Boston Is Home To World Premiere Of 'Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol'

BOSTON (CBS) - A brand new musical is having its world premiere right here in Boston. Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol is now playing at the Emerson Colonial Theater.

Dolly Parton herself wrote all of the music for the production and surprised the audience on opening night, telling the crowd the show is a dream that has been in the making for a few years.

Director Curt Wollen worked with Dolly on small productions of A Christmas Carol at her Tennessee theme park, Dollywood. Those short shows featured Parton's songs and that's when Wollen and others approached the singer about expanding the show.

"She said in fact, it's such a good idea that if you need some songs I'll write some songs for you," Wollen said. "Well, that's gold."

"Dolly has this way with music where she writes it from her heart and there's no other way to sing it but from your heart," said actress Brittney Santoro.

While the story of A Christmas Carol is well known, this show gives it a little twist, setting it in the Smoky Mountains in the 1930s.

Peter Colburn plays Scrooge and says the message at the heart of the original story is still there.

"You can go anywhere. You can be anything. You don't have to let your past dictate your future. Each day is the opportunity for a new beginning."

Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol will be at the Emerson Colonial Theater in Boston through December 29.