OK, listen.
If you’re in ANY way, shape or form a Donny Osmond hater, BEAT IT! I’m not even kidding; this post isn’t for you. As you must know by now, I am a HUGE (literally) Donny Osmond ADMIRER, and some of my recent Facebook posts have been littered with some nay saying and nastiness. If you’re in the mood to make fun of Donny, or me for being a fan, gimme a break. Seriously, Bro, enough already!
🙂 Now that we’ve established our boundaries, lemme just say that attending Donny Osmond’s OPENING NIGHT for his solo show at Harrah’s in Las Vegas was PURE. MAGIC!!
As we waited in line to get into the showroom, a blonde woman suddenly crossed in front of us, followed by several suspiciously Osmond-looking young adults and children! It was Donny’s wife, Debbie! (Looking quite gorgeous as always) I actually said, “Hi, Debbie!”, which caused her to look back, and give me a double take … (“Do I know you? Nah!” LOL) Once inside the venue, I looked around to see where the family was sitting, and spotted some of them in a private box in the balcony:
Donny and Debbie have 5 sons, all married, and 12 grandchildren. They were ALL THERE, babies included! Donny posted a very sweet & amazing photo on Instagram after the Opening Night show, including the (as my Uncle Jackie would say) Whole Fam Damnly! (lol) Here it is:
The pre-show vibe was SO electric! I mean … the room was filled with die hard fans like me, all THRILLED to be in attendance at this very special opening night! We were seated at a table for 6, about half way back in the audience. Gerry turned to the one other guy at our table, and asked, “So … are you here to support, too?” His female companion declared, “No! He’s a FAN!” (I later watched a video of the personal Meet & Greet that Donny did before the show … and there was the same couple.) Don’t ask, BTW, why we didn’t do the Meet & Greet … it’s ALL GOOD!
Ohhh … the BUZZ was definitely happening! I was absolutely beyond excited! Although, due to Covid restrictions, you can only tell from my eyes:
In short order, the house lights came down, and the man of the hour made his entrance! I took a few videos, and found more online, and hope you enjoy!
Donny’s first entrance on Opening Night!
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/603414556
Very exciting!!! (Yup, that’s my “Whoo Hoo!” lol)
There were so many highlights!! One of the first things he did was perform a RAP SONG (What?? I know!) that included his entire 6-decades long career! I recorded some of it … the whole thing is almost 10 minutes long, but (natch) was already posted on YouTube! Both videos are below.
Mine (only the first portion of the song): https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/603410232
YouTube (entire rap):
Absolutely delightful! Donny sang, what he termed his “signature song.” I know for a fact that Donny went through a long period of time when he resented / hated? being associated with “Puppy Love”, but he’s come to point, I feel, that he fully owns it.
Here are a few more stills for you to enjoy:
Donny did an amazing thing in this concert. I’ve since seen an interview, in which he describes what happened next. Behind him, all 65 of his albums covers are projected. He invites the audience to call out an album, and then offers to sing any track from that album. In the interview, Donny says that when he presented the idea to his producer, it seemed like an impossible feat to accomplish, and Donny said to him, “Don’t tell me No! We can do this!” Aside from the fact that he says his band is mad at him for having to learn all those songs (and, to be fair, he does a verse or 30 seconds of the requested tunes), it comes off without a hitch.
I mean, REALLY!, what an undertaking! Of course, it was pretty hilarious when the very first request that someone hollered out was for the album, “Disco Train.” LOL
During the request portion, one woman who was perhaps(?) Special Needs stood up, and requested a song. She asked Donny if he remembered her, and he couldn’t have been sweeter to this woman, and replied, “Yes, of course!”. She also said it was her birthday, and he soon thereafter launched into his famous birthday song from American Greetings, inserting her name as the recipient. Here’s the photo I took of the exchange:
And here’s a much longer video of a few requests, which lead into this moment. His manner with her is one of the things I love most about Donny.
He came out to the audience for one of his costume changes, before singing another Osmond oldie, “One Bad Apple.”
Another of my videos here:
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/603417016
He did a “Mulan” segment:
He did a WONDERFUL tribute to Andy Williams. I didn’t get photos or videos … but that seems readily available on YouTube as well. I was sobbing by the end of it … good thing those tears dried up sooner, because he then launched into a tribute to his sister, Marie. Sweet, for sure, but we all know how I feel about Marie.
Near the end of one of most fabulous concerts I’ve ever attended, Donny rolled out on a platform, playing the piano. A wonderful ending!
Noooo! Please don’t bring down the curtain yet!!
We floated out of the Showroom (well, OK, _I_ floated, Gerry walked LOL), and I’d hoped to take a selfie with the cardboard Donny on the way out. (We were in the wrong line before the concert.) Unfortunately, the cut-out was put away by then.
We tried the following night … we’d spent a long day in the Grand Canyon, but arrived back at the hotel to mosey on up to the Showroom, right after the show began, hoping to meet up with cardboard Donny for a selfie, but once again, all put away. ::sad trombone::
A few days later, I’d been attending a writing workshop all day, and got home around 10 PM. Gerry said to me, “Ummmmmm … you have a visitor in the living room.” I was honestly feeling a cross between panicked and annoyed that anyone would have been visiting me at 10 o’clock on a Sunday night.
Until I saw my visitor:
Yup. Gerry got a cardboard Donny, just for me. LOL Oh, what a treat, indeed!