Meet the Stars Dolly Parton Handpicked to Tell Her Life Story on Broadway Before Her Death (Exclusive)
Meet the Stars Dolly Parton Handpicked to Tell Her Life Story on Broadway Before Her Death (Exclusive)
Dave QuinnFri, October 2, 2026 at 11:45 AM UTC
0
Credit: Miller Mobley/NBC via Getty -
Dolly Parton personally handpicked the five leading actors who will tell her life story in DOLLY: A True Original Musical
Katie Rose Clarke, Carrie St. Louis and Norah Nunes will portray the music legend at three different stages of her life, PEOPLE can exclusively reveal
Gabriel Ebert will play Porter Wagoner, while John Behlmann will portray Parton’s longtime husband, Carl Dean
Dolly Parton knew exactly who she wanted to tell her story on Broadway.
Before the country music legend died on Aug. 25, Parton personally handpicked the five leading actors who will tell her life story in DOLLY: A True Original Musical.
PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the cast ahead of the musical’s Broadway premiere, which will trace Parton’s extraordinary journey from her childhood in the Great Smoky Mountains to international superstardom.
Preview performances begin Dec. 7 at New York City’s St. James Theatre, with opening night set for Jan. 19, 2027 — what would have been the music legend’s 81st birthday.
Katie Rose Clarke, Carrie St. Louis and Norah Nunes will portray Parton at three different stages of her life, while Gabriel Ebert will play her early music collaborator Porter Wagoner and John Behlmann will star as Carl Dean, Parton’s beloved husband of nearly 60 years.
John Behlmann, Norah Nunes, Katie Rose Clarke, Carrie St. Louis and Gabriel EbertCredit: Matthew Murphy
The five stars can be seen together for the first time in exclusive photos shared with PEOPLE from a special cast shoot overseen by Parton’s longtime creative director Steve Summers. Summers was on set for the shoot and even personally rhinestoned the white jacket Clarke wears in the portraits.
Clarke will lead the company as “Dolly Parton,” portraying the superstar in the later chapters of her life. She previously played the role in the musical’s 2025 world premiere in Nashville.
For director Bartlett Sher, seeing Clarke step fully into Parton’s shoes brings their own 20-year history together full circle.
“I had the pleasure of directing Katie in her Broadway debut in 2005 when she joined the cast of A Light in the Piazza,” Sher tells PEOPLE exclusively. “As ‘Clara,’ she showed incredible talent. Twenty years later, I got to see that early promise fully realized as a true leading lady when, as our run in Nashville was concluding, Dolly asked her to play the role on Broadway.”
Katie Rose ClarkeCredit: Matthew Murphy
Since making that Broadway debut, Clarke has appeared as Glinda in Wicked and starred in Allegiance, the 2017 revival of Miss Saigon and, most recently, the Tony-winning revival of Merrily We Roll Along opposite Jonathan Groff.
Sher says the challenge facing Clarke and her castmates goes far beyond impersonating one of the most recognizable entertainers in history.
“Katie, Carrie, and Norah don’t just play the Dolly we all know; they show us the real woman behind the glamor,” he says. “Alongside John and Gabriel, these five actors are tackling roles that will become part of American mythology.”
“Behind these modern-day legends is a very human story of three people who loved, fought, made up, and helped shape Dolly into the woman the world adores,” Sher adds.
Carrie St. Louis and Gabriel EbertCredit: Matthew Murphy
St. Louis will return to the role of “Dolly,” depicting the ambitious young singer-songwriter as she arrives in Nashville and begins her rise to stardom. She was involved in some of the musical’s earliest readings and originated the role in Nashville. Her other Broadway credits include Glinda in Wicked, Sherrie in Rock of Ages and Lauren in Kinky Boots. She can currently be seen as Sandra Dee in the Bobby Darin bio-musical Just in Time.
“We are all coming together to do right by Dolly and to share her story really well,” Clarke says in an exclusive behind-the-scenes video from the photo shoot, which PEOPLE is debuting alongside the portraits. “She came from absolutely nothing. She built this huge life.”
Parton’s determination is among the qualities that continue to inspire St. Louis. “She’s the most inspiring person,” she says. “Just her drive and her ambition and her passion.”
