WRITER’S NOTES BY BRUCE VILANCH

You probably know all about Norma Terris because you probably live in the neighborhood. If you don’t, and you thought Norma Terris was a street in town, let me tell you one or two things.

Norma was a big Broadway star, first of The Ziegfeld Follies, then as the romantic lead in the original production of one of the greatest musicals of all time, Show Boat. She later became a noted philanthropist and steward of the arts, endowing the land we’re sitting on as well as other parcels nearby for theatrical and pastoral causes. In Florida, where she wintered, she created a ballet company.

I mention all this because our show is about a woman not unlike Norma, Dolly Parton. Dolly has become a significant philanthropist, donating to various projects that she doesn’t like to talk about, but she gives them money anyway. More than that, she reaches everyone who sees or hears her through her music and the strength of her personality. The sun never sets on Dolly Parton. It is always there and it is always shining.

One of the people it has been shining on since she was a little girl is our star, Tricia Paoluccio, who, with her husband, our director Gabriel Barre invited me to collaborate with them on an idea Tricia had been noodling over for some time but just couldn’t figure out how to realize. Then a not-so-funny thing happened....Covid-19. And we were all sitting at home wondering what to do with ourselves. And the idea exploded in her head and onto the page.

To tell you too much more would require a giant spoiler alert, but you might be interested in knowing how it got from that page, ok screen, to what you are about to see.

As part of the rescue plan for Covid-affected businesses, the government gave nonprofit arts organizations grants to make up for the audiences that weren’t there. Part of the grants went to developing new shows. We got one, we wrote one, and we did what everybody else did―a Zoom. Then we had to go to Dolly who let us use her songs and gave us her blessing, provided we cut one joke that I said I would cut and that was my final offer. She saw it my way.

Our show takes place in May of 2020, when the world had been shut down for about six weeks and a certain stir craziness was setting in. You may remember this yourself. The pandemic, especially in the early stages before vaccines, was a profound global event, probably the only one since World War II, and people are still talking about that, as they will talk about this.

Just for tonight, take one small step for mankind back to those weird, out-of-body days that we all experienced. This time, you will have an unforgettable companion.