Netflix’s new venture
includes Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square, which seems to be a suitable
title considering the description. For starters, this old-school Christmas special is one of a kind, with its colorful, easy display of veteran director
and choreographer Debbie Allen and Christine Baranski.
Source: The Irish Times
STORYLINE
The storyline comprises
of a New Yorker returning to the small town she grew up in and an adorable but
wise-beyond-years moppet Violet, who is the daughter of a local barkeep.
Baranski, on the other hand, has planned to evict the whole community on
Christmas Eve. There’s also Pastor Christian and wife (who never stops smiling,
which is honestly annoying). Anyway, it’s a house full and you need to watch
this because of it’s a feel-good vibe.
LYRICIST
AND COMPOSER
What has Dolly Parton
done, right? Well, she has a direct link with the creator and she has also
written the music and lyrics of the songs. And trust us on this one: all songs
have a carefree sing-along vibe (if you’re fond of Jolene than you know that
she’s just effortless when it comes to creating songs best suited for karaoke!
Dolly is phenomenal and
a goddess when it comes to writing festive ditty music. Also, she’s super
sporting as she doesn’t go along when anyone pokes fun at her own rhinestones –
sign of a true rockstar!
MOVIE PROMOTIONS
What do you do when you
see Ms. Parton wearing a bright red dress, sitting comfortably but sensually in
front of a wildly decorated Christmas tree, ready to get the virtual party
started? Well, it doesn’t matter if it’s the middle of October or the brink of
June – you get ready to celebrate Christmas!
Dolly has been promoting
this special since October is the same description as we provided above, but of
course, the Netflix’s Christmas movie special will come out on 22nd of November! No
matter what day it is, we all know that Dolly is ever-so-ready to spread love
and joy in the world.
Anyway, so she’s been
promoting her latest project, which is about a cold-hearted businesswoman who
comes back to her small town, only to evict everyone at Christmas Eve, and sell
the land to a mall developer.
HIGHLY
ANTICIPATED DANCE PERFORMANCES!
Source: Vulture
Dolly is also playing a
variety of characters in this musical, but the project is not your conventional
cookie-cutter holiday movie. Yes, you’ll get to enjoy beautifully choreographed
performances (all written and composed by Dolly Parton). But do you know that
there are lyrics about fertility and eviction notices? Hmm looks like Parton is
taking swag lessons from Miley, her Goddaughter.
REAL-LIFE
DEPICTION
Jokes aside, this is
possibly the first time when you get to see such relatable and real-life
scenarios in a Christmas musical. Dolly, being ever-so-gracious, gave all the
credit to their writer and co-executive producer Maria S. Schlatter as she was
the one who not only conceived this idea but also suggested featuring a couple
who was struggling with fertility issues. Hence, she believes that it was
Maria’s idea to give attention to such serious issues and bring them to the forefront.
While speaking to
Glamour, Parton said that Maria had the foresight to create wonderful
characters and she is proud to write music that extends support to the overall
characterization and storyline of the project.
IT’S
A FEEL-GOOD MOVIE
However, let’s take a
moment to understand that it’s a Christmas musical, so (of course) you wouldn’t
get to see things getting a bit gritty and tense. There won’t be doctor
appointments and administration of IVF shots at home. Dolly claims that she did
think of making that happen, though.
However, all things
said and done, the decision was to let go of all science and just commit to the
higher power and give hope to the world by letting a miracle happen.
Christmas movies
usually explore traditional aspects of life and give an ode to the simpler
times. But, let’s face it, it’s 2020 and the world is a bit jaded and complex
and in need of an escape (without challenging out brain cells). Christine
Baranski succeeds in finding the balance and giving us a realistic glimpse of a
magical show.
EMOTIONAL
CONNECT
Baranski, while talking
about the project, said that there’s a quote in the film that conceptualizes
the very crux of grief. What is grief? It’s all of the love that you have for
someone or something that has nowhere to go. She also said that when people are
numb and hurting, they become immune to the emotions and feelings of others and
tend to be rather insensitive.
Christmas is the time
when you learn to soften your heart and instead of going numb, this time
teaches us to carefully let go of the negativity. She tells her viewers and
fans awaiting the film to keep the faith alive and spread love and
kindness.
Parton said that people
living in small towns are simply trying to make ends meet. They’re hoping for a
better year and this movie is for them. It’s represents hope and light at the
end of the tunnel, and if they manage to reciprocate, they’ve done their job. We believe this movie
is super delightful, and because of this wonderful musical, Christmas has come
early at our homes. It’s literally the best present ever! (We knew Dolly was
our Santa)
Before this, Dolly has
made a couple of holiday-themed movies, like Christmas of Many Colors and
Christmas at Dollywood. Actress Mary Lane Haskell has shared the details
regarding the upcoming project in one of the podcasts; she said that she has
worked with Dolly before, and her experiences are always splendid and there’s
never a dull moment on set with her.
And oh, there are
twelve songs in the movie! It certainly can’t get better than this. And since
it’s a Christmas movie, there won’t be any bad guys or bad endings because
nobody wants any association with negativity at this time of the year!
Dolly will be a literal
angel and we just can’t wait to watch it every single day after the release
until the Christmas Day after all the movie reviews are all so promising just like Dolly Parton movies and TV shows!