, Perez Hiltonhere and Chicago's US 99.5 FM here. Plus, the reviews continued to come in, this time with critics being quite kind. Broadway World gave the Chicago performance seven out of 10, calling it "thoroughly campy" and "colorfully cute fun," concluding :"Dolly done good." Read their full review here. Mostly positive reviews also came in from The Northwest Heraldhere, Lake County Journalhere and Northwest Indiana Timeshere. The only negative one seen Friday came from Chicago Nowhere.
Palmer Chats About Film Thanks to Chuck for alerting me to a brief blog posting from Keke Palmer about working on the set of Joyful Noise with Dolly and Queen Latifah in Atlanta. She writes on her official website: "I have been here in ATL for a couple of weeks now working on the movie, "Joyful Noise", everyone has been so nice it's really been cool. I started working with Ms. Parton last week, and Queen on yesterday, both are amazing ! I even got to sing with a choir, which was so much fun for me, I had not done that since I was age 10 singing in my church choir back in Robbins, IL. where my Mom was the choir director, in this movie my character's mom is the choir director too, feels like deja vu !"
Changes At Dollywood Dolly's theme park is seeing several personnel shifts as longtime park vice president and general manager Barbara Joines on Friday announced her retirement. She will leave Dollywood at the end of the 2011 season. She has moved into the position of vice president/general manager emeritus for her final year, with Craig Ross, vice president of retail for Dolly's partners in the park, Herschend Family Entertainment, taking over her former position. He has been with the company since 2007, joining it following a stint as general manager of Kings Island amusement park in Ohio from 2002 to 2005. In addition, Gene Scherrer, Vice President and General Manager of the adjacent Dollywood's Splash Country, was has been promoted to Vice President of Operations for both parks.
Jan. 21: Dolly Wows Chicago Crowd On Birthday
Dolly's birthday appearance Wednesday in Chicago to promote the Windy City engagement for her 9 To 5: The Musical garnered a great deal of coverage Thursday. The local NBC affiliate provided an interview with her available in the media player above or by clicking here. The evening began with Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn taking the stage to present Dolly a proclamation naming her 65th birthday Dolly Parton Day across the entire state. She then introduced the show and left the stage for the performance. She returned at the end of the show to be serenaded by the cast. The Chicago Tribune offered some images from the evening here. The night also was the subject of multiple reviews from the local media. Most gave mixed opinions, usually criticizing mostly the script and scenery but complimenting the music and acting, just as most of the Broadway reviews did. These included The Daily Heraldhere, The Sun Timeshere and Chicago Tribunehere. Edge Chicago provided local boy Paul Castree, who performs in the ensemble, an interview here. In addition, a columnist for Chicago Now posted to YouTube here or in the media player below a clip of the cast bringing a cake on stage after the performance's conclusion and singing "Happy Birthday" to her.
Dolly Profile Posted For Birthday
Web video magazine WatchMojo.com on Thursday celebrated the passing of Dolly's 65th birthday by posting a nice video profile of her career. Watch it on YouTube in the media player above or by clicking here.
U.S., Canadian Chart Updates As was expected, with Christmas gone by several weeks, the annual appearance of Kenny Rogers and Dolly's 1984 yuletide opus Once Upon A Christmas drops off the Canadian country albums chart in the Jan. 20 numbers released Thursday, down fro No. 45 in its 11th chart week this season. In the U.S., the Jan. 29 Billboard charts show Rhonda Vincent's Taken, featuring a Dolly collaboration, holds steady at No. 10 bluegrass albums in its 17th chart week. As was previously reported here, The Grascals' Cracker Barrel exclusive, Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin, featuring Dolly on three tracks, debuts at No. 1 bluegrass, No. 26 country, No. 2 Heatseekers, No. 15 independent albums, No. 113 all-genre pop chart and No. 108 on the "current" pop chart. On the overall tallies, Taylor Swift's Speak Now remains steady at No. 1 pop and country in its 12th week by moving 35,000 units, while the soundtrack to Country Strong advances four to No. 6 pop and one to No. 2 country in its 12th week with 29,000 copies sold.
Library Coverage In Several Communities Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program garnered several mentions on Thursday, with a Dolly birthday party doubling as a program expansion announcement in Middletown, Ohio, according to The Middletown Journalhere, a grant from the Community Foundation of Greene County for the local affiliate in Pennsylvania seeing coverage in The Uniontown Herald Standardhere and a note about a Rotary Club presentation about the program in Trumann, Ark., from The Poinsett County Democrat Tribunehere.
