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Dear Family and Friends,

Did I ever tell you about the time I quit my job for Dolly?

It’s true.

It basically came down to two mutually exclusive choices: continue my work with Pleasance Theatre OR quit my job to go see Dolly. Like any sensible human being, I chose Dolly.

I don’t want to dwell too much on the subject of me leaving. I’ve already expressed my dissatisfaction of the working environment in last week’s Letter Home, and I have shared many of my frustrations in my Letter of Resignation. I don’t feel proud of what I’ve done; yet I have no regrets either. It was a delicate situation that I tried to navigate with grace. I’ll let you decide if grace has been achieved.

Thanks for the many comments left over the week. You’ve certainly helped contextualize the situation. I’ve been accused of being many things, ranging from “limp aresed dick” and a “change agent.”  I think, perhaps, the truth might exist somewhere in between.

But enough about me. Let’s talk Dolly.

She was lovely, and she played the hits: Jolene, 9 to 5, Islands in the Stream and I Will Always Love You.  I shed a couple of tears during Coat of Many Colors, simply because the song is woven with meaning about the importance of kindness. The most chilling performance of the evening was her a cappella version of Little Sparrow. Her voice quivered with sentiment.

I also appreciated a new song called The Sacrifice, which lyrically summed up many of the beliefs I have about the necessity of surrendering some things to gain others. “You don’t drink the water if you don’t dig the well,” she sang. Daniel Baylis doesn’t get to a Dolly concert without quitting a job.

Let’s just assume she wrote the song for me.

For those who are familiar with the personality of Dolly, you’ll know that the little quips and one-liners are part of her charm. And last night, she was certainly on her game:

- “Where I’m from, if a man wears a skirt, he could get kilt!” (In reference to a stage hand wearing a kilt)

- “SAXY!” (After hammering out a saxophone solo. Throughout the evening Dolly played the saxophone, guitar, banjo, tin whistle, harmonica, piano and autoharp.)

- “In the new film that I’m in, I thought I had moves like Beyoncé. But my coworkers referred to me as Beyon-savin’!” (Dolly stars in a film called Joyful Noise, set for release this January).

- “People are always asking me how I stay so happy all the time, and why I’m still smiling. Those ain’t smiles! That’s botox!”

It was a lovely evening, made all the more memorable by the process that it took to get there.

Thanks for being part of that process.

xoxo

Daniel

PS: Here are a couple of videos that help tell the story of the evening!

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Matching Dolly T-shirts.

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