When Dolly Parton died on August 25, 2026, Kelly O’Brien — the Australian-born performer who has spent nearly 20 years carrying Parton’s catalog through theatres on three continents — wrote five words to close her tribute: “I will always love you, Dolly.” That relationship, built across decades of study and two hours of makeup per show and one conversation with Parton herself at the O2 Arena in London, is what O’Brien brings to Kodak Center on June 18.
About the Show
O’Brien began performing as Dolly in 2007 and has not stopped refining the work since. The Dolly Parton Tribute is a full theatrical concert with a live band, moving through the catalog that defined country music for more than half a century: “Jolene,” “9 to 5,” “Islands in the Stream,” “Coat of Many Colours,” “Here You Come Again,” “I Will Always Love You.” The production pairs the hits with comedy, multiple costume changes (sewn by dressmakers internationally), and what Time Out described as a performer who “looks, sounds and speaks like Dolly.” The June 18 Rochester show is part of a U.S. leg that follows a run in Australia and continues to Syracuse the following night.
The credentials behind that assessment are considerable. The Parton family has attended her performances: Dolly’s sister Frieda Parton called O’Brien “fabulous.” Dolly Parton Enterprises selected her as Dolly’s official body double for film. In 2025, she was the sole UK finalist in Dolly’s #SearchForDolly global Broadway casting search, chosen from thousands of entrants. The BBC called her “one of the world’s best tribute acts,” and she won the UK’s Official No. 1 Dolly Parton tribute at the National Tribute Music Awards in 2015, 2016, and 2017.
Since Parton’s death, O’Brien has been direct about what the work now means. “She was funny, kind, generous, fiercely intelligent and completely unapologetic about being herself,” she wrote of the person behind the icon. The show carries on with that full picture in mind, and a percentage of profits from each performance benefits Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the program that distributes free books to children from birth through school entry.
Venue & Logistics
The show takes place at Kodak Center, 200 W Ridge Rd in Rochester — a 2,400-seat theater in the Finger Lakes region. The June 18 show begins at 7:00 p.m.
Tickets
No ticket price was available from sources at the time of publication. Tickets go on sale November 6, 2026. Buy tickets