First article by our new contributor Dujean MacKay

Friday the 2^nd of August involved a trip to Aberdeen for the hit show ‘Here We Come Again’.  The musical has come to our shores after several acclaimed runs in the United States.  Written by Bruce Vilanch, Gabriel Barre and Tricia Paoluccio (who also plays Dolly), with UK adaptations by Jonathan Harvey (Gimme, Gimme, Gimme and Coronation Street), this musical had the audience singing and dancing in the isles.

Packed full of old time favourites the show made you laugh, cry and cheer for over 2 hours of what was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. As well as the title song, the show included Hush-A-Bye Hard Times, Just Someone I Used To Know, Jolene, Why’d You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That, Little Sparrow, Love Is Like A Butterfly, The Seeker, 9 To 5, Me and Little Andy, Sing For The Common Man, Islands In The Stream, In The Morning, I Will Always Love You and more.

Audience participation was encouraged – nay – obligatory throughout and the production raised the spirits of a very engaging, welcoming and warm Aberdeen audience. 

Tricia Paoluccio’s portrayal of that very special voice that is Dolly Parton was an absolute triumph. Right from the start when Paoluccio exploded onto His Majesty’s Theatre stage you knew we were in for a ding dong night and privileged to be in the presence of such acting genius. 

Not only did Paoluccio exhibit immaculate acting skills but her stage craft, including straight to the audience interactions, had us held spellbound in the palm of her hand.  This was US musical royalty standing at its tallest, proudest and most brilliant.  . 

The supporting actors were just as excellent and the tight sound that the backing vocalists and musicians produced meant that the Dolly fans, who came with aspirations to sing their hearts out, did not leave disappointed. 

In most cases our hopes for the evening were surpassed by what was an outstanding production.  Set and costume designer Paul Wills should be very proud of the visual display on offer which at times took the breath away and especially brought the whole audience to their feet for a final sing along. 

The hardest job on the night was that of Steven Webb who had to keep up with the Tour De Force that is Paoluccio.  Webb gave his all bringing an energy and vitality to the show and even managing to, somewhat, hold his own in duets with Paoluccio – no mean feat.

His most impressive moment was his delivery of the lines concerning Dolly not having children.  At which point, everyone in the theatre had a lump in their throat or a tear coming to the eye.  Perhaps it had something to do with the recent rubbish J.D. Vance espoused concerning childless people, but that was the key moment in the musical where the audience held their breath in the most empathetic of ways. 

The audience loved Webb’s portrayal of Kevin, ooing and awing depending on his emotions. However, the script adaptations did Webb no favours.  In the main his character who is homeless, jobless, isolated and heartbroken (after breaking up with his lover Sean) did not move beyond a surface level simplistic portrayal of a sad gay man who needs to find himself again. 

At times Kevin is just down right Aldi red wine pathetic with a tinge of added me, me, me narcissism, ‘is my life not worth a country song’ he pines at one point.  At other times it is as if Kevin’s lines were written by a 14 year old who had watched too many you tube videos about, twin flames, self-esteem and/or mindfulness.  Yes, the writers need to set up a tragic figure for Dolly to come and sort out, however, at times, especially in terms of the mainly simplistic cultural references, you were left thinking could the writing have gone up a notch beyond lowest common denominator gags.   

The cultural adaptations provided by Jonathan Harvey lack nuances about gay men, instead there were plenty of clichés and in terms of contemporary gender rights, there were too many body shaming one off jokes made at Dolly Parton’s expense.  Yes, Dolly pokes fun at her own glamorous nips and tucks image and gay jokes stereotypically play on ideas of body shaming and self-loathing.  But, the script over does the ‘woe is me’ aspects of Kevin’s existence at the same time in lacking a contemporary engagement with notions of gender fluidity. 

For example, Kevin’s interactions with Sean lack the nuance of gay relationships that can be seen in television and cinema see this link for Elle’s 23 Of The Best LGBTQ+ Films That Perfectly Portray The Queer Experience:

There are some serious issues that are flagged up in the script e.g. the need to avoid drugs and alcohol as solutions to depression.  Which reminded us that Parton has previously said she is not much of a drinker because there is alcoholism on both sides of her family.  Importantly these moments were put across in a way that did not hector an audience who were clearly out to enjoy themselves and the gentle encouraging tone reminded me of the time I went to visit Dollywood with a margarita hangover and a lovely women in a shop where I was buying T-shirts exchanged pleasantries about having recently visited Ireland and Scotland that included the observation that prior to her visit she had had no idea how much Scottish and Irish people drink.  To which I could only honestly reply ‘guilty as charged’.  These days, like Dolly, I rarely take to the drink and found myself nodding appreciatively as Dolly humorously worked her tea total magic on Kevin.

In such moments, Webb’s comic timing rose beyond the script and we were lucky that his stage craft meant that he successfully dragged the audience with him whatever dodgy lines the script gave him to deliver.  He had me roaring with laughter the first time he used hilarious over acting to parody one of Dolly’s songs but he was required to use this device too often and there were moments, particularly during the more emotional songs, where he came across like a hundred miles an hour Timmy Mallet panto ‘Buttons’ on acid.  In these moments a more considered and touching approach was required to keep the connection with the audience and to not overshadow Paoluccio’s beautiful voice.  And, yet over all, the audience was touched by Webb’s performance and there was strong message of hope over fear, love over self-hate and courage through adversity in this musical.