Latest Dollywood News For 2011 Thanks to Chris for alerting me that Dollywood over the weekend began circulating its new year brochures, and they show several changes for the new season, which begins in late March. Red's Diner is getting a complete remodel for the 26th season. Samaia, a 40-cast member show of dance and music, debuts at spring's Festival of Nations. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs takes up residence in the 4-D Imagination Cinema for KidsFest in the summer. As was previously reported, the Bluegrass and Barbeque Festival returns for the fall after being gone for the past several years. Dollywood's Christmas On Ice replaces Babes In Toyland for the Smoky Mountain Christmas Festival. Winter will also see the return of The Polar Express to the 4-D cinema and Dollywood Nights as well.
Jan. 20: Grascals Top Bluegrass, Enter Top 30 Country Former Dolly backing band The Grascals will see a significant debut on the Jan. 29 Billboard albums charts that will be released on Thursday, a press release from Cracker Barrel on Wednesday announced. Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin, their exclusive release for the restaurant chain, will debut at No. 1 bluegrass, No. 26 country, No. 2 Heatseekers, No. 15 independent albums, No. 113 all-genre Billboard 200 (commonly referred to as the "pop" charts) and No. 108 on the Billboard "current" top 200. The star-studded collection features three tracks with Dolly: two versions of the St. Jude Children's Hospital-inspired "I Am Strong" and a cover of her Porter Wagoner duet "The Pain Of Loving You." A portion of all CD proceeds benefits the Memphis medical center.
Dolly's 65th Birthday Covered Dolly's 65th birthday on Wednesday snagged multiple mentions in the popular media, but a few stood out as more impressive than a casual notation. The Asheville Citizen Times in North Carolina dedicated an entire photo section to her life and career, providing nearly 200 images from various news coverage over the years here. Thanks, Greg! CNN took the opportunity to recap the past year's CNN stories on her here. The Tennessean offered a reader survey in honor of her birthday asking what will be her legacy (as of press time, 69% had chosen "music that stands the test of time" while 31% had chosen her Imagination Library literacy program) here. Even Dolly herself posted a note, with her management passing along to fans via her Twitter account: "Thanks for all the lovely Birthday messages this morning. Very humbled you all remembered. XX"
More Chicago Coverage From '9 To 5' As was previously reported, Dolly was scheduled to spend her birthday night with the cast of her 9 To 5: The Musical for a public appearance with the audience at Wednesday night's show in Chicago, and local LGBT newspaper The Windy City Times covered the show's opening with an interview with star Diana DeGarmo here and one with director/choreographer Jeff Calhoun here.
Jan. 19:
HAPPY 65th BIRTHDAY, DOLLY!
Dolly To Be At Dollywood In March, May Make those travel plans, because Dolly will be at Dollywood on its 2011 season opening day, Saturday, March 26, to open the new Barnstormer ride and the annual Festival of Nations, and as in recent years, she will return the weekend of Mother's Day for her next appearances at the park, including her annual Dolly Parade through Pigeon Forge on Friday, May 6, a park spokesperson confirmed to Dollymania.net this week. In addition, the spokesperson also revealed that the annual Season Passholder Preview Day will return this year and be held on Friday, March 25.
More From Chicago In advance of Dolly's 65th birthday Chicago red carpet walk for 9 To 5: The Musical Wednesday night, The Chicago Tribune on Tuesday offered a story based on a recent telephone interview with her. Read it here.
Jan. 18: Reports: Dolly To Appear In Chicago Dolly plans to take a break from filming Joyful Noise with Queen Latifah this week in Atlanta to drive her bus up to Chicago to celebrate her 65th birthday and stop in on the city's two-week engagement for her 9 To 5: The Musical. The Chicago Tribunehere and Sun Timeshere both reported on plans for her to walk a red carpet into the Bank of America Theatre between 6:30 and 6:45 p.m. Wednesday before she takes the stage to introduce that evening's performance (although both papers misidentify Wednesday as the opening night for the Chicago run, when it actually opens Tuesday night). In related coverage, Broadway World compiled several reviews of the show on the road in a story here, and Knoxville News Sentinel reporter Terry Morrow sat down with Allison Janney, who scored a Tony nomination for her role in the original Broadway run of the show, about how intimidating it was to sing in front of Dolly. Read the piece here. After the Windy City, the show moves to Dayton, Ohio, Feb. 1-6 (where your webmaster will be on the second row for opening night!).
CBC Radio Dolly Special Airs The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio network on Sunday celebrated Dolly's 65th birthday a little early with an episode of Inside The Music titled "Dolly Parton at 65." A text story about the show (which featured interviews with people such as Kenny Rogers, Charlie Louvin, Laura Cantrell and Janis Ian) is available here, and audio should soon be posted for online listening here.
