In 1981 a budding dancer named Jeff Calhoun scored a small part in the Dolly Parton movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. “I was just a chorus boy and she was, you know, Dolly Parton. That was the first Christmas I ever missed with my family and so Dolly took a picture with me and I sent it to all my relatives as a Christmas present.”

Thirty years later Calhoun – now a Broadway heavy hitter himself – found himself headhunted to direct the stage adaptation of another classic Parton film, 9 to 5. “They flew me to Nashville to audition for her, and all I had to do was show her that picture. She said it was divine intervention and that’s what got me this job.”

It wasn’t an ordinary gig. 9 to 5 the Musical had already premiered on Broadway, and Calhoun had been called in to overhaul a production that just wasn’t nailing its KPIs.

“When it was in previews on Broadway everyone always talked about the set malfunctions,” he says. “Inevitably Dolly would have to get on stage and entertain the audience. Any time you talked to anyone who saw the show, all they talked about was Dolly Parton and not the show.”

This didn’t surprise Calhoun – even back in ’81 he’d been startled at the genuine warmth and charisma Parton had emanated. “She talked to and ingratiated herself with all of the ensemble, whereas [co-star] Burt Reynolds wouldn’t talk to any of us.”

Calhoun realised that the only way to make 9 to 5 work was to harness the power of Dolly herself.

“Clearly she wasn’t going to tour the world for eight shows a week, so that’s when I thought to have her present the show through videotape in the famous 9 to 5 clock.”

Her telepresence is far from the only trace of Dolly on stage – it’s Dolly Parton Presents 9 to 5, after all. “Most people don’t realise that she actually wrote the original score for this show. She was 100 per cent hands on. I’d call her if something went wrong and she’d solve it in a minute.”