Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher will be directing the upcoming biomusical, 'Hello, I'm Dolly,' inspired by the life of music icon Dolly Parton. The production is set to open a Broadway run in 2026.
The drama 'Malcolm,' written by Ayad Akhtar and starring Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr., will be Sher's next Broadway project. This fall, the play will be performed at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater.
The new musical, co-produced by Parton, Adam Speers for ATG Productions, and Danny Nozell for CTK Enterprises, takes its name from Parton's 1967 debut studio album. 'Hello, I'm Dolly' will feature a book by Parton and Maria S. Schlatter, a score by Parton that will include some of her greatest hits, and new songs composed especially for the musical.
In a statement, Parton claimed she was lucky to have the great Sher to direct the 'Hello, I'm Dolly' musical. She continued, "When you decide to put your whole life up on stage, you hope and pray to find the right director with the right creativity and sensitivity to present all the blood, sweat, tears, light, love, and laughter that I've experienced over seven decades of living. My heart tells me that Bartlett is the man and the director for the job."
Sher responded that Dolly is one of the great songwriters in the American canon, and being entrusted with the opportunity to help her translate that glorious talent into the American musical theater is an honor and a thrill. He shared that as a young man growing up in San Francisco, he was a huge fan of the 'Grateful Dead' and noted that their favorite vocal artist was Parton.
In 2005, Sher debuted Broadway with 'The Light in the Piazza.' He has served as a resident director at Lincoln Center since 2008. He has directed the Tony Award-winning revivals of several Golden Age musicals, including 'Camelot,' 'South Pacific,' 'The King and I,' 'Fiddler on the Roof,' 'My Fair Lady.'
Furthermore, he has also directed J.T. Rogers' Tony-winning play 'Oslo' and Aaron Sorkin's Tony-nominated adaption of 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' among many other plays and operas.
