Dolly Parton Musical Put On Hold Amid Homophobic Abuse
- Trisha Yearwood Reveals Where She Feels Most ‘Protected’ - February 15, 2025
- Dolly Parton & Sabrina Carpenter Put Country Spin On Hit Song - February 15, 2025
- Dolly Parton Musical Put On Hold Amid Homophobic Abuse - February 14, 2025
Recently, a Dolly Parton-themed musical came to a screeching halt as the entire cast walked off stage. The cast’s actions came as a protest after an audience member flung homophobic remarks at a character. The entire show has now been suspended. Keep reading to find out more!
Dolly Parton Themed Musical Suspended
A dolly Parton-themed musical directed by Gabriel Barre titled Here You Come Again has been suspended following the actions of an audience member. The musical tells the tale of a diehard Dolly Parton fan. The fan has a fantasy that Dolly helps him through a difficult time. It was revealed by Stevie Webb, a lead cast member, that the cast is frequently subject to homophobic redirect. Webb took to TikTok to explain:
“The amount of audience members that we have had to eject from our show due to homophobia is insane. Just this week, in Manchester alone, last night we had to eject someone who was shouting out slurs. On Wednesday we had to stop the whole show because a woman was so disgusted there was a gay character on the stage.”
The musical tours the U.K. with a show every week. Recently, an audience member shouted homophobic slurs at the cast because they were “disgusted by a gay character” in the show. After the latest bout of abuse resulted in protests from the cast members, things have been put on pause.
Cast Members Exposes Sad Truth
Stevie Webb explained on his TikTok that audience members are frequently ejected from shows for inappropriate and brash behavior. In addition, he said that the latest audience member began to shout. Soon, the rest of the audience responded to her, causing quite the scene. Stevie further explained:
“This is a Dolly Parton musical, first of all. It is just me and Dolly Parton on stage, my character and Dolly Parton… It’s a Dolly Parton musical mate… it’s going to be a little bit gay obviously.”
Stevie Webb stated that the amount of people who are homophobic during the Dolly musical shows has opened his eyes to the isolation he is in. However, he continued to explain that he was in a theater bubble. Webb said he feels pitiful for the individuals who cannot stand to see a gay person in mainstream society. He said:
“I feel very sorry for them, it would be like if I had that reaction to the color blue because it exists, it’s not going anywhere, but I could not escape it. So I feel really bad for them because I would be like ‘Oh f— the sky’ but eventually I’d probably just realize oh it’s not actually hurting me and it is not affecting my life, it is just blue and it’s just not my favorite color.
Stevie Webb explained that many of the people he witnesses are not able to realize that if something is not harming them or does not affect them, it’s okay to be not alike.
79-year-old country music legend Dolly has long been open about her support of LGBTQIA+ rights. In 2014, she spoke in support of gay marriage, stating, “Everyone should be with who they love.” Parton continued, “I don’t want to be controversial or stir up a bunch of trouble, but people are going to love who they are going to love.” It should not come as a shock to audience members that a musical about Dolly Parton would show favor to the LGBTQIA+ community.
Are you shocked by this going down? Sound off in the comments below.