Nunes, 11, will make her Broadway debut as “Little Dolly,” portraying the future superstar during her childhood growing up in the Great Smoky Mountains. The Texas native was a finalist in the production’s nationwide “Search for Dolly” online open casting call and previously appeared as Young Anna in the North American tour of Disney’s Frozen.
Her screen work includes a recurring role on Nickelodeon’s Wonder Pets: In the City and the upcoming series A Land Remembered. The young actress also had the chance to spend time with Parton, sharing laughs, hugs and gummy bears with the icon — memories her official bio says will stay with her forever.
“Above all else, she is kind and humble,” Nunes says of Parton. “Even though she’s at the top of the mountain, she helps people get up there too.”
John Behlmann and Katie Rose ClarkeCredit: Matthew Murphy
Behlmann, meanwhile, will reprise his Nashville role as Carl Dean, Parton’s famously private husband, whom she married in 1966 and remained with until his death in 2025.
Advertisement
Currently appearing on Broadway as Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby, the actor previously originated roles in Smash, Shucked, Tootsie and Significant Other. His performance in Shucked earned him a Grammy nomination as part of the musical’s original Broadway cast recording, while his screen credits include Elsbeth, Riverdale, The Gilded Age and And Just Like That.
Behlmann points to qualities beyond Parton’s music when explaining what made her so special.
“The grace, the humor, her groundedness, her commitment and dedication to what she does,” he says in the behind-the-scenes video.
Taking on another pivotal figure in Parton’s life is Ebert, who will play Porter Wagoner, the larger-than-life country star who helped introduce her to a national television audience. Their professional partnership became a defining chapter of her early career, with Parton famously writing “I Will Always Love You” as she prepared to leave Wagoner and strike out on her own.
A Tony Award winner for playing Mr. Wormwood in Matilda the Musical, Ebert earned a second nomination for his performance in 2025’s John Proctor Is the Villain. His other Broadway credits include Pass Over, Casa Valentina, Thérèse Raquin, Time and the Conways and Red.
“If Dolly’s legacy is anything, it involves joy,” Ebert says. “I think Dolly Parton is one of our best examples that the right road is the high road — and you can walk it in 4-inch heels.”
Parton herself helped shape how that legacy would be told onstage.
She co-wrote the musical’s book with Maria S. Schlatter and assembled a score that pairs songs from her decades-spanning catalog — including “I Will Always Love You,” “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “9 to 5” — with new material she wrote specifically for the production.
Through those songs, DOLLY traces Parton’s journey from her childhood in the Smoky Mountains to international superstardom, offering audiences a look at both the public icon and the woman behind the rhinestones.
“I think you get to see her heart in this show,” Clarke says. “Her heart is beautiful.”
Throughout the musical’s development, Parton remained deeply involved, including during its sold-out 2025 world premiere at Belmont University’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in Nashville. The engagement became the most successful production in the venue’s history.
“We need to hear the story of Dolly Parton more now than we ever have before,” Sher says.
“She is a badass of an artist and an incredible human being,” he adds. “Dolly gave everybody everything of who she was. She’s just all about hope.”
Parton previously said she chose to put her story onstage later in life because she wanted to be candid about the triumphs and struggles that shaped her.
“I waited for a while ‘til I was this old so I could tell it,” Parton told PEOPLE in 2025. “So, I could tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me, Lord!”
She also described the sound and scale she envisioned for the musical “It’s got a lot of good country music in it, a lot of good country stories, but it also has a lot of the big orchestration — all the things that I’ve always dreamed about, having my songs and stories on stage and telling my life story,” she said.
Her influence will extend beyond what audiences see onstage, too.
In honor of Parton’s lifelong commitment to inspiring children, the production is partnering with the New York City Department of Education to make 30,000 free tickets available to New York City public middle and high school students during the musical’s first year on Broadway. Schools will be able to apply to bring students for free, while individual students can apply for two tickets to attend with a parent or guardian.
“The arts are an essential part of New York City Public Schools and thousands of students, and their families will now have the chance to experience Broadway for the first time. What better story to begin with than that of Dolly Parton’s?” New York City Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels said in a statement. “Her journey is a reminder that talent, hard work, and belief in yourself and your community can carry you anywhere, and those are values our students can relate to.”
Tickets for DOLLY: A True Original Musical are on sale now. Additional casting and other details for the Broadway production will be announced shortly.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
