From the moment the curtain opened and the audience was greeted by Dolly Parton’s iconic silhouette—the big boobs, the tiny waist, the massive hair—something not unlike magic filled Nashville’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.

The silhouette in question wasn’t actually Parton herself, but Katie Rose Clarke. The Broadway star is one of three actresses who was cast to play the icon in Dolly: A True Original Musical.

While Parton herself wasn’t on stage, she was in the audience. She made her way inside just moments before the show’s final preview performance on Aug. 7. Parton, however, stayed out of sight during the show, letting the three Dollys onstage bring her story to life.

Though Clarke didn’t take over as Dolly Parton until Act II, her veteran presence was felt throughout the whole show. Clarke was on stage as Little Dolly (13-year-old Quinn Titcomb) struggled to deal with life in rural East Tennessee, where her microphone was homemade and her audience only animals.

As Clarke watched over and sang alongside Little Dolly, Titcomb handled her role like a seasoned pro. Her confidence embodied that of a young Parton, a mix of childlike wonder, boundless ambition, and talent that was only beginning to be realized.
Quinn Titcomb as Little Dolly / Photo by Matthew Murphy
After Titcomb dazzled with a performance of “Puppy Love,” the next Dolly, Carrie St. Louis, stepped into the role.

Dolly Parton Moves to Nashville

Following a successful performance at the Opry, St. Louis’ teenaged Dolly returned home. She was frustrated with her mother’s disapproval of her personal style and firm in her want to have more than a small-town life. Those themes were encompassed in “God, Sex And Music,” a stirring new song Parton penned for the show.

It’s when St. Louis’ Dolly moved to Nashville that the show really picked up steam. While the 1960s time period is easy to see in the sets and costumes, it’s indistinguishable in terms of content.

Parton struggled with sexism and slut shaming long before those topics entered the mainstream. That’s never more clear than in “Just Because I’m A Woman.” While performing the song, St. Louis’ Dolly admitted her lack of purity to her future husband, Carl Dean (John Behlmann). She didn’t apologize, though. Instead, she pointed out the double standard at play, a fact that’s astounding given the song’s 1968 release.
Carrie St. Louis as Dolly / Photo by Matthew Murphy
While songs such as those were performed conversationally, with some of the lyrics even spoken, St. Louis’ true moment in the spotlight came on “Coat Of Many Colors,” one of the few opportunities she was given to perform a song straight. She did so at the start of Dolly’s The Porter Wagner Show tenure, and it was the moment his audience fell for her.

Act I came to a close when a 21-year-old Dolly set off on tour with Porter Wagner (John Zdorjeski). Notably, she was struggling with temptation on the road while away from her husband.

Dolly Parton Makes It in Hollywood

That thread was picked up with ease at the start of Act II with “Jolene.”

From there, Clarke took over, not as Little Dolly or Dolly, but as the Dolly Parton. It’s an apt role for Clarke, whose voice is so similar to Parton that a listener could easily mistake one singer for the other.

After Clarke’s Dolly ended things with Porter by performing an unmissable rendition of “I Will Always Love You,” she moved to Hollywood. As “9 To 5” was performed, Clarke’s Dolly reached the height of her career, as awards and prestige rolled in.
Katie Rose Clarke as Dolly Parton / Photo by Matthew Murphy
Eventually, though, the song took on a dark tone. Reporters began asking tough questions, some fair (the decline of Dolly’s album sales), most not. It’s in the latter category that Parton decided to bare her soul in the show. She didn’t brush over past questions about a rumored affair with Burt Reynolds, a possible secret romance with her longtime best friend, Judy Ogle, or her breast implants, but rather faced them head on.

The ahead of its time theme was once again evident here, a reminder that the media—whether in the form of newspapers and TV reporters, or social media posts—can spectacularly send one’s mental health spiraling.

It certainly did so in the case of Clarke’s Dolly. The actress emotionally sang about “The Sacrifice” of Dolly’s life choices, before she was reminded of who she was and where she came from by her mother and younger selves in “Songbird.”

With that, Clarke’s Dolly returned home to her man, where her next act, one of giving back, began.

Dolly Parton Thanks Her Family, Friends, and Fans

With Parton’s legacy in place, Little Dolly introduced Clarke’s Dolly to close out the show. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as Clarke delivered a triumphant performance of “If You Hadn’t Been There,” a reminder of all the people who supported Parton along the way.

The entire ensemble was on the stage at that point, and the audience was on their feat, feeling awestruck. Parton herself even made an appearance, popping up in a video to sing along.

“I wouldn’t be here,” Parton sincerely told the crowd in the show’s waning moments, “if you hadn’t been there.”

Dolly: A True Original Musical is now open, with performances at The Fisher Center for Performing Arts scheduled through Aug. 31.