On a late Wednesday afternoon, Donny Osmond hops on the phone for an interview. In five hours, he’ll be donning a flashy jacket onstage at Harrah’s on the Las Vegas Strip, where he’s spent the past three years taking fans on a whirlwind ride through his dynamic career five nights a week.
His voice is in recovery mode, he says, after he got caught up in the adrenaline of the crowd the other night and overdid it a little. But that still doesn’t keep him from bursting into occasional song throughout the course of our conversation, as he reflects on the remarkable longevity of his career and what his future as an entertainer holds.
It’s something he’s thought a lot about recently — especially as he’s found a way to condense the diverse chapters of his ongoing career into a fast-paced hour-and-a-half show in Las Vegas.
That’s 60 years in 90 minutes.
The day of our interview happens to be a significant date for Osmond: It marks exactly 53 years since his cover of “Go Away Little Girl” hit No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts. He was 13.
And it marks three years since he released his latest album, “Start Again” — at the age of 63.
With a career so vast, his network of acquaintances, collaborators and friends is unsurprisingly wide.
Osmond has worked with and been guided by entertainment giants who have since passed on — legends like “Moon River” crooner Andy Williams, who put a 5-year-old Osmond on his variety show in the early ‘60s and helped prepare him for the spotlight; and comedy queen Lucille Ball, whom he starred alongside in an episode of “Here’s Lucy,” where he performed his international top 10 hit “Too Young” while wearing a bedazzled purple jumpsuit. Five years later, Ball would appear on the “Donny and Marie” show and perform “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”
Others, like King of Pop Michael Jackson — who initially bonded with Osmond when the two were navigating stardom as teens — were gone too soon, beat down in an industry that doesn’t often respect the best interests of its key players. And, of course, Elvis Presley, who also holds a special place in Osmond’s heart — and not just because he was the inspiration behind those rock ‘n’ roll jumpsuits of The Osmonds era.
Osmond was an impressionable teenager when he first crossed paths with the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Watching Elvis perform at the Hilton in Las Vegas in the early ‘70s left no doubt in Osmond’s mind that he was the King. Onstage, Elvis was on fire, lighting it up in his one-of-a-kind jumpsuits and treating each show as if it were his last.
Pam Solomon of Missouri, left, and Chris Eby of Saratoga Springs, right, are serenaded by Donny Osmond at the VIP meet and greet prior to his show at Harrah’s Las Vegas on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Elvis’ health would soon begin to decline. He had reached the greatest height and was facing the downward side of his top-of-the-world climb. Osmond, meanwhile, was on the ascent, building upon the success with his brothers to rise to teen idol status before later joining forces with his sister to create the award-winning duo Donny and Marie.
The night after being enchanted by Elvis — who would perform to sold-out crowds on the Hilton stage more than 600 times throughout the ‘70s, up until a few months before his shocking death at the age of 42 — Osmond and his brothers were getting ready to take the same stage. And that’s when the unfathomable happened: About 10 minutes before the show, the King himself walked into their dressing room.
“Hi everybody, I’m Elvis Presley,” Osmond recalled the singer saying, deepening his voice and giving the statement his best “Thank you very much”-esque Elvis impression. The “Hound Dog” singer then went on to wish the Osmonds good luck on opening night.
Osmond remembers sort of laughing to himself, a little taken aback that Elvis had introduced himself with his first and last name when he really didn’t need to provide any kind of introduction. Everybody knew Elvis.
But in that moment, he wasn’t the fiery King of Rock ‘n’ Roll Osmond had watched just the night before — the man who captivated audiences with his energy and charisma. He was just like any other person Osmond had met.
That quick and simple lesson in humility Osmond got as a 14-year-old in Vegas — 52 years ago — has left a lasting impression.
“It was a lesson to me at 14 years old, that, yes, you can be a rock star on stage and put on a pedestal, but when the curtain closes, you put the pants on with one leg at a time, just like everybody else,” he says.
It stuck with him throughout his rise to stardom in the 1970s and his fall from fame in the ‘80s, accentuated by his role in “Little Johnny Jones” — a Broadway production that opened and closed on the same night. It remained on his mind when he came back into the spotlight with “Soldier of Love.” It stayed with him through the more than 2,000 performances he took on as the lead in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
It was close to his heart as he eventually returned to Vegas, where he had a long-running residency at the Flamingo with his sister, Marie — which sold more than 9 million tickets in 11 years. And it’s been on his mind as he moved a half-mile along Las Vegas Boulevard to Harrah’s, where he’s now in his fourth year of an award-winning solo residency that explores a career he isn’t ready to close the door on just yet.
