One afternoon in the Red Barn Tavern, owner Shirley Zimmerman sat watching her husband play darts with a handsome, personable gentleman. Her husband was considering the man for a job paving a driveway, but ended up hiring him for an altogether different gig.
The guy, one Taylor Parton, told the Zimmermans he'd been a professional Dolly Parton impersonator for 20 years.
Taylor, who has since performed twice at the Red Barn, returns for another engagement of his show, An Evening With Dolly, at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22.
The show consists of three 30-minute sets of singing, lip sync, Dolly comedy (boob jokes) and karaoke — complete with three costume changes.
"He comes out singing in the dress and wig," Shirley Zimmerman says. "It's the whole get 'n' go. You'd swear you were at a Dolly Parton concert."
The first night Parton performed at the Red Barn, the place was packed. Even patrons of the bar across the street came for the show.
"I had the fire department out for crowd control for the first time ever," Zimmerman says.
The Red Barn is a simple neighborhood joint, what Zimmerman calls "the biggest redneck bar in Pinellas Park," and its participation with competitive dart leagues has been one of its main draws over the past couple years. It's not exactly where one might expect to catch a Dolly Parton impersonator's revue.
"If we weren't so close to our customers," Zimmerman says, "he could have been shot."
Certainly Taylor Parton's safety is also due to his professionalism and the crowd's sheer appreciation of a good country music show.
Taylor, who changed his last name years ago to match his stage act, began his career after entering a Dolly look-a-like contest while working for a bank in San Francisco. The owner of The Finnochio Club, a famous female impersonator dinner theater, was scouting the contest in search of a good Dolly. And Taylor — whose uncanny resemblance to the buxom country superstar earned him a win — got hired.
From there Taylor perfected the act, rehearsing Dolly's mannerisms, patterns of speech, songs and on-stage routine. And in 1991, he began touring the country, representing, booking and promoting himself.
"It's good homespun fun," Taylor says. "It's been nothing but a positive influence on my life."
The Finnochio Club, which opened in 1936, closed in 1999. Eve Finnochio, widow of the founder, had watched crowds dwindle as cross-dressing became more commonly accepted.
You never know where the next new market for female impersonator cabaret performers might spring up. If they've got a sizzling country act, would you believe Tampa Bay?
"We were literally in the red," Zimmerman says, "but since we met Taylor, he keeps that register rolling. And I never would have dreamed I'd have a man in a dress putting me in the black and white in my little country bar."
Clearly, this is a show to be seen.
The Red Barn Tavern is located at 5300 Haines Road, St. Petersburg (727-522-5714).
This article appears in Aug 21-27, 2003.