Dolly Parton is gearing up for the release of another network TV movie, this one with several of her famous friends. The Country Music Hall of Fame member will star in Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas, featuring Jimmy Fallon, Willie Nelson, Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Tom Everett Scott, Ana Gasteyer and more. Zach Williams and Jimmie Allen will also appear as guest stars.
Mountain Magic Christmas, a movie musical centers around Parton’s making of a network TV special, with her sole desire to uplift people’s spirits using the unique “mountain magic” her Dollywood theme park always offers. Both with the movie’s production numbers and the on-screen “rehearsal chaos,” Parton embarks on a private journey into her past, where she is guided by the appearances of her personal Three Wise Mountain Men.
In typical Parton fashion, on and off camera, the global star decides to follow her heart when it’s time for her big special to air, showing that the magic of Christmas lies “in the hearts of the children we all once were, the realization that Christmas is about the people we share it with, and how her faith remains the common thread between Christmases past, present, and future.”
The Grand Ole Opry member will receive another honor later this year, when she is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Parton initially turned down the nomination, saying she hadn’t earned it, later changing her mind.
“I’ll accept gracefully,” Parton told NPR. “I would just say thanks and I’ll accept it because the fans vote. But when I said that, it was always my belief that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was for the people in rock music, and I have found out lately that it’s not necessarily that. But if they can’t go there to be recognized, where do they go? So I just felt like I would be taking away from someone that maybe deserved it, certainly more than me, because I never considered myself a rock artist. But obviously, there’s more to it than that.”
The induction ceremony, which also includes Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Carly Simon and Eminem, will take place on November 5.
Addition cast members for Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas are expected to be announced shortly. An air date has yet to be announced.