That achievement left me thinking could this musical have been even more liberating for the audience.  And, ‘what if more thought had been put into Kevin’s character, what if this adaptation had had the confidence to slow Kevin down a bit and what if they had created more nuance e.g. a femme fatal alter ego for Kevin that grew through the interactions with Dolly into a much more formidable character of sophistication and complexity. 

If you look close enough, you will find that working class culture is sophisticated and complex – sadly in the form of Kevin’s parents it was mainly portrayed in the musical as ‘rough as nowt’.   Anything, just, anything from recent portrayals of contemporary gay culture would have made the plot shift less predictable and would have helped to lift Kevin’s character out of it’s at times dated self-loathing 1980’s soap suds mundanity.

However excellent this show is, it can do so much better. Paoluccio is at the top of her acting game, if Kevin’s parts of the script can be raised to the same level as Dolly’s this show will go stratospheric – just as Dolly once did herself.  With more nuances and more diva moments rather than repetitively ‘Kevin feigns drag yet again’ moments, this adaptation could make the Kevin role as iconic as that of Dolly’s. 

It is not too late to do so.  This is just the start of the run.  The script needs more gay confidence and complexity.  It also needs a good edit to get rid of the one or two moments where Dolly is simply the butt of 1970s Butlin’s Holiday camp Des Lawson  – Skegness eat yir heart oot – ‘how’s yer father/mother- in-law type jokes.

As I stated earlier, in contrast to the media stereotypes, Dolly is a class act.  She is US musical royalty and anyone who has visited Dollywood at Pigeon Forge knows it is a place to be proud of. Just as Graceland is a serious place of pilgrimage nothing like the gaudy monstrosity that the UK sneering tabloids make out to be, Dollywood is a lovely experience.  

The appreciative audience were willing to forgo the lack of nuance in the script.  Let’s face it, some of Dolly’s forgiven fans simply came for their idle’s music – anything else was a bonus. Yet, from a #PROESCOTIA blog perspective, the script’s cringe worthy English cultural adaptations don’t wash.   Nor does the musical’s complete lack of engagement with contemporary socio-cultural issues pertinent to a Scottish or Aberdeenshire audience. 

The sole reference to anything Scottish in the musical is that an old flame of Kevin’s now lives ‘up there’ in Dundee.  On stage, Kevin is in the north of England.  However, we, the audience, were sitting in Aberdeen – Dundee was ‘doon thur tae us’ not ‘up there’.   It may seem picky, but a more inclusive approach would have recognised that fact and had lines that connected better to a Scottish audience. The musical goes to Glasgow later in the year– I wonder if the adaptations will have improved and become more nuanced by then?

Dolly Patron speaks fondly of her times spent in Scotland, stating that her music seems to resonate more with the Scots and Irish.  She first visited Scotland in 1977 to perform in Glasgow and wondered at the beauty of our country referring to it as a home away from home.  When asked if she felt Scottish she responded “I am one of your own”, “I am part Scottish but don’t know which part.  You can claim any part you want to.  I know a lot of it is in my voice and in my singing.”

Dolly Parton is loved and respected in Scotland and has strong feelings for this country. For example, the Queen of Country Music can trace her Scots roots all the way from Tennessee back to 17th century Scotland.  She has collaborated with the Scottish government to launch her Imagination Library here and thousands of Scots children have benefited from her books (100 million books have been distributed worldwide, 40000 a month come to the UK and in one community project alone in Scotland 35000 books have gone to over 1500 children.  Each child receiving a book a month up to five years of age. 

In 2022 after receiving the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in New York – named after Dunfermline’s famous son – for the work of her charity the Dollywood, she sent a letter to Dunfermline to celebrate it’s new city status:

‘“Scotland holds a special place in my heart… …I was honoured and humbled to receive the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy this past October. “This was truly special to me, as I feel that in some ways Andrew Carnegie and I are kindred spirits.  He gave the gift of reading to almost 3,000 communities by enabling libraries to be built around the world. My Imagination Library reaches 3,000 communities across the world and gives a free book every month to over 2 million children.”

As someone who benefited as child living in poverty from a local Carnegie library my respect for Dolly Parton is felt deeply. A woman with such achievements deserves a more formidable script adaptation.  Indeed, I was left wishing I had seen the original US production which you felt, from the quality of Paoluccio’s performance, might have been a different beast.

None of my criticisms should put anyone off seeing this thoroughly entertaining and uplifting show.  Indeed, nothing can ever distract from the brilliance that is Dolly Parton.  Paoluccio’s outstanding portrayal of Dolly is a wonder to behold that will live long in my memory.  It’s a must see for anyone with an interest in country music or Americana and I, form one, was glad that it came to Scotland so early in its run.

Dujean MacKay has 30 years experience of developing creative community projects that utilise film, drama, poetry, photography and creative writing to enable communities to tell their stories and to campaign for social change.   Active in the field of social justice and inclusion Dujean’s work is underpinned by pedagogies of resistance, creativity and hope.