About the Show

“Bringing our reimagined Charles Dickens classic to London feels like a homecoming. My songs weave the music of my beautiful Smoky Mountains into this timeless Christmas story, and I can’t wait for London audiences to hear them as we tell that story, set in a place that is truly special to me.” – Dolly Parton

This Christmas, experience the classic Dickens’ tale with a Tennessee twist in an all-new musical Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol. Featuring an original score written by Dolly Parton, join us for a limited festive season at London’s Southbank Centre from this December.

Set during the 1930s in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, this heart-warming and truly unforgettable production imagines Ebenezer Scrooge as the owner of a mining company town, where his callous greed blinds him to the joys and gifts of the season.

As a Christmas Eve snowstorm approaches, Scrooge is visited by three ghosts who compel him to see life anew and discover that love is the greatest and most precious gift we have. Dickens’ classic characters and Dolly Parton’s one-of-a-kind song writing and storytelling expertise are certain to make this the most joyful Christmas event.

Please Note: Dolly Parton will not feature live in this production

Dolly Parton’s Smokey Mountain Christmas Carol is the ideal
 festive show for all families and suitable for children aged 3+

Ticket Information

Tickets for London Now On Sale

8 December 2022 – 8 January 2023
Tuesday – Saturday | 7.30pm
Wednesday & Saturday | 2.30pm
Sunday | 3pm
Performance schedule and timings may vary during this period, click here for full schedule

Tickets from £18.50

Premium tickets available

Queen Elizabeth Hall
Southbank Centre, London
SE1 8XX

For more information and how to get here visit the Southbank Centre website

Dolly Parton’s Smokey Mountain Christmas Carol is the ideal
festive show for all families and suitable for children aged 3+

Production Photos

Billy Butler as Bob Cratchit and Sachie Capitani as Tiny Tim
The Company of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol
Peter Colburn as Ebenezer Scrooge and Mary Tanner as The Ghost of Christmas Past
The Company of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol
The Company of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol
The Company of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol
Billy Butler as Jacob Marley and Peter Colburn as Ebenezer Scrooge
The Company of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol
The Company of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol
Sachie Capitani as Tiny Tim and Peter Colburn as Ebenezer Scrooge
Peter Colburn at Ebenezer Scrooge, Brittany Santoro as Fanny and Jonathan Acorn as Eben
The Company of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol
Julia Getz, Josh Bryan, Sachi Capitani and Billy Butler and company members as the Cratchit Family
: The Company of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol
: The Company of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol

World Premiere Engagement
Emerson Colonial Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts
All Photos: Jesse Faatz

Creators

Dolly Parton

Music and Lyrics

Dolly Parton’s life and career are a rags-to-rhinestones story.  Born the fourth child of 12, Dolly grew up in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, nestled against the Great Smoky Mountains. Her songs have captured the hearts of generations. Her trademark style is recognized around the globe.

 

Dolly’s prolific writing and recording career span 50-plus years. Her self-penned hits include Jolene, Coat of Many Colors and I Will Always Love You. She holds the Guinness World Record for the Most Decades with a Top 20 hit on Billboard’s Hot Country Chart and for the most hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Chart by a female artist.

 

Dolly starred in numerous movies for the large and small screen, including the hit movie 9 to 5 which became a hit Broadway musical for which she wrote the music and lyrics.

 

Dolly is one of an elite group of individuals to receive at least one nomination from all four major annual American entertainment award organizations; Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. In 2004 she received the U.S. Library of Congress Living Legend award and in 2006, the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors. In 2011, she was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and will be one of this year’s inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

 

Stories from Dolly’s life have been the subject of two NBC movies: Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors and Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Life. A third NBC movie starring Dolly and featuring her songs and stories entitled Dolly Parton’s Magic Mountain Christmas premiers in December 2022.

 

Dolly recently partnered with writer James Patterson to co-author the novel, Run Rose Run which became a #1 best seller.

