Las Vegas Legend Donny Osmond Extends his Exciting, Unprecedented Solo Residency
A household name to generations and one of Las Vegas’ most prolific and beloved headliners, Donny Osmond recently extended his award-winning “Donny” residency at Harrah’s Las Vegas Showroom through the end of this year.
A singer, dancer and TV host, former teen idol Osmond’s storied 60-year career includes a long history in Las Vegas, not least a record-breaking 11-year residency with his sister Marie.
“I’ve always looked at Vegas as the entertainment capital of the world,” said Osmond. “There’s been a lot of facsimiles trying to replicate it, but there’s only one Las Vegas!”
Last year, Osmond became a full-time resident of a city that’s long been his second home, settling in Summerlin with his wife of 45 years, Debbie. “Once I found that my show had traction … Debbie and I looked at each other and said, ‘let’s move, we’re there half the year, anyway’,” he recalled. “Everything you want is there in Vegas. I remember when, back in the ‘60s, it was just The Strip. But now, it’s a world unto itself.”
In 2021, two years after the “Donny & Marie” residency ended its stunning 1,730-show run, Osmond teamed up with Raj Kapoor, who has produced The GRAMMYs and The Academy Awards, to create his spectacularly dynamic, career-spanning “Donny” solo show.
“Donny” is a production of arena proportions performed up-close in the 544-seat Harrah’s Las Vegas Showroom. The historic theater inside Harrah’s Las Vegas was comprehensively refitted to accommodate the ambitious residency, which features dancers hand-picked by Osmond, a virtuoso live band, plus state-of-the-art lighting and projections. Winner of Best Show, Best Headliner, and Best Singer in the 2021 Best of Vegas awards, “Donny” has repeatedly been extended to meet popular demand.
“When I first talked to Raj Kapoor, I said I want people to leave the theater thinking they just experienced something in my living room,” said Osmond. “And that’s exactly what happened. Because it’s an intimate kind of room; it’s a perfect room.”
Even more intimate is the add-on preshow that Osmond performs beforehand in a Harrah’s meeting space, where just 20-40 fans get to request songs, ask questions, and hear stories from a career that has included the hit Donny & Marie TV variety series, over 2,000 starring performances in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” and winning season 9 of “Dancing with the Stars.”
Osmond references all these and more in “Donny,” including a show-stopping “Autorap-ography,” in which he rhymes his way through his past accompanied by images of memorable milestones. There’s also an elaborate Vegas tribute number; audience requests from his 65-album catalog; and, of course, classics like “Puppy Love,” “Soldier of Love,” and “Sacred Emotion,” plus selections from his latest album, “Start Again.”
Osmond still recalls encounters with fans, some of them decades ago, that helped shape the performer he is today. For example, a woman who urged him to continue playing “Puppy Love” at a time when he’d become cynical about that 1972 megahit. It’s this fan-centric approach, alongside his prodigious talents, charm, and work ethic, that finds Osmond still selling out on The Strip nearly 60 years since his Vegas debut.
“You’ve got to keep giving them the goods. That’s why the bar is raised so high on this show,” he explained. “I don’t care if you’ve been on the stage a thousand times with that same show – to most of that crowd, it’s the first time. So, treat it like the first show. And that’s what I do every night.”
Harrah’s Showroom: 3475 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas 89109
For scheduling and to purchase tickets, visit ticketmaster.com/donny. Performances take place nightly from Tuesday to Saturday with all shows beginning at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $65 (plus taxes and fees). ♠
Newly announced dates for “Donny”:
• September 5-9, 12-16, 19-23, 26-30
• October 10-14, 17-21, 24-28, 31
• November 1-4, 7-11
-Paul Rogers