Marie Osmond Comes To Morristown For Solo Show
The Record
by Mike Kerwick
August 21, 2011
WHO: Marie Osmond.
WHAT: Country.
WHEN: 8 p.m. Wednesday.
WHERE: Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South St., Morristown; 973-539-8008 or mayoarts.org.
HOW MUCH: $57 to $97.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: marieosmond.com.
Marie Osmond starts laughing — laughing hard — and she cannot slam on the brakes. It starts with an innocent joke about her brother Donny's tour.
"Mine is called 'A Little Bit Country … And a Whole Lot More,' " Osmond says during a recent phone interview. "And his is called 'Saturday Night Bieber.' "
There is a pause. Then the laughter kicks into high gear. The two siblings still rib each other, even when they are out doing separate tours.
"Well, you know, August is National Take a Break from Your Brother month," Osmond says.
More laughter. She suspects the people who share flights with her must think she is crazy "because I sit there and crack myself up."
"I might as well finish it up with this one," Osmond says. "I was going to call the tour 'Marie Osmond and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2,' but you know, Harry Potter took the title."
Osmond opens her six-show solo run with a stop at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown. The first show, she says, is usually her best. Unfiltered and unpolished, the first performance will likely include elements that in some bizarre way play to Osmond's strengths.
Many people remember Marie from her days with the Osmonds, or as one-half of the television pairing Donny and Marie, but Osmond confessed she took a 28-year break from touring with Donny until they reunited in Vegas. Now they play shows together at the Flamingo.
So this six-show break is just that — a break — until she rejoins Donny in Vegas the first week in September. She can write her own script for this set of shows.
"We're going to do different eras, the hits, some new stuff," Osmond said.
Osmond put a query out to her followers on Twitter, asking for song suggestions. "Paper Roses" and "Meet Me in Montana" were the most frequent requests, but other answers came back in all shapes and sizes. She will revisit some songs that she has not played in years. And she will incorporate some Broadway into the act.
It still surprises her, some days, when she tallies up the numbers and realizes she has had a foot in show business for 48 years.
"I guess it's kind of the exception to the rule," Osmond said. "I just feel blessed."
And why is she the exception to the rule?
"You know, I don't know," Osmond said. "Maybe because I like people. Maybe because I enjoy trying new things."
She somehow manages to juggle a line of dolls, a line of crafts, her music, her books and her family. "It's hard," Osmond said. "I'd lie if I said it was easy.
"Honestly, I could be spending these two weeks with [the] kids," she added. "I don't know if I'm ever going to do this again, especially the kind of show where I get out and [do] all the decades. I've never done a show like this. It's a very unique show. We'll see how it goes." |
