DOLLY AT RADIO CITY

Finally got to see Miss Parton live and she was all that. She took the stage in a peachy orange, yellow, cream and fuschia silk chiffon rhinestone-crusted showstopper with slits. The body was serving! I'm not loving the new "ramen" curls but the shape was ample. And my lord--is she lovable! Playing a rhinestoned dulcimer which doesn't exactly signal poverty, but somehow she actually brought a tear during Coat Of Many Colors. She may be a loaded superstar, but she makes you believe those lyrics, about a poor hillbilly girl who proudly wears a coat of rags her mom makes her to school and is ridiculed. She played about 10 rhinestoned instruments and brought the house down with not only classics (though I still prefer Patti Labelle's insane cover of Here You Come Again to Dolly's original) but also selections from her upcoming covers album. John Lennon's Imagine had the audience on their feet. (Of course many of the hipster gays, and who knows, maybe ordinary New Yorkers applauded lines like "Imagine no religion.") I wonder how she felt about that? She closed with Hello God. I would have creamed for Baby I'm Burnin'. Seen: Murray Hill, Kevin Aviance, Mr. Mickey, retired dragster Lurleen Wallace, hilariously bitter doorgirl/socialite Alice "Big Al", actress Jane Adams, and Michael Kors.

Her photo album was delightful and nutty, with one look which featured whore-y wig with granny glasses and a come hither look. Bizarre! And her humor. "I've written many sad songs. Ok, some of 'em were downright pitiful!" And of her cover album: "I don't know if I'm putting old wine in bottles or new wine in old jugs." To a young man who lept to the stage (plant?) she repeated my favorite line "Boy, I'm old enough to be your LOVER! I mean mother!" which she used on the Grammys a few years ago. It's pretty rare to find an entertainer who is that pretty/sexy, funny AND a virtuoso musician. (I can only think of Charo--many don't know that she is a virtuoso flamenco guitarist. I just met her at Pam's roast and she looks the same. When Charo flew down the aisles during an off-Broadway show called Pete and Keely a few years ago, it touched my hand and I squealed like a 10 age girl on steroids--ok, and ecstacy. And heroin.)

I can't really imagine what Dolly wants. What she craves. How does she spend her spare time? We've all heard the dyke rumors. What does she do with her coins? I really can't imagine the real person because the stage persona is so well-crafted and that thing never leaves the house without the full Dolly ensemble. Give 'em what they want. I went with Miss Guy, who remembers her saying in an interview that it would take a family emergency to get her out of the house bare-faced. And some queen did her make-up recently and Dolly came fully made up. She did not remove her paint to re-paint! Danilo, hairdresser to the stars, went to her home to do some wigs and she greeted him on the porch in full face, wig, gingham shirt tied at the waist, daisy dukes, shimmer tights and candies. What makes a 60 year old woman cavort in custom 5/6 inch heels for 2 hours? (Ask Lypsinka!) Can't just be $ if she doesn't need it. I guess it's the satisfaction of having created something so fascinating. Even if it's not completely real, it's "real" to so many people.