Celebrate Dolly's Birthday In New York New York's The Living Room will also be celebrating Dolly's birthday on Wednesday, with folk singer Addie Brownlee offering "I Beg Your Parton," a night of her music honoring her milestone day. Canadian songstress Martha Wainwright (who sings a Dolly track on the upcoming Canadian film The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom) will join her on stage.
Jan. 17: 'Dolly' Makes 'SNL' Appearance
Someone on the writing staff at NBC's Saturday Night Live must be a Dolly fan. Just a month after the show used her "9 To 5" for a parody music video, "Stumblin'," featuring Andy Sandberg, Paul Rudd and Paul McCartney, they returned to the Dolly pop/country catalog this weekend. Hostess Gwenyth Paltrow, currently playing a country singer in the film Country Strong, poked fun at her recent studying of the genre for the film, being able to only name Johnny Cash, some "Roy" and the lady with the "hair and big boobs" as country singers. Cast member Jason Sudeikis comes on stage as Kenny Rogers (whom Paltrow misidentifies as Garth Brooks) and asks her to join him in his most famous duet (which leaves her blank), the one with Dolly Parton (again, blank), so he tells her it's "Islands In The Stream." She fakes her way through a verse and chorus before cast member Kristen Wiig walks by dressed as Dolly (in an almost accurate outfit and wig), saying hi and waving at the audience but not singing. Musical guest Cee-Lo Green then joins and asks to sing along, and the three finish the number in three-part harmony (with "Dolly" walking back through again as well). Watch the clip in the media player above or by clicking here.
Update Down Under The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Vol. 1, a foreign compilation disc from 2007, sticks around for another week on the Australian top 20 country albums chart this week, advancing four spots to No. 13 in its 71st chart week since release. It had previously peaked on the tally at No. 3.
No Dolly On 'Hannah' Miley chose college and her best friend over a movie opportunity on the series finale of Disney Channel show Hannah Montana Sunday night, but contrary to rumors and reports, frequent guest stars Dolly (as godmother Aunt Dolly), Brooke Shields (as Miley's deceased mother) and Vicki Lawrence (as her grandmother) did not appear on the final episode.
Stampede Worker Injured In S.C. A subcontractor's employee working on transforming Dolly's Myrtle Beach, S.C., Dixie Stampede dinner theatre into Dolly's Pirates' Voyages was injured Friday and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to The Sunhere.
Jan. 15: Report, Source: Dolly On 'Hannah' Sunday Although The Disney Channel hasn't said anything about it, I understand Dolly will have some sort of role in the Hannah Montana series finale episode, "Wherever I Go," which premieres on the cable network at 7 p.m. Eastern Sunday. A report from TV Series Finale.comhere repeated "rumors" that Dolly, Brooke Shields (as Hannah's deceased mother) and Vicki Lawrence (MeMaw) will all make appearances on the episode, while a source (albeit second hand) confirmed to Dollymania to watch for Dolly in a pink feathery outfit on the show.
More '9 To 5: The Musical' Coverage Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical received a lukewarm review from The Indianapolis Business Journal on Thursday, which you may read here. The show's upcoming Chicago engagement also made a story in The Chicago Daily Heraldhere.
Jan. 14: Holiday Album Almost Gone Up North It appears that Kenny and Dolly are getting ready to drop off the Canadian top 50 country albums chart, as the Jan. 13 numbers released Thursday saw their holiday collection Once Upon A Christmas, drop 22 spots to No. 45 country in its 11th chart week this season. Stateside, the Jan. 22 Billboard charts show Rhonda Vincent's Taken, with a Dolly duet, dip two to No. 10 on bluegrass albums in its 16th chart week. On the overall charts, Taylor Swift's Speak Now remains steady at No. 1 pop and country in its 11th week, while Jason Aldean's My Kind of Party remains steady at No. 2 country and gains four to No. 9 pop in its 10th week.
E-mail: Meet-And-Greet Contests Returning Dolly's official record label website, DollyPartonMusic.net, on Thursday sent out an e-mail to its digital mailing list repeating the many previously-announced projects on which Dolly is working in 2011, but buried in the text was the revelation that the meet-and-greet contests for members of its online fan community, the Dollyites, will return this year to coincide with Dolly's next world tour. More details as they are announced.
Latest '9 To 5: The Musical' Coverage Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical and its upcoming Chicago engagement garnered several stories on Thursday. Dolly was interviewed by The Chicago Sun Times about the show here, co-star Dee Hoty was interviewed about the show's recent travel difficulties due to snow in Northwest Indiana.comhere and AV Club Chicago took the opportunity to suggest other Dolly songs that could be transformed into stage musicals with a story here.
