Thursday, January 20, 2011

Yesterday was Dolly Parton Day in Illinois

And I celebrated accordingly.

My friend Barb and I went to see the Chicago premiere of 9 to 5: The Musical and the lady herself was in attendance. Here's the Chicago Tribune photo of her arrival. She also appeared on stage before and after the performance. She really is adorable and gracious. Since yesterday was also her 65th birthday, we serenaded her. It was fun.

More fun than the actual show. Maybe because it was opening night, but the staging seemed really ragged for a road show production of a major Broadway musical. Dolly wrote all the songs -- music and lyrics -- and they were charming. Here's my favorite number, "One of the Boys," as performed by Alison Janney as Violet (Lily Tomlin in the 1979 movie) on The Great White Way.