“Karen as Dolly: Dolly Parton Tribute" at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse -- August 29.
Thursday, August 29, 1 & 7:15 p.m.
Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, 1828 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL
An iconic country artist will be saluted by an award-winning vocalist on August 29 when Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse hosts two performances of the concert event Karen as Dolly: Dolly Parton Tribute, with Karen Hester returning to the theatre to present the look, sound, and spirit of one of the most successful, and certainly most beloved, personalities in modern American history.
With her career currently spanning more than 50 years, Dolly Parton is a bona fide country-music legend who has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling female artists of all time. Parton's music includes Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards, and she has had 25 singles reach number one on the Billboard country music charts, a record for a female artist shared with Reba McEntire. She has 44 career top-10 country albums, a record for any artist, as well as 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years. Parton has also composed in excess of 3,000 songs, including "I Will Always Love You" (a two-time U.S. country chart-topper, as well as an international pop hit for Whitney Houston), "Jolene," "Coat of Many Colors," and "9 to 5," the title track for the hit film that earned Parton a Best Original Song Oscar nomination.
Additionally, Parton has received 11 Grammy Awards out of 50 nominations, including the Lifetime Achievement Award; 10 Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year, plus citation as one of only seven female artists to win the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year Award; five Academy of Country Music Awards, including Entertainer of the Year; four People's Choice Awards; and three American Music Awards. She is also in a select group to have received at least one nomination from the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Tony Awards, and Emmy Awards. In 1999, Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame; in 2005, she received the National Medal of Art; and in 2022, she was nominated for and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a nomination she had initially declined, but ultimately accepted.
Portraying the icon in Karen as Dolly: Dolly Parton Tribute, Karen Hester was a first-place winner of Jimmy Fallon’s Clash of the Cover Bands, earing her title as the "Best Tribute Artist in America." Beyond touring her country-music showcase, Hester has been the opening act for recording artists Trace Adkins and Ricky Van Shelton, and is currently performing in Legends Live in both Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Las Vegas, delivering a vocal celebration of Dolly Parton's extraordinary career. Hester's solo show has taken her throughout the world with performances in Sweden, Finland, Australia, and aboard the Country Music Cruise, and she has also performed on the live AXS television show World's Greatest Tribute Bands.
Karen Hester will perform two stagings of Karen as Dolly: Dolly Parton Tribute in Rock Island on August 29: an afternoon performance with doors at 11:45 a.m., a plated lunch served at noon, and the show beginning at 1 p.m., and an evening performance with doors at 5:45 p.m., a plated dinner served at 6 p.m., and the show at 7:15 p.m. Admission is $62.50-65.65, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)786-7733 extension 2 and visiting Circa21.com.
