Donny Osmond, Basically Yours In Atlantic City
Shore News Today
August 3, 2011
ATLANTIC CITY—When Donny Osmond hits the stage at the Borgata Casino on Aug. 27 with his seven-city Basically Yours Tour, he wants the audience to enjoy a special evening.
“There is a real improv element to the show. I will stop several times during the show and we will have a Q and A session. If someone has a request for a special song, I will sing it. If someone were to say; do you remember the video of you with Lucille Ball in 1972 we will pull it up right there and show it. This whole show is whatever the audience would like,” said Osmond Tuesday afternoon. “It is an inside look at five decades of performing.”
Osmond laughed and said that all his experiences in show business have shaped who he is from a Broadway show “Little Johnny Jones” that opened and closed in one night to the Donny and Marie Show in Las Vegas which sold out for four years.
“The successes in life along with the mistakes help create who you are and they are equally as important in shaping who you are as a person and as a performer,” added the likeable star. “This show will allow the audience to pick anything from along the way.”
Osmond explained that through technology, a computer and an iPod so much is able to be instantly recalled. He admitted that he is a bit of a computer geek and enjoys that he can incorporate so much more from the past into his present show.
Osmond takes entertaining and giving the audience a great experience very seriously. He related a story of a producer years ago who made him look at entertaining from a whole different point of view.
“He told me that theater is a place where people come to dream in public and you are in charge of the dream. That altered my paradigm. It made me look at entertaining as the kind of experience it offers the audience,” Osmond related. “People spend their hard earned money to see your show. You want to make it a great experience for them. You want them to leave there feeling good and that is why Marie and I do every night in our Las Vegas show.”
For a career that has kept him on stage for five decades; are there favorite songs? Osmond paused to think about the many songs he has recorded over his long career and talked about “Soldier of Love.” Osmond said, “My career was dead. I think it was past dead, it was below zero and I released ‘Soldier of Love.’ It was a big hit for me and was chosen as the comeback song of the 1980s.”
Osmond joked as he talked about his album “Disco Train,” and added; “I am not sure but I think that could be the worst album released ever.”
But after some thought Osmond said possibly “One Bad Apple” just might be his favorite.
He related that it was written for the Jackson Five but they let it go and Osmond recorded it and it was a number one hit. Similarly “Ben” the first number one hit for Michael Jackson. It was written for Donny Osmond who added that his career and Michael Jackson’s really started at the same time.
Osmond is no stranger to Atlantic City. He and Marie Osmond co-hosted the Miss America pageant for two years. “I enjoyed my time in Atlantic City very much, really I enjoyed every bit of the experience,” said Osmond. He said that he is looking forward to being back in Atlantic City and bringing his Basically Yours show for the audience to enjoy.
The show is 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27 in the Borgata Events Center. Tickets are $55, $65 and $75 for the all-ages show.
To see more on Donny Osmond visit www.donny.com |
