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'We hope Dolly would've approved of our announcement'

Elliot DeadyPeterborough
Karla Tracey announced Dolly Parton's death before a performance of 9 to 5 The Musical on Tuesday

The director of Dolly Parton's musical said he hoped the country singer would have been proud of the way the cast announced her death to a live audience.

The cast of 9 to 5 The Musical was moments away from going on stage in Worthing, West Sussex, when they learned of Parton's death on Tuesday.

Before the start of the performance, some of the audience gasped as cast member Karla Tracey paid tribute to the 80-year-old's "extraordinary talent, creativity, and spirit".

Director Paul Jepson said the cast and crew "moved very, very quickly" to prepare the announcement.

"We wanted it to be clear that we were honouring something, and because 9 to 5 is an important part of her work and her identity," Jepson told the BBC.

"There wasn't a huge amount of planning or anything — there wasn't enough time."

He said Tracey was the perfect choice because she plays the part of Doralee Rhodes, the same character portrayed by Parton in the 1980 film the stage production is based on.

"I think it resonated because you see a young person, a very talented young woman who's playing the part," said Jepson, "and she's talking about somebody who has a sort of extraordinary following."

"I rather hope that Dolly Parton would have approved."

Reuters The singer Dolly Parton performing on a stage with her hands on the air. She is smiling and wearing a white dress with long sleeves and sequins on the front.Reuters
Dolly Parton's management team said she died after a "brief battle with cancer"

The musical was in Worthing as part of a tour of the latest iteration of the production, which first premiered in Los Angeles in 2008.

The current tour opened in July at the New Theatre in Peterborough, where most of the pre-production work was completed.

Jepson, who is also the chief executive of Landmark Theatres which produced the show, said Parton had not seen his team's interpretation of the musical.

"We had various messages of good wishes from her but she, I'm afraid, didn't [see it]," he said.

Parton composed the music and wrote the lyrics to the famous title track and the rest of the show's musical numbers.

Jepson said there were no plans to make any changes to the production after the star's death.

Rebecca Pitt A man wearing a tie and braces sits behind an office desk wrapped in an old-style telephone handset's cable. A woman in a pink dress sits on the desk holding the old rotor-dial phone. Three other women stand behind the desk with one holding the receiver. All are laughing apart from the man, who is frowning.Rebecca Pitt
Karla Tracey (left) announced Parton's death to an audience in Worthing on Tuesday

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