Even if you’re not a fan of Dolly Parton, “Journey to Dollywood” is a trip worth taking. Don’t let the title fool you. This play is not a campy review of the buxom, blonde singer, but a delightful dramedy about courage and self-discovery. Veteran playwright and actress Jessie McCormack’s heart warming play reveals that there is a Dollywood in each of us, a place we are loathe to admit but long to go.
Wanderlust
Set in the aptly named Wanderlust Diner, Jolene, a frustrated waitress stuck in the monotonous small town life of a Southern town, finds comfort in Dolly Parton’s hard luck ballads. Much like the women Dolly sings about, Jolene despairs as she cares for an ailing and ungrateful mother while trying to keep the diner running despite a ditzy co-worker and an unfulfilling relationship with her gear-head boss. She yearns for more, and when a stranger headed for New York City disturbs the equilibrium, Jolene and the lives of those around her are irrevocably changed.
A Play of Many Colors
Like Dolly Parton’s bittersweet “Coat of Many Colors” Jessie McCormack weaves an otherwise predictable storyline into a charming quest that is as funny as it is emotionally potent. From Jolene’s first entrance and kiss to her treasured Dolly Parton photograph, McCormack superbly introduces the ragtag and hapless characters caught in the vortex of a sinking ship in the form of a greasy spoon diner. There isn’t much here to live for except NASCAR, and manning the grill. The only way out is through a pack a day smoking habit or sex in a cheap motel. None of the characters have figured out how to use their opposable thumbs to hitch a ride just yet, and that’s what makes them so entertaining. Nevertheless, McCormack doesn’t slather the stereotype with too much country bumpkin tripe. The meat and potatoes of this play lies in the seemingly arbitrary twists and turns of an emotional roller coaster. As fun as it is to ride, McCormack lands the play between laughs with poignant feeling. The play never loses its humor, but McCormack never lets it lose heart either.
Hello Dolly!
The character that shapes the play is none other than Dolly Parton herself. Clips of her well-known repertoire are featured throughout, but Dolly was so impressed with the play that she lent her voiceover to the production. Although the play is strong enough without this, the inclusion of Dolly’s brassy Tennessean twang in the “wedding scene” adds extra laughs and color. Diehard fans will enjoy this scene, and it is a credit to the quality of the play that Ms. Parton gave such full support.
Dollywood and the Holy Grail
“Journey to Dollywood” is ultimately about hope and courage. Jolene starts the play believing in the gospel of Dolly, but by the play’s end she comes to believe in herself. Dolly Parton and her theme park Dollywood become unlikely metaphors for freedom, but McCormack handles this beautifully, paralleling Jolene’s personal struggle with her heroine who defied all the odds.
Playwright and actress McCormack explains, “Dolly Parton is a symbol of hope. She’s the ‘American Dream’ personified, a person who struggled against all odds to get where she is today. In the play, Jolene’s desire to travel to Dollywood is a metaphor for taking a leap of faith and going for what you want in life.”
The Cast
The play includes an ovation worthy cast with Melissa Greenspan (CiCi), the well-meaning but bubble brained sexpot that serves the coffee cold but can find other ways to warm it up. Delicious and exciting, Greenspan delivers the goods with moments of depth and sympathy. Henry Gummer (Josh) is excellent as the audience liaison to this world of bumbling idiots. Gummer finds a broad range in his mystified emotions, and easily makes the hairpin transitions from shock to rage seem as smooth as whiskey. Erik Van Wyck (Manny) is sheer pleasure as a Brooklyn bred, failed race car driver turned mechanic. Playwright and actress Jessie McCormack (Jolene) steals hearts and plenty of laughs
with her physical comedy and defensive posturing. It is a powerhouse role, and McCormack rises to the challenge she set for herself in creating it.
Director and Set Design
Rod McLachlan propels the impetus of the play with a firm hand, and directs the physical comedy to subtly unfold rather than ham hand it across the stage. The fluid movement of the play is further enhanced by McLachlan’s staging of dramatic scenes such as the fight between Manny and Josh, and the wedding dream sequence. McLachlan gives the play theatrical necessity and moments that can only be appreciated in live theatre.
The set designed by Keith Mitchell is filled with colorful and authentic details that lend credibility and a sense of grandeur to the faded, stained walls. Dolly Parton has her place, of course, and she beams down from center stage in her drugstore frame with as much as presence as if she were standing onstage thanks in due to lighting designer Kimberly Negrete. Using the window blind as a projector screen, Mitchell, Negrete, and sound designer Steve Altman bookend the play with photos that include Dolly Parton with character Jolene at her famed theme park. The play from start to finish is carefully endowed with these finishing touches that make it further satisfying and memorable long after the show is done.
Best Little Play in L.A.
There are few plays that combine heart and humor so well, and “Journey to Dollywood” does just that. McCormack sweetens the pot with her performance, but she proves with this play that she is a dynamic, sharp witted writer with a keen ability to bridge sentiment with the outrageous. Her characters resonate with a stark truth, but are softened by their hilarity. The gates at Dollywood are open, and “Journey to Dollywood” dares for us to step inside and listen to a small town girl who made good. She ain’t selling faith darling, that’s something you gonna have to find for yourself.
“Journey to Dollywood”
Matrix Theatre
7657 Melrose Avenue, 90046
Between Fairfax and La Brea
Runs through Oct. 27
Thurs, Fri, Sat at 8pm
Sunday at 3pm.
General Admission: $20
For reservations call (323) 960-4418
On the web: www.plays411.com/dollywood
