Seymour Herald :: news : This week with Dollythis week with dolly
Seymour Herald/Library PhotoDolly speaks to the crowd at a recent event.published: July 14 2009 11:35 AM updated:: July 14 2009 12:25 PMBy Duane Gordon
Dolly Parton has recorded a solo version of one of the songs from her Tony-nominated score to "9 To 5: The Musical" which will soon be released as her next single, she announced last week in a video diary released via YouTube.
In the video, she said she has cut the track "Change It" and will sell it as an iTunes download and in the online store at her official record label website, Dolly Parton Music.net. The single comes as the show's cast album sees early release this week at the Marquis Theatre in New York, select Barnes & Noble stores and online at Dolly's site and the show's website in advance of its national retail release to other stores on July 28.
The show's cast is set to perform Tuesday at New York's Lincoln Triangle Barnes & Noble, where they are also expected to sign copies of the CD.
In less desirable news, the holiday week was not kind to the show, as it continued to decline in the grosses, according to the report for the week of June 29-July 5 that came out last week. Attendance, 9,671 audience members, was down more than 2 percent compared to the previous week, with the percentage of seats filled falling to 75 percent. The overall gross, $675,135, was 14 percent lower than the week before because the per-ticket average also fell, down more than 11 percent to $69.81. The show remained steady for the week at No. 15 for biggest Broadway gross but dipped one to No. 13 for audience size. Since opening for previews, the show has grossed $9.2 million and been seen by 138,272 people.
Dolly's "Backwoods Barbie" dropped two more places to No. 63 in its 49th week on the country albums chart last week. Up north, "The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Vol. 1" fell back off of the top 50 Canadian country albums list, down from No. 50 the previous week, but Down Under the collection re-enters the top 20 Australian country albums tally at No. 15. In the U.S., Steve Martin's "The Crow - New Songs for the 5-String Banjo," with his Dolly guest appearance, remained steady at No. 1 bluegrass in its 20th week and rose 15 to No. 170 pop in its sixth week there.
Dollywood was in the news on opposite sides of the Atlantic last week with positive mentions in two different publications. A writer for The Chicago Tribune on Thursday proclaimed the Pigeon Forge area the best "place to spend quality time with the kids" and declared that Dollywood is one of the best theme parks in the world. In London, England, The Financial Times extended Dolly a quite lengthy and comprehensive profile last week that focused on her most recent visit to the park and concluded: "Liberal or conservative, gay or straight, Parton's fans are moved by her tale of poverty and survival. As visitors stand in line in the punishing southern heat to peer into Dollywood's replica of the tiny cabin in which she spent her dirt-poor childhood, it feels almost as if they are communing with the American dream."
TLC has announced that the two-episode vacation that the Duggar Family took to Pigeon Forge will air over the next two weeks. The first episode, "Duggars In Dixie," airing at 9 p.m. Tuesday with an 11 p.m. repeat, will feature their experience at Dolly's Dixie Stampede dinner theatre. The second episode, "Duggars Meet Dolly," airing at 9 p.m. July 21 with an 11 p.m. repeat, will include their actual meeting with Dolly herself.
Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program recently saw its first book delivery to the most remote inhabited place on the planet, according to Britain's Royal Mail. The 13 children under the age of 5 who live on the island Tristan da Cunha, a British territory in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean about halfway between South America and South Africa, are the program's newest additions. To get there, the books take a 6,000-mile flight to South Africa, followed by a week-long fishing boat trip to the island.
To keep abreast of Dolly's comings and goings, be sure to check out the nightly news updates on Dollymania.net: The Online Dolly Parton Newsmagazine!
