The Hawth, Crawley

Multi-award-winning Dolly Parton tribute Kelly O’Brien is coming to The Hawth, Crawley on October 8 with her Decades of Dolly theatre show.

The night celebrates seven decades of the country music icon's extraordinary life and career while also raising money for the country superstar’s favourite charity.

“For 20 years, it has been the greatest privilege of my life to celebrate the extraordinary music, spirit and legacy of Dolly Parton,” says Kelly. “The show – performed with the deepest love and respect – is a heartfelt celebration of the woman whose songs brought so much joy, comfort and inspiration to generations around the world.”

The show spans seven decades of the country music icon's life and career. A percentage of profits from each show will be donated to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a book gifting programme that mails free books to children from birth until they begin school.

During the show Kelly passes through multiple costume changes as she transforms through each era of Dolly's journey – from her humble beginnings in the Smoky Mountains to global superstardom. Accompanied by film projections telling Dolly's remarkable story, Kelly and her live band deliver all the classic hits including Jolene, 9 to 5, I Will Always Love You, and Islands in the Stream.

“The Hawth only exists because people here kept campaigning for one from 1964 until the doors finally opened in 1988 and that feels fitting for a show about a woman who wouldn’t take no for an answer,” says Kelly.

Kelly has spent nearly two decades touring the world as Dolly, performing everywhere from the Singapore Grand Prix to Nashville – where Dolly's own family came to watch and were ‘blown away’ by her performance.

“I have family members of hers that are fans and I'm endorsed by them but I did actually meet her in 2011 which was great. It was at the O2 at one of her concerts and she was everything that you would want her to be. She was lovely and gorgeous and friendly and kind and we had a chat for about a minute. I said to her that my career is in imitating her and she just said ‘Oh I love all those impersonators!’

Kelly is Australian: “And I was in Australia doing lots of different competitions and singing as me but I would also dress up as Kylie and Britney and Judy Garland, and Dolly Parton was one of the figures that I did. And every time I dressed up as Dolly people just loved it the most. I think it was because I've been singing country since I was about eight years old and I'm five foot tall so there is a resemblance. I think if I was going to fit anybody, it was always going to be her. I was in Australia and I got the Dolly costume and I started performing and I brought the costume to Germany when I was there with Starlight Express and from there when I moved to London somebody said to me ‘I hear you've got a Dolly costume. You could do a Dolly tribute.’ And I said I didn't know what they meant and I didn't know what a tribute was and they explained. I'd never heard that word before but she said that you get to dress up as someone and make a lot more money doing that. You could be doing two or three concerts a week rather than three or four so I just really studied her, everything she did, the way she talked and the way she moved and the songs and the instruments she would play. I studied her for about three months before I did a show.

“You've really got to get the voice right which is high soprano but she's got a tiny little voice. She is no belter. And you’ve also got to get the accent. When I perform, I pretend that I am her all the time. But actually getting the voice has really improved. I listen back to 17 years ago and I really cringe! But what happened was that during lockdown I did more than 500 cameo messages for people who couldn't have that Bachelorette or couldn't get married or just wanted a message of encouragement. It enabled me to really hone the voice.”

As for the show, as Kelly says, how on earth do you represent more than 3,000 songs and 92 albums in one evening: “I think you've just got to do all the favourites and I also tell the stories about Dolly, where she came from. It’s like being in the room with Dolly the whole time.”

Tickets: https://www.parkwoodtheatres.co.uk/the-hawth/whats-on/the-dolly-show