Tuesday night at Dollywood, Dolly Parton hosted a star-studded red carpet premiere for her new series, Heartstrings, which premieres November 22 on Netflix.
Kimberly Williams-Paisley hijacked her husband Brad’s tour bus to come to Pigeon Forge. She apologized for doing her own perhaps-imperfect makeup on the way. Julianne Hough confessed she was wearing earrings borrowed from Dolly herself. Both star in the small screen version of Jolene.
Each of the eight episodes of Heartstrings tells a different story, based on one of Dolly’s songs. Considering her immense catalog, Dolly admits it wasn’t easy to decide what to include.
“We really mulled over alot of things when we were putting this together…” Dolly explains. “We all loved the thought, but we didn’t want to just take hit songs.”
“I thought it is more important to choose songs that… all eight of them — had a completely different story,” she continues. “And so that was more of what it was than anything to pick songs that really did tug at your Heartstrings.”
Some of the songs might seem obscure.
“A song like ‘Down from Dover,’ I’ve become famous for through the years, even though it was only in an album. But it just told such a good story,” Dolly says.
“We just picked songs like, you know, ‘If I Had Wings.’ We did do ‘Two Doors Down’… songs people know. But they’re just all so different, and that’s what I love about the whole series.”
Though Dollywood is closed on Tuesdays, five hundred lucky fans got the chance to attend the red carpet. An elaborate after-party — in the new part of the park known as Wildwood Grove — ensued. Dolly herself told the group the party wasn’t “Two Doors Down” — it was right there.
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