Have you started your Christmas wish lists yet? Netflix has, and this year, the platform is doubling down on the Southern charm of Ms. Dolly Parton with an upcoming holiday musical after her Heartstrings series contended at the 2020 Emmys. The 74-year-old Jolene singer will soon grace Netflix with an original musical called Christmas on the Square.
Dolly Parton will play an angel to a humbug-type, who returns to a small town to evict a piece of land full of townsfolk after the death of her father. Here’s a few quick things about Christmas on the Square to know:
Dolly Wrote The Music
The family musical will feature fourteen original songs written by Dolly Parton, along with the icon starring as Angel and executive producing Christmas on the Square. The movie is coming out not long after the singer drops her first new holiday album in 30 years, A Holly Dolly Christmas. The album features Dolly singing classics such as I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus and features duets with Miley Cyrus, Michael Buble and Willie Nelson. It also features at least one track from the new musical Christmas On The Square. You can listen to it below if you’d like a sneak peek:
That sounds adorable and very much on brand for Dolly! We’ll have to wait and see what other new holiday songs await the soundtrack.
It’s Being Directed By Debbie Allen
As reported by THR, Christmas on the Square will be directed by Fame’s Lydia Grant, Debbie Allen, who has been acting, producing and directing for years since starring in the ‘80s TV show. Most recently, Allen has played Dr. Catherine Fox on Grey’s Anatomy, along with directing a number of recent episodes over the years. Christmas on the Square is the first movie she’s directed in 25 years, the last time being Out-of-Sync with LL Cool J.
It Has An Awesome Cast
An especially exciting element about Dolly Parton’s Christmas movie is the cast that has been assembled. Mamma Mia and Chicago’s Christine Baranski will play the lead, and Regina Fulle will play the Scrooge of the film, who returns to her hometown to threaten the homes of people who live there in order to replace it with a mall.
They'll be joined by Hair actor Treat Williams as the owner of the town’s general store, Black-ish’s Ruby Jenifer Lewis as a beauty shop owner, Arrow’s Josh Segarra as the local pastor, Roswell New Mexico’s Jeanine Mason as one of Dolly’s angels in training, The Voice and American Idol contestant Matthew Johnson as the owner of a local bar, and young Hidden Figures actress Selah Kimbro Jones as Johnson's character's daughter.
Christmas on the Square premieres on Netflix on November 22. Until then, check out what’s coming to Netflix in October. On October 6, another Dolly project is hitting the platform too: her 2019 documentary Dolly Parton: Here I Am.