 

Dolly’s love and generosity for her Tennessee mountain home was heroically demonstrated in her efforts to help the victims of the 2016 Smoky Mountain wildfires. Her Emmy-winning Smoky Mountains Rise telethon raised $9 million. Her philanthropy also extends to children around the world through her Imagination Library, which inspires a love of reading by providing a book a month to more than one million children age five and under in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia.  Most recently Dolly’s love for people everywhere was demonstrated when she donated $1 million to COVID-19 vaccination research as well as donating $1 million to fund pediatric infectious disease research.

David H. Bell

Book and Adaptation

David H. Bell has served as Artistic Director of the Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC, and Associate Artistic Director to Kenny Leon at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. He is currently the Artistic Director of the American Music Theatre Project and Director of the Music Theatre Program at Northwestern University. As director, choreographer, or author, David has received 46 of Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award nominations (winning 12), five Carbonell nominations (Florida), as well as the Dramalogue Award (LA), the Helen Hayes Award (DC.), and numerous awards in Atlanta. His musical, Hot Mikado (book, additional lyrics) was nominated for the Olivier award (London’s West End). David has written and directed Cowboys and Lawyers (Goodspeed Opera House) and The Good War (Northlight Theatre), both with Craig Carnelia; Fanny Brice (Maltz Jupiter, Asolo Rep); Matador (Coconut Grove Playhouse); The Bowery Boys (Marriott Theatre); Don’t Stop the Carnival (Coconut Grove Playhouse); Hot Mikado (Ford’s Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Pittsburgh CLO, Alliance Theatre); The Theatre of Dreams (Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, England); and Die Schone und das Biest (European Tour). He directed the world premieres of Murder for Two (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), HERO (Marriott Theatre, and Asolo Rep), Elmer Gantry (Ford’s Theatre), Peggy Sue Got Married (Marriott Theatre), and many others. He has worked on original musicals with Cy Coleman, Dolly Parton, Jimmy Buffett, Herman Wouk, Joe Kinosian, Kellen Blair, Russell Baker, George Stiles, and Daniel Green. David collaborated with Northwestern University and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland presenting a pair of new musicals in 2017 titled ATLANTIC for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and a second pair in 2018 called LEGACY.

Paul T. Couch

Producer and Adaptation

Paul T. Couch is one of the theme park industry’s most award-winning entertainment producers, having won over 20 Brass Ring Awards and six Golden Ticket Awards during his tenure (2003-2014) as Dollywood’s Director of Entertainment and Executive Producer. It was there that Paul and Dolly began their creative partnership that included several major musical productions and a TV special for the Hallmark Channel. Prior to that he was General Manager of Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium where he produced the musicals Always, Patsy Cline, Lost Highway: The Music and Legend of Hank Williams, and Bye, Bye, Love—The Everly Brothers Musical, as well as award-winning productions of Pump Boys and Dinettes and Cotton Patch Gospel. More recently, Paul served as Executive Producer on Dolly’s first-ever children’s album, I Believe In You. He currently helms his own Nashville-based production company where he serves as Creative Producer. In addition, he is a faculty member at
Middle Tennessee State University where he teaches Venue Management and Concert Promotion &
Touring.

Curt Wollan

Adaptor

Curt Wollan is the Executive Producer and Director of Troupe America Inc., that for 40 years ran The Plymouth Playhouse in the Twin Cities area, premiering such hits as How To Talk Minnesotan: The Musical; The Lovely Leibowitz Sisters; and the entire Church Basement Ladies series of musicals. In the summer, he produces and directs the famous Medora Musical in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which in the past year has been featured on NBC Nightly News, The Travel Channel, and MSNBC, and has received a two-page spread in the Sunday New York Times. Curt has produced and directed many national tours including Steel Magnolias, Driving Miss Daisy, The 1940’s Radio Hour, Hank Williams – Lost Highway starring Jason Petty, and Stephen King’s Ghost Stories. He has also co-produced three national tours of Forbidden Broadway, directed M*A*S*H*’s Jamie Farr and William Christopher in the national tour of The Odd Couple.

“God bless us, every one” – Tiny Tim