School's fixin' to let out for the summer, and Dolly Parton would love it if y'all would pack up the kids and head on up to Tennessee.
“You should all come! It’s close. There are so many things to do,” she said during a recent Atlanta interview to promote her Pigeon Forge, Tenn., theme park, Dollywood. “Families are so disconnected. They have their heads down in their phones. Everybody’s off in their own separate worlds. We try to cater to families, parents, grandparents, teenagers. We’re trying to be a park with heart.”
Dolly an’em roared into town just for the day and camped out in the Four Seasons’ presidential suite for a long roster of press interviews. As tiny and feisty in person as she seems on the big or small screen, she talked about her latest CD, “Blue Smoke,” but stuck mostly to talking up her theme park.
“We need your money, you need the fun, so come on down!” she quipped.
Parton isn’t much on the roller coasters her theme park offers (new this year: the forward-backward FireChaser Express) but said she loves to see families enjoying themselves. She likes to walk through before the park opens in the mornings, and rides through in an antique car in the afternoons when she’s in town.
“It’s very humbling,” Parton said. “I’m very thankful and grateful. It’s been wonderful to see dreams come true.”
Parton has spent a good bit of time in Atlanta over the years. She said she has enjoyed visiting her friend and "9 to 5" co-star Jane Fonda here, and was here for several months filming the 2012 gospel comedy "Joyful Noise," with Queen Latifah. The project filmed a key scene at the Atlanta civic center and also filmed in Fayette, Coweta and Paulding counties.
“I’ve always loved Atlanta,” Parton said. “We really got to enjoy it during ‘Joyful Noise.’”
In April 2012, Queen Latifah was back in Atlanta for a television remake of "Steel Magnolias." Parton starred in the original with Smyrna native Julia Roberts, and loved the small-screen version.
“It was great,” she said. “I thought it was interesting.”
Right now she’s promoting a new CD, “Blue Smoke,” and may consider other filming projects when touring is complete.
Whew! Given Parton’s longtime success and fame, we asked what it takes to keep up with so many projects.
“It takes everything you’ve got, all the time,” Parton said. “You can never let up. If you dream yourself into a corner, you’ve got to come out fighting.”
How does she maintain balance?
“Pray a lot. Surround yourself with great people,” she said. “I’m energized by the creative forces in my life and I have a great family. I really feel fortunate that I have good people who help me and support me.”
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