Donny And Marie Coming To Toronto With Vegas Show
National Post
by Melissa Leong
March 7, 2011
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Before there was Bieber fever, there was Osmond Mania.
“I remember at Chum Radio. It might have been 1971 maybe. There were so many screaming girls surrounding the building that it posed to threat just to get out of there,” Donny Osmond, former teen idol, said in an interview. |
“In the ’80s, I went away. My career was washed up and I had to reinvent myself. It took me a whole decade to do it. They called it the comeback of the ’80s. It’s going to happen to Justin. We all know it. Give it a couple more years. It’ll be interesting to see how he reinvents himself and rides that rollercoaster.”
Osmond’s rollercoaster will roll into Toronto in July with Donny & Marie Live, which is now playing at the Flamingo Las Vegas. Dancap announced Monday that the famous siblings will perform at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts for two weeks. Dancap also revealed that Green Day’s American Idiot will come to Toronto from Broadway in December and Colm Wilkinson, who originated the role of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables and starred in Toronto’s The Phantom of the Opera, will do two shows in August.
Osmond, a 53-year-old grandfather of three, strode into the press conference on Monday wearing a dark suit and a wide grin. He called Toronto his “second home.” He was last in the city 20 years ago when he played Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. In six years, he did 2,000 shows.
“You [and Marie] were my first Barbies,” one woman told him.
“You didn’t put needles in it did you?” He quipped.
“Is the show something that I can bring my daughter to?” She asked.
“The whole family can come to this show,” he said. “After every show, we have a meet and greet. A mom walks up to me and says, ‘This is my 16-year-old daughter. She’s turning 16 today. All that she wanted was to see Donny & Marie.’ About five people later, this lady walks up with her mom in a wheelchair. She says, ‘This is my mom. She’s turning 102 today. All she wanted to see was Donny & Marie.’ ”
Osmond, who lives in Provo, Utah, started his career at the age of five and had collected 18 gold records by the age of 13. Marie and Donny became the youngest primetime hosts in television history with their 1976 variety show. They got together again for a talk show in 1998. Following that, Donny Osmond hosted game shows, recorded albums, toured and performed on Broadway.
Donny & Marie Live started as a reunion show in 2008 and was intended to have a six-month run at the Flamingo Hotel. It features their greatest hits, including Paper Roses and Puppy Love, and a dance competition between the two (in 2009, he won Dancing With the Stars; Marie came in third in 2007).
Osmond says he’s now working on his 60th album. “I don’t let grass grow under my feet.”
Donny & Marie will play the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts from July 5 to 17. For more information on the show, Colm Wilkinson in Concert and American Idiot, visit dancaptickets.com. |