“Every night for the audience, five nights a week, I define who I am,” he says. “Who I was, who I am, and who I am now.”
A Donny Osmond memorabilia display case contains costumes, old photos and merchandise at Harrah’s Las Vegas on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News A call from Andrew Lloyd Webber
Donny Osmond has been a lot of different people throughout his career.
He was the teen idol. The Donny of “Donny and Marie.” The failed Broadway performer. The artist whose name had to be kept a secret — at least at the start — so he could fight his way back to success with “Soldier of Love.” For much of the ‘90s, he was a theatrical superstar due to his role in “Joseph.”
But Osmond’s career is more circular than it is linear. He often finds himself returning to the bright lights of Vegas. And after more than 20 years, he’ll be revisiting “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” — although not as Joseph.
Nearly three years ago, the singer was in London starring in the theatrical show “Pantoland” — a popular Christmastime tradition in England — when he was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime from his longtime friend and collaborator, Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The English composer, who brought “Joseph” to life along with Broadway juggernauts like “Phantom of the Opera” and “Cats,” came backstage to Osmond’s dressing room and hinted at a possible return to “Joseph.” Lloyd Webber, who has long praised Osmond’s portrayal of Joseph, wanted him to come along for the ride.
“I’m not wearing that loincloth anymore,” Osmond said with a laugh.
That wouldn’t be necessary, Lloyd Webber said. Instead, in a flip of the script, perhaps Osmond would consider taking on the role of the Pharaoh.
Lloyd Webber left it at that. But then Osmond later got a call from the composer that turned it all into a reality. He was invited to play the Pharaoh for a three-week gig in December, at Scotland’s Edinburgh Playhouse.
What Lloyd Webber didn’t know was that Osmond and his wife, Debbie, had already decided they were blocking out their December, hoping to make the most of it together. After a busy year, they were looking forward to going home and spending Christmas with their family, and seeing their grandkids.
But what Lloyd Webber also didn’t know was that he was on speaker phone, and Osmond wasn’t the only one listening.
“Debbie looks at me, and very quietly she said, ‘You can’t turn that down.’”
Fans of Donny Osmond walk through Harrah’s Las Vegas on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
So with his family’s support, Osmond is returning to “Joseph.” And he’s so ready for it.
He’ll leave his dazzling coat of many colors on display outside his Vegas showroom and don an Elvis jumpsuit to sing the crowd-pleaser “Song of the King (Seven Fat Cows),” where the Pharaoh recounts a troubling dream to Joseph with some rock ‘n’ roll flair.
So there’s a reason Osmond’s Elvis impression was pretty good when he was reflecting on the time he met the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll: He’s been practicing the voice. He’s also been practicing his dance moves.
He’ll get about 10 days to rehearse with the cast, but he really doesn’t want to overthink it. Portraying Joseph was a pillar of his career, a role he couldn’t afford to not take seriously. Now, with an additional 20 years of show business under his belt, he’s doing it to celebrate. With the Pharaoh, he just wants to have fun. And he can’t stop laughing as he talks about it.
“I’m going to be breaking the fourth wall every second I’m on stage,” he says. “I’m just going to come up with something every night, just break up the cast and the audience and just have the time of my life. … It’s going to be so fun.”
His debut as the Pharaoh is currently only scheduled for a run in Scotland. Osmond isn’t opposed to doing it in the U.S. — “It’s up to Andrew,” he says — though he quips that he’s definitely not interested in playing the Pharaoh for as long as he took on the role of Joseph.
Right now, Osmond says, his focus is on Vegas.
The marquee at Harrah’s Las Vegas features Donny Osmond on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Arriving at Harrah’s
In terms of location, Harrah’s is hard to beat.
It’s firmly planted in the heart of the Strip, sandwiched between the Venetian and The Mirage — where Cirque du Soleil’s production “Love,” inspired by The Beatles’ music, ran for 18 years.
Nearby you can see the Sphere — a visually striking attraction with a 580,000-square-foot LED display exterior — where U2 concluded a residency earlier this year.
As Osmond puts it, Harrah’s is “one of the most coveted real estate areas.”
He’s flattered to be there, but it also keeps him on his toes. He’s constantly thinking of new elements he can add to his show, changes he could make to keep the audience’s attention — and to keep his production from going stale.
“If I just nonchalantly approached all of that and took it all for granted, ooooh,” he says, essentially shuddering at the thought. “There’s somebody else in the wings waiting for my position.”
