| Page 4 - Concert Review in the Baltimore Sun |
| Not just puppy love Women of a certain age remain rapt fans of the grown-up Donny Osmond. |
| By Michael Ollove Sun Staff Originally published June 23, 2001 |
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| "Soldier of Love"- Sun photo by Gene Sweeny Jr. |
| How did I get here? How could this have happened? If you asked me a month ago what are the places you would be least likely to find me, one would have been a nunnery on a French mