dolly parton (11 posts)

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Talk about a showstopping performance.

Not long into Saturday's opening night of 9 to 5: The Musical at L.A.'s Ahmanson Theatre, technical issues with the elaborate set literally shut the show down.

Thankfully, Dolly Parton was on hand. "Don't make me have to sing," Parton boomed from her seat. "If I have to this time, I'll make Lily [Tomlin] and Jane [Fonda] do it with me." (Yes, her movie costars were there for opening night!)

An usher handed Parton a microphone and before you knew it, she was leading the audience in a "9 to 5" sing-along. "Thank you for being so kind and understanding," Parton said. "I'm glad I'm such a show-off." (She actually had to do the same almost two weeks ago when the set broke down during previews.)

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AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews

Long before Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, there was Franklin J. Hart Jr. in 9 to 5.

In the 1979 movie, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton play coworkers who seek revenge on their slimy sexist boss (Dabney Coleman) by kidnapping him. The staged musical adaptation opens on Saturday at the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown L.A.

I caught up with Ms. Parton (who wrote all the music for the new production) and the stars of the show earlier this morning to find about their own real-life bosses from hell. Here's what they told me:

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Robert de Michiell/World of Wonder Storefront Gallery

Dolly Parton wrote all the songs for the new 9 to 5 musical, but that doesn't mean the show has an all-country playlist.

In fact, the musical's book writer Patricia Resnick (she also wrote the original movie) says "Backwoods Barbie" is the only country number in the entire show.

"The rest of the score is somewhere between pop and Broadway," Resnick said at last night's Outfest and American Cinematheque screening of the 1980 flick at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

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Jessica Simpson has returned to her Southern roots. If ya haven't heard by now, the former pop-singing, reality-television star is about to release her first country album, Do You Know.

But it was less than two years ago that Simpson thought her music career was over. The 28-year-old Texan blond bombshell filled me in on exactly what happened as we sat down earlier today for a little chitchat about the new album at the Casa Del Mar hotel in Santa Monica.

Read on to find out why she almost called it quits, why we probably won't see her acting again any time soon and why we shouldn't be thinking about Tony, John or Nick when listening to the lyrics of her many new songs about livin' and lovin'...

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Gamma/Eyedea/ZUMA / AP Photo Bebeto Matthews / Lisa O'Connor/Zuma

Dolly Parton says it's time to leave a couple of the world's most famous starlets alone.

"Poor little Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan," Parton said at her concert last night at L.A.'s Greek Theatre. "Ain't it awful? If those little girls slept with as many men as they say in the tabloids, why their little butts would have more fingerprints than the FBI!"

All kidding aside, Parton said, "I kinda feel sorry for them. We should give those two a break."

It's too bad Spears and Lohan weren't in the audience to hear Parton's got their back. So, who was at the show?

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AP Photo/Jennifer Graylock, AP Photo / Peter Kramer

Miley Cyrus says there's no way she's going to be locking lips with Katy Perry at this Sunday's Teen Choice Awards.

The 23-year-old "I Kissed a Girl" hitmaker recently said in an interview that she was hoping to snag a same-sex smooch onstage with the 15-year-old Cyrus in the spirit of the infamous Madonna-Britney Spears kiss.

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Dolly Parton is heading to Broadway.

The country legend was in New York today to announce that the musical adaptation of 9 to 5 will open on Broadway at the Marriott Marquis Theatre on April 23.

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Courtesy Billboard Magazine

You’d think someone would have thought about launching a line of Dolly Parton makeup a long time ago. But apparently not.

Until now.

“I want my own cosmetics line,” Parton says in the new issue of Billboard.

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