Inside Harrah’s, you leave the bright lights of the casino on the main floor and travel up two sets of escalators to get to Osmond’s showroom, which seats roughly 550. About 90 minutes before showtime, in a room near his stage, Osmond does a meet and greet with fans.
The Donny VIP experience features a meet and greet prior to his show at Harrah’s Las Vegas on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
It’s an intimate setting, where fans shower the singer with gifts and get some of their old vinyl records signed as they talk to Osmond up close. It’s where the singer met the superfan who has seen his show 200 times and counting. He recently met two brothers, ages 12 and 9, wearing shirts that simply said “Peacock,” referencing his time on “The Masked Singer” five years ago. A 5-year-old girl sang “Puppy Love” to him. And he’ll never forget the 18-year-old aspiring Broadway singer who started crying as they took a picture together, overwhelmed to meet her musical hero.
When Osmond’s son Chris appeared on the reality show “Claim to Fame” last year, contestants struggled to figure out who his famous relative was — even with clues such as being from Ogden, Utah, and wearing an “amazing coloured dream coat.” Online, a joke widely circulated that Chris would’ve been eliminated instantly if the contestants had all been moms.
But the meet and greets in Las Vegas tell Osmond that his fan demographic is expanding. People are finding him on social media. He doesn’t worry about attracting younger audiences because he’s been around for so long that people of all ages are bound to discover him in some way — whether it’s from “Puppy Love” or “Joseph” or singing “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” in the Disney classic “Mulan” or appearing on competition shows like “Dancing With the Stars” and “The Masked Singer.”
“Can you imagine what I could have done with social media if we had it back in the ‘Puppy Love’ days?” he said with a laugh.
In the lobby of the showroom, there are glass cases with outfits from the many eras of Osmond’s career. There’s the multicolored coat from “Joseph,” a pair of Donny and Marie dolls, an Osmond Brothers lunchbox, the Elvis-inspired white jumpsuit adorned with purple rhinestones, Osmond’s Peacock costume from “The Masked Singer,” the red jacket he wore as a kid on “The Andy Williams Show,” the black leather jacket he wore for his comeback hit “Soldier of Love” and the Mirrorball Trophy from his “Dancing With the Stars” victory.
It’s a diverse display that reflects Osmond’s multifaceted life. And inside the showroom, once the lights go down, Osmond brings all of those chapters of his 60-year-long career to life — in 90 minutes.
Fans attend the Donny Osmond VIP meet and greet prior to his show at Harrah’s Las Vegas on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Returning to the Vegas spotlight
There’s a moment in the show where the theater is completely dark. On stage, the spotlight illuminates Osmond as he begins to sing “Close Every Door” from “Joseph.”
Donny sings a cappella as he draws out the first verse.
Close every door to me
Hide all the world from me
Bar all the windows
And shut out the light
His voice is strong, and every syllable of every word rings clearly throughout the showroom.
When he hits the word “light,” soft string instrumentation begins to accompany him. The music slowly builds, and when he gets to the line before the final chorus — “But I know the answers lie far from this world” — it intensifies as he holds onto the word “world” for nearly 10 seconds.
And then his voice just explodes.
Make no mistake: Osmond can still hit the high notes — though not the high, high notes of his early teens when he recorded songs like “Go Away Little Girl” and “Puppy Love.” He can’t do that anymore. In fact, when he performs the Osmonds’ early 1970s hit “One Bad Apple,” he enlists the help of a young fan across the pond to sing the high part in the chorus. He shows a video clip of the fan, who has also nailed the choreography, on a screen above the stage and smiles wide as he watches the younger generation helping to keep his music alive.
But Osmond’s voice is still powerful. And the audience goes wild after he finishes “Close Every Door.”
The song is sandwiched between Osmond’s auto-rap-ography — where he raps about the ups and downs of his career for a whopping 10 minutes — and a full-on production of “I’ll Make a Man Out of You,” the most popular song from “Mulan,” that plays as the characters train to defeat the Huns.
In what turns out to not be a Chuck Norris joke, Osmond shares at this point in the show that he took karate lessons from the martial arts master in the 1970s — “breaking boards and breaking records,” he quips.
Placing “Close Every Door” between the rap and the “Mulan” classic is a strategy Osmond says he learned from crooners like Williams and Frank Sinatra. There comes a time in every show, he says, where you have to slow down — or in some cases, completely stop — the production. The entertainer needs a break and so does the audience. So you give them a great song with just a mic and a spotlight.
“And then we hit them again,” he says.
