Dolly Parton performs at Verizon Wireless Theater, Oct. 11, 2011, in Houston.
Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle
Dolly Parton performs at Verizon Wireless Theater, Oct. 11, 2011, in Houston.
Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle
When Dolly Parton conceived “Threads: My Songs in Symphony,” it was as a living celebration of her music. The show, featuring symphonic renditions of her catalog, premiered in Nashville last year.
A year and a half later, in the wake of Parton’s passing, it arrives in Houston with new poignancy as a tribute to her enduring legacy, Oct. 30 and Nov. 1 at Jones Hall. The Houston dates have been in the works for more than a year.
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“The timing of the passing of Dolly — I think for some it will bring closure to the loss because she was so beloved. Dolly will be with us in the room in so many ways,” says Steven Reineke, principal Pops conductor of the Houston Symphony. “The world feels like a bit of a difficult place these days in many ways, and she’s always had a way to offer us an outlet of peace and solace.”
Dolly Parton in concert at NRG Arena in 2016.
Gary Fountain/Gary Fountain/For the Chronicle
Parton died Aug. 25 after a brief battle with cancer. Her passing triggered a global outpouring of grief that cut across genres, generations and geography and is still being felt today. “Threads” is one of several projects Parton put in place before her death, along with her Tennessean Travel Stops, SongTeller Hotel, Cup Of Ambition Coffee and a Broadway musical set to premiere in December.
Billed as a multimedia experience, the show features Parton as a virtual host, talking to the audience about her life and songs via a giant video screen while the symphony plays new arrangements of her classics.
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“Her presence is so big and so magnetic that you feel as if she’s in the room. You feel as if she’s talking right to you,” Reineke says.
The lineup features a rotating cast of vocalists and a traditional country band, all tasked with capturing the intimacy that was Parton’s signature in song.
Dolly Parton at Toyota Center in 2004.
Bill Olive/For the Chronicle
“It will always be one of the greatest honors of my life to help carry her legacy through this show,” says Katelyn Drye, one of the vocalists for the Houston performances. “How lucky did I get to be a small part? I hope Dolly would be proud right now.”
When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30 and 2 p.m. Nov. 1
Where: Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana
Tickets: $41 and up at houstonsymphony.org
Reineke, also music director of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, previously conducted “Threads” at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in 2025. He says much of Parton’s music already lends itself to lush orchestrations — indeed, songs such as “Eagle When She Flies,” “Light Of A Clear Blue Morning” and “Travelin’ Thru” have a cinematic grandeur that seems made for symphonic arrangements.
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“For me, it’s some of the really folksy stuff, like the song ‘Blue Smoke’, some things that are part of the storytelling of her upbringing — ‘The Bridge,’ ‘Little Bird’ — those are gorgeous and work so, so beautifully.”
Dolly Parton performs at Verizon Wireless Theater, Oct. 11, 2011, in Houston.
Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle
Reineke never met Parton but corresponded with her several times via her favorite means of communication— a fax machine. Parton frequently said she preferred the ’80s relic over cell phones and social media. Even Miley Cyrus and Reba McEntire had to reach her that way. Reineke faxed Parton several times asking if she would accept an honor at a gala. She never did but always replied.
“I remember one of the early times getting a fax from her saying, ‘Dear Stephen, thank you so much for thinking of me for this great honor. But I’ve got this project coming up, this project coming up, and I just can’t accept right now. But keep asking, maybe sometime in the future. God bless, Dolly.’ It was so sweet,” Reineke recalls.
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“And you know what? I didn’t keep that fax paper. Why wouldn’t I have kept that? Now I really wish.”