Tricia Paoluccio as Dolly Parton in “Here You Come Again”
Here You Come Again. The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham.
Before we start I should say I’m a HUGE Dolly Parton fan so this review could’ve been completely biased or completely critical. I can honestly say it’s neither. Also, quite often when it comes to jukebox musicals you can say “here we GO again” but this is not exactly a jukebox musical, as we get to hear the songs from the original artist themself (well kind of). And what an absolute treat it is.
We’re told from the off that the story takes place during the pandemic in the height of the lockdown. I have to say I internally groaned upon hearing this – I’m not a fan of pieces set during this awful time, it was bad enough living through it. However, it does lend itself to the story and thankfully draws on some humour from the situation. We join Kevin, who is isolating with his parents at his childhood home. He’s holed up in the attic which he has to access via a ladder to the window. The room is adorned with posters of his idol – Dolly Parton. Kevin is depressed – not only because of the lockdown – but because he’s hit 40, isn’t happy with how he looks, and is recently single after being dumped by his boyfriend. For this performance we have understudy Aidan Cutler who is absolutely perfect in the role. He’s funny, endearing, relatable, and quite honestly I can’t imagine anyone being more suited to the role. After going to bed in the throes of feeling extremely down he is awoken by the sound of his idol singing. Is he dreaming? Has he left his record player on? Is he imagining it? Whatever happened, Dolly is there. She literally stepped out from one of the posters! She’s come to his aid. There’s a famous saying “what would Dolly do?”. She’s obviously come to let him know.
Playing Dolly is Tricia Paoluccio, and when i say playing her i mean PLAYING her. She has her down to an absolute T – the voice (singing AND speaking), the mannerisms, the look – everything. At times you can imagine it’s actually Dolly. Paoluccio has obviously done her homework, the portrayal is absolutely spot on (the best I’ve ever seen).
Dolly’s songs are famously story led so they lend themselves perfectly to the narrative. Some songs are used at an absolute stretch just to get them in but who cares? We all want to hear them. The songs are used to give Kevin advice and also give us some nuggets from Dolly’s life story. All the hits are here: 9 to 5, Jolene, Islands in the Stream, (a very beautifully used) Love is Like a Butterfly, and of course I Will Always Love You. There are also some lesser heard gems like Me and Little Andy and Light of a Clear Blue Morning. The audience lap these songs up and is probably the reason they’re there but the story really is a delightful way of presenting them. The show is a lovely mix of a heartwarming story and the best tribute show you’ve ever seen. It had the whole audience on their feet.
The show started out in the US but has been tweaked by Jonathan Harvey who has relocated it to the north of England which works perfectly. There’s some great one-liners, pop culture, and British humour. Kevin wants to be a comedian and at times it feels like a stand up gig which really works. The audience are engaged and included throughout the whole show.
It’s warm, funny, moving, and the music is (of course) fantastic. And who doesn’t love a bit of Dolly?! Or a lot of Dolly!
A special mention to the band of on stage musicians/vocalists who complete the cast. They’re great.
Please see this show. You won’t be disappointed. I’d definitely “come again”.
What would Dolly do? Shed get a ticket!
5 stars. Dolly would love this. And so will you.