The pacing, the arc of his show, is where he strives to make his production stand out in a city that is teeming with entertainment. And he has the help of his show director, Raj Kapoor, who executive produced this year’s Oscars and Grammys award ceremonies.
Osmond says he wants people to feel like they’re in his living room as he walks them through his career. The fast-paced show is as informative as it is entertaining, featuring songs from the height of his stardom, tributes to his brothers and a montage of clips from “The Donny and Marie Show.” He speaks with fondness of his oldest brothers, Tom and Virl, showing a clip of when they tap danced in perfect synchronization with their siblings on “The Andy Williams Show” despite their severe hearing loss.
Enough time has passed in his career that he can laugh about his failed Broadway debut and how people didn’t initially know it was him when he returned to the pop charts in the late ‘80s with “Soldier of Love” — and he does it through a rap.
We open and closed on the very same night, so I packed up my bags and took a homebound flight
Thinking, is this the end? Does everyone hate me? No wait, I know! A guest star on ‘The Love Boat’ will save me!
But Osmond’s show isn’t just a reflection; it also includes newer music from his 2021 album, “Start Again,” reminding fans that his career continues to evolve and take on new meaning.
“All the shows … have the lighting and the sound and the multimedia, but the way you put it together and how you incorporate it through the storytelling of the show is where you have to be clever,” he says. “We’re constantly updating it.”
Osmond’s show does already change on a nightly basis, though, due to a 20-minute request segment. It’s one of his favorite parts of the show, because with 65 albums of material to work with, he can never be too certain where the audience is going to take him.
Mary Signorelli and Gaby Castenetto, both of Las Vegas, speak with Donny Osmond at the VIP meet and greet prior to his show at Harrah’s Las Vegas on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News When Donny Osmond’s fans take over
On this particular Saturday night in early October, the requests are flying in from all parts of the theater.
A couple celebrating their 62nd anniversary requests “Hawaiian Wedding Song.” Another couple celebrating a 45-year wedding anniversary asks for “My Perfect Rhyme.” Osmond sings a part of it and then begins to laugh because the way the spotlight falls on the audience makes him feel like he’s serenading the man rather than the woman. He laughs even harder when a woman requests the song “Mandy,” but demands that he sing her name, Wendy, instead.
Trisha, who is celebrating her 56th birthday, asks Donny for a birthday shoutout. He gives her a personalized version of the song and asks how she spells her name so it shows up right when it flashes on the screen.
Someone in the crowd requests “Best of Me,” and Osmond pauses for a moment.
“Did I record a song called ‘Best of Me?’” he asks. “I have no idea how that song goes. Wanna sing it for me?”
The track begins to play, and Osmond attempts to sing along with himself. But he doesn’t get very far. He really doesn’t know this song. And his laughter quickly takes over.
Most of the people in attendance at this Saturday show skew older, but there are a few younger fans.
When Emily, a 22-year-old from Orem, Utah, speaks up, Osmond feigns surprise that she even knows who he is — “I’m a singer, nice to meet you,” he jokes. She requests “Any Dream Will Do” from “Joseph,” and Osmond asks her if she knows the words. She says she does, so he invites her to come up and sing with him.
He twirls her and puts his arm around her as they sing, and a wide-eyed Emily seems in disbelief that this is happening.
It’s these kinds of moments, the heartfelt reactions from his fans, that remind Osmond why he does what he does night after night.
The cheers from his fans begin the moment the lights go down. They erupt when he proclaims, “I’m just so pumped to be back here in Vegas!”
The fans support him through every step of the show — and Osmond has to be careful that he doesn’t overdo it. It can be easy for him to get caught up in the thrill of an enthusiastic audience. But if he gets caught up in it, he tends to over-sing and then his voice gets hoarse. And he doesn’t have a lot of time to recover — this is a show he puts on five nights a week.
“But sometimes you just have way too much fun,” he says. “You just let it go.”
Stacey Pestovich of Las Vegas blows a kiss while being photographed at Harrah’s Las Vegas on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Donny Osmond on retiring
By the end of the show, Osmond is drenched in sweat.
With a five-piece band, eight dancers, several dance routines and outfit changes — so many sparkly jackets — he is essentially running a marathon on the stage at Harrah’s. And while he did physically prepare himself to do this, he’s been pleasantly surprised by his stamina.
But he knows it’s not something he can keep up forever.
Mick Jagger, in his 80s, is still dancing onstage. Willie Nelson, in his 90s, continues to release new albums. But the 66-year-old Osmond is quick to shut down the idea that he could do what he does for another 20 years. He can visualize the end of his career.
