FAIRFAX--Two big things keep Dolly Parton fans coming back for more.
Not those two big things.
Dolly's warm onstage attitude and school-girl giggle have a way of making audience members feel like close friends. And her sweet voice and self-written songs invoke a range of emotions, from sorrow to self-righteousness.
That was certainly true Sunday, when Parton played the George Mason University Patriot Center in Fairfax. The performance was part of her cross-country tour, "Hello, I'm Dolly," designed to revisit each era of her four-decade career.
Introduced as a bona fide original and an American treasure, Dolly was preceded by opening act, bluegrass band The Grascals.
Images of the 58-year-old singer-actor-entrepreneur flashed on screens surrounding the stage--from a tiny Dolly growing up at her Tennessee mountain home to a glamorous Dolly gracing magazine covers and movie posters--her big, blond hair done a dozen different ways.
She was greeted by an anxious crowd when she appeared in person, looking as gorgeous as ever.
Wearing blood-red lipstick, sky-high heels and a white outfit that hugged her trim figure and dripped with sparkling silver fringe, she performed medleys that weaved together some of her most popular songs. Parton sang snippets of "Two Doors Down," "9 to 5," "Jolene" and "Here You Come Again," with the crowd clapping along.
She propped herself atop a piano and sipped a giant martini to sing "Baby, It's Cold Outside," and she belted out her 1974 No. 1 hit, "I Will Always Love You" alongside a male vocalist dressed as Elvis Presley.
Throughout the show, she wrapped herself in a series of accessories she called "add-ons," including a fluffy feather boa, a sheer skirt and a gospel scarf.
The evening's highlights included Dolly's version of Kris Kristofferson's "Me & Bobby McGee," the title song from her own 2001 CD "Little Sparrow," and her enduring 1971 hit "Coat of Many Colors."
Parton plugged her upcoming CD, "Blue Smoke," and showered the crowd with comic antics.
"Don't nobody panic. This ain't the Superbowl," she said as she fidgeted with a microphone strategically placed on her chest. "I pull a Janet Jackson on you, I'm going to take out about three rows."
To reach LISA CHINN: 540/374-5412 lchinn@freelancestar.com