Jan. 12: Dolly's Tats Topic Of Conversation, That's tAts!
She may have been exaggerating a little, but Roseanne Barr on The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson on Monday night gushed over Dolly being covered in pastel-colored tattoos "all over her body." While Dolly has admitted to having several tattoos, saying she gets them to cover up scars (and confirming publicly at least two – an angel on her arm and a butterfly on her chest – although she likely has a few more), she's never indicated she's covered with them. Watch it the clip in the media player above or by visiting TV Squadhere.
Paper: Dolly Has The Power In honor of the state's first female Speaker of the House, The Tennessean on Tuesday counted down its editors' choices for the 31 most powerful women in the state, and Dolly was listed second, just behind the new Madam Speaker. Check out the list here.
Dolly On CMT This Weekend Dolly will be featured in a story on CMT Insider this weekend, the cable network has announced. The episode premieres at 1:30 p.m. Saturday with a Sunday morning repeat.
Grascals Getting Noticed Tuesday's release of The Grascals' Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin at Cracker Barrels nationwide has snagged a good deal of publicity. The St. Jude's inspired song "I Am Strong" with Dolly made The Tennessean's Celebrities column here Monday, while reviews including The Washington Posthere and The 9513here have singled out her duet with them on "The Pain Of Loving You" as the album's highlight.
Warhol Pic On Display In Delaware Want to see one of Andy Warhol's Polaroid photos of Dolly he used to create his portrait of her in the early 1980s? One is on display at the University of Delaware for the exhibit "Andy Warhol: Behind the Camera," open now through June 5 at the Old College Gallery, the college noted here this week.
Kansas Getting More Imagination Libraries Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program is adding three Kansas counties, Sedgwick, Butler and Sumner, Kansas City TV station FOX 4 reported here Monday.
Jan. 10: 'Grascals' Release Reminder
Don't forget this week sees the release of the new CD The Grascals & Friends: Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin featuring several Dolly appearances with her former backing band, The Grascals. The collection is a Cracker Barrel exclusive, so be sure to head out to your local restaurant in the chain to pick one up on Tuesday. As was posted here nearly a month ago, the project's first single, "I Am Strong" (viewable in the media player above), features Dolly and patients from the St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and a portion of the proceeds from the CD's sales will go to the hospital. As was also previously reported here, the album also features her in a new recording of the classic Porter & Dolly hit "The Pain Of Loving You" as well as a second version of "I Am Strong" that includes several other guest artists. Listen to samples of the songs from the CD here.
New Aussie Chart Includes Dolly It's been gone from the tally Down Under for several months, but the new top 20 Australian country albums chart this week has the return of the 2007 overseas compilation disc The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Vol. 1, which re-enters the list at No. 17 for the week.
'9 To 5' On Its Way To Indianapolis Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical ended its run in Greenville, S.C., Sunday and now heads to Indianapolis, Ind., where the cast kicks things off Tuesday night for a run ending next Sunday. The Indianapolis Star interviewed book writer Patricia Resnick about the project here. After Indiana, the show runs up to Chicago for a two-week engagement.
Library Expands In West Virginia Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program is coming to Logan County, W.V., local television station WOWK reported over the weekend here.
Jan. 8: Latifah Chats About 'Joyful Noise' Actress/singer Queen Latifah talks about Dolly and their upcoming film collaboration Joyful Noise in a brief chat with Knoxville News Sentinel columnist and frequent Dolly interviewer Terry Morrow that the newspaper posted here Friday, noting that filming on the project starts in about two weeks.
Jan. 7: 'Joyful Noise' Gets Church, Kristofferson Joyful Noise, Dolly's new gospel choir film with Queen Latifah, is readying to begin shooting in Fayetteville, Ga., according to the press. Local newspaper The Citizen reported this week that the movie will be taking over the Bethany United Methodist Church Jan. 16 through Feb. 20, requiring church services to move to a local funeral home during that period. The brief also reported that Kris Kristofferson has joined the cast. The movie, expected to be released in January 2012, features Dolly as the widow of a local gospel choir's recently-deceased director, resulting in her butting heads with his replacement, Latifah, as they struggle to keep the economically-challenged performing group afloat. Thanks, Tony!
'Once Upon A Christmas' Falls In Canada After two weeks of not being updated, the Canadian albums charts dated Jan. 6 were released Thursday reflecting sales through the week ending Dec. 30. The new tallies saw Dolly's 1984 holiday duet album with Kenny Rogers, Once Upon A Christmas, fall off the top 100 pop chart, down from No. 32 two weeks ago, while it slips 17 places to No. 23 country in its 10th week on the chart this season, down from its peak this year at No. 6 the previous week. On the Jan. 15 Billboard charts in the U.S., Rhonda Vincent's Taken, featuring her Dolly duet, rises six to No. 8 on bluegrass albums in its 15th chart week. On the overall lists, Taylor Swift's Speak Now remains steady at No. 1 pop and country in its 10th week, while Jason Aldean's My Kind of Party remains steady at No. 2 country and gains five to No. 13 pop in its ninth week.
Dolly's Next CD To Be 'Better Day' The title for Dolly's upcoming new CD will be Better Day, it was announced Thursday on her official record label website, DollyPartonMusic.net. No release date has been announced yet, but in previous reports, Dolly had indicated an expected summer release to coincide with a U.S. tour, followed by tours of Europe in late summer and Australia in the fall.
Reeves Gets Dolly Mag On TV Show Keanu Reeves was in England this week appearing on The Graham Norton Show when the Dolly-loving host presented him with a vintage 1978 copy of Playboy magazine featuring Dolly's famous cover shot and interview. The reason behind it: a 16-year-old Reeves wore Dolly's actual be-dazzled Playboy bunny outfit from the magazine shoot as a Halloween costume, as it was created by his costume designer mother and returned to her after Dolly wore it. See Reeves heading back to his hotel with the magazine here.
Dolly Connections Get Tourism Appointments Dolly will have even more influence over tourism in her home state under the administration of incoming governor Bill Haslam. The Republican governor-elect on Thursday revealed that not only will former Dollywood vice president of marketing Susan Whitaker keep her job as tourism commissioner, an appointment originally made by current Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, but she will be advised by a new tourism committee co-chaired by Dolly Parton Productions President Ted Miller alongside the CEOs of Grand Ole Opry parent company Gaylord Entertainment and of Elvis Presley Enterprises. Dollywood is the state's most-attended ticketed tourist attraction. Read more from The Knoxville News Sentinelhere.
Jan. 6: '9 To 5' Songbook Finally Hits Stores After multiple delays over the past four or five months, music publisher Hal Leonard Corp. on Wednesday finally released the songbook for Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical. The songbook contains 12 of the show's 18 original numbers. Missing are the four songs that make up the fantasy sequence ("Dance O' Death," "Cowgirl's Revenge," "Potion Notion" and "Joy To The Girls"), the second Mr. Hart solo "Always A Woman" (which was cut from the touring production) and the finale reprise of the title track. Get it here!
Jan. 5: British Chart Update The holidays are over, and your webmaster is back with regular Dollymania.net updates! First up in our New Year's weekend recap is the British album charts that were released on Sunday evening. Sony's U.K. first "Original Album Classics" Dolly reissue (featuring Just Because I'm A Woman, Coat Of Many Colors, My Tennessee Mountain Home, Jolene and 9 To 5 And Odd Jobs) fell back off the top 20 U.K. country album charts, down from No. 18 the previous week, its fifth since its release back in 2008.
End-Of-Year List Coverage Dolly made mention in a few year-end reminisces. First, Knoxville News Sentinel columnist Terry Morrow included one of Dolly's attempts to embarrass him among his favorite "bizzare celebrity encounters" of 2010 here. Also, CMT reporter Craig Shelburne included the Omni re-issue of Dolly's Fairest Of Them All/Sings My Favorite Songwriter: Porter Wagoner albums as a two-on-one disc among his 10 personal favorite albums of the year here. On a less attractive list, Dolly's wigs came in second place for 2010's worst female celebrity hairstyles, a survey by national chain Sally's Beauty Supply revealed Tuesday. Lady Gaga came in first, while Dolly goddaughter Miley Cyrus snagged third place. The title for best female hair was taken by Jennifer Lopez. Best male hair was Tom Selleck's, while David Hasselhoff claimed the top worst male hair spot. Check out the press release here.
Myrtle Beach Stampede Shuttered For New Show With the New Year's Eve engagement of Dolly's Myrtle Beach, S.C., Dixie Stampede dinner theatre, the equestrian theme of the show closed for good. The facility is getting a facelift to become the new Dolly's Pirates' Voyages in June. The Sun News over the weekend noted the show's demise and gave a few details about the coming project here, including the fact that Dolly is expected to make an appearance at the revamped show's opening next summer. The show change, which does not impact the chain's Tennessee or Missouri venues, was announced in September.
Library Expands To Wyoming Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program is coming to southwest Wyoming with a multi-county region signing up for the project through its local United Way, according to The Little Chicago Reviewhere.