“I have set a certain standard for my shows,” he says. “I do a show that’s full of production, because that’s what I was raised with, that’s the type of show I like to put on. … As soon as the day comes where I can’t give 100% like I give every night, that curtain’s not going to go back up. I never want to be the entertainer where you go out on stage and you hear people say, ‘Oh, it’s time to give it up.’ I never want that to happen.
“It’s nowhere near right now,” he added. “I don’t know how close it is, but I see the end of the tunnel.”
Right now, though, Osmond has momentum. His show recently won best headliner in the 2024 Las Vegas Weekly Best of Vegas Awards. In the 2023 Las Vegas Review Journal’s Best of Las Vegas Awards, Osmond won best resident performer/headliner, best production show and best family-friendly show.
“You never know what’s going to happen in show business,” he says. “You launch a show, you throw it against the wall, you hope it sticks. But with this one, it was so important that it stuck, because it is my ultimate show, to be honest with you. It incorporates all three of my careers: the Donny career, the Donny/Marie career and the Osmond career. I mean, it’s everything, so I wanted this show to work.”
He had a hunch fairly early on that it was working. About six months after opening, he and his wife, Debbie, moved out of a hotel and bought a house in Las Vegas. Now that they’re empty nesters — Osmond says it’s like they’re newlyweds again — it’s easier for them to split their year between Vegas and their Utah home.
“I’m here six months — that’s a residency,” Osmond says with a laugh.
Fans attend the Donny Osmond VIP meet and greet prior to his show at Harrah’s Las Vegas on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Donny Osmond on faith, family
For all of the talk about his career, Osmond speaks with even more pride about his family.
When he’s not doing shows, he flies home to Utah to see his grandkids in plays and musicals. His oldest grandson recently left to serve a two-year mission in Uruguay for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Grandchild No. 15 is on the way, and with complete joy, he reveals that it’s a girl — “We don’t make girls in the Osmond family,” he only sort of jokes.
He and his wife, Debbie, have been married for 46 years — a kind of stability that is somewhat of a rarity in the entertainment industry. Debbie often acts as his eyes in Vegas, attending his shows and telling him about some of the fans and their reactions since he can’t see it all from the stage.
That kind of love and support helps him to navigate his unpredictable roller coaster of a career in an industry that can eat you alive. He had it in his earliest days, too, when he was wearing that little red jacket and singing alongside his older brothers on “The Andy Williams Show.”
“What’s really helped me is the teachings from my parents and my faith — that has kept my feet on the ground,” he says. “It helps to have parents that were madly in love with each other, and my dad treated my mom with utmost respect. So that’s a great example, a teaching tool for a child.”
Osmond has clung to his faith and family throughout the six decades of his career — and counting. The values that he carries with him onstage, along with life lessons he’s learned from Elvis and other entertainers over the years, are as much a part of his identity as “Puppy Love” or “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
It’s something he strives to share with his fans, and in many ways, it’s really the main reason he continues to perform night after night. He’s found that he can take what Elvis did for him as an impressionable teen and carry that on with his own fans.
After doing a recent TV interview promoting his extended Vegas residency, which now runs through June 2025, Osmond was walking out the door to go to his next interview when a man approached him and told him he admires the way the singer has handled the ups and downs of his career, and that it’s something he’s tried to apply in his own life. Moments like those, Osmond says, are the real paydays.
“I stopped in my tracks,” he says. “That was the nicest thing I’ve ever heard.
“Whatever you might be doing, you hope you leave some kind of a legacy where you’ve touched people in a positive way,” he adds. “I’m not curing cancer, OK? I’m just entertaining. But when people come to the show, I take them on a ride I call show business escapism. And if I can touch somebody’s life for 90 minutes and make their life a little bit happier, a little bit brighter through music and entertainment … then I’ve really done what I’ve wanted to do in life.”
Osmond takes a break from his Las Vegas show in mid-November. After his stint as the Pharaoh he’ll finally be able to slow things down.
But as he’s proved in his show at Harrah’s, and throughout his entire career, really, the slow part never lasts for too long.
When he returns to the Vegas stage in February, it’ll be a different show. Perhaps it’s because he does feel some pressure to keep reinventing to stay relevant and keep his spot on the Strip, but it’s also because he recognizes how fortunate he is to be part of a rare group of performers who still enjoy success after all this time. It’s not something he takes for granted.
“We’re working on a concept right now that will blow your mind,” he says. “I can’t let it out yet, but when I do, people are going to say, ‘I’ve got to see this.’”
Donny Osmond is photographed inside Harrah’s Showroom prior to his show at Harrah’s Las Vegas on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News