RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
Rich@DallasVoice.com

The legendary catalog of Dolly Parton gets the orchestral treatment this weekend as Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony comes to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The concert showcases the singer’s original works alongside some of her deep cuts.

And since she’s rescheduling her Vegas residency, this is the closest Dallas will get right now to our queen and mother.

Threads is a multimedia experience that will feature Parton on screen leading us — as she does— on a visual-musical journey of her songs, her life and her stories.

With accompaniment by guest vocalists and musicians, audiences will hear her songs, including “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “I Will Always Love You,” all arranged for a full symphony orchestra.

David Hamilton conducts Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony Oct. 24-26 by the Dallas Symphony at the Meyerson.

And the concert includes a track from her upcoming Broadway musical, to boot.
Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony runs Oct. 24-26 at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

The concert is led by conductor David Hamilton, who was part of the early processes in crafting the show that tours to perform with orchestras around the country.

“Schirmer Theatrical brought me on a little over a year ago to write all the arrangements and orchestrations. As a team, we worked hand-in-hand with Dolly’s creative and management teams to put it all together,” Hamilton said.

Parton has released almost 50 studio albums alone. That’s not counting soundtracks, live albums, one-off singles or collabs. Hamilton knew that narrowing down her extensive catalog would be a daunting experience.

The team decided to focus only on songs Parton wrote “solely to help narrow down to her personal stories and life experiences,” Hamilton explained. “We also made sure to hit the marks of what people know and love, but we added a few ‘left of center’ songs to really show the breadth of her writing career. It’s truly unbelievable.”

Hamilton is no stranger to Dallas. He’s conducted the Dallas Symphony for both Christmas and Pops shows.

“It’s wonderful to come back and see folks I know at the Meyerson again,” he said.

The conductor, and sometimes keyboardist, revealed the concert has a healthy collection of just shy of 20 songs that mix in many of the genres Parton has played in. This versatility and genre-bending in a symphonic setting reflects her musical legacy.

Hamilton was even able to connect with her directly, albeit for a limited time. But his special moment came when he had to play a demo for her.

“That was a wonderful day. She came and shot a whole day of videos for us where she tells the stories of her songs and her life,” he said. “As you go through the show, you hear the music and then see her on screen.

“Watching her do that and spending the day with her was amazing.”

He continued, “We even have a new song in the show that she wrote for an upcoming musical theater show about her life. I got to write the very first arrangement of that song and play my demo for her. Seeing her eyes light up when she heard her song arranged like that — that’s a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my career.”

That’s the magic of Dolly Parton.

For tickets, visit DallasSymphony.org.

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