Dolly Parton to Appear in Hallmark’s ‘Christmas at Dollywood’

Country legend Dolly Parton is set to appear in a new Christmas movie for the Hallmark Channel, taking a role in the upcoming Christmas at Dollywood.

Starring Hallmark regular Danica McKellar, the heartwarming film is said to tell a theatrical story centered on a Broadway producer and single mom named Rachel. After her big time holiday show on Broadway goes belly up, Rachel gets a call from a friend in Tennessee asking her to revisit her Appalachian roots and co-produce a show for the 20th anniversary of the Smoky Mountain Christmas festival at Dollywood.

After taking the gig, Rachel will first butt heads with Dollywood’s entertainment director, Luke, who is only interested in climbing the corporate ladder to become the park’s next general manager. But with a fantastical story Rachel tells her 9-year-old daughter serving as inspiration for what the Dollywood production could become, romance may be in the air after all.

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Hi!! 🥰 I’m so happy to be making the rounds today in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of Hallmark Channel’s #CountdowntoChristmas – and the announcement of my very special Christmas movie this year! (See my instastories for more on all of that. 😎) Can you believe we’ve made 232 Christmas movies? And 40 new ones, just this year! 😍 I’m so incredible grateful to be part of such a magical operation. ☃️ Hallmark is like Santa’s village, for movies! . . . Thank you @accesshollywood & @entertainmenttonight for a fun morning. ❤ . . . And for those of you following me, I had a wonderful week-long social media break and I’m thrilled to be back, sharing fun things with you all. 🥰 . . . Merry Christmas… in July! 🎄 . . . And…*thank you* to my glam team, @hildal 💄& @tuyenttran 💇‍♀️, to @laundrybyshelli for the dress 👗 and @leezadjewelry for the bling. 💎 @hallmarkchannel @hallmarkmovie #Hallmarkies #ChristmasInJuly #asymmetricaldress #ootd 😘

A post shared by Danica McKellar (@danicamckellar) on Jul 10, 2019 at 10:08am PDT

“As the pair meets in the middle to please the boss, little do Rachel and Luke realize love lurks in all the unexpected places because this isn’t the Great White Way. Or Hollywood. This is Dollywood!” the official show description declares.

Parton and McKellar also have plans to work together in an upcoming documentary about Parton’s Imagination Library. McKellar will be on hand to narrate the film,
The Library That Dolly Built. No word yet on when the movie will be release.

Christmas at Dollywood begins production in August and will air in December, part of the network’s ambitious plan to release 40 holiday movies in 2019, including Christmas Camp, which premieres today (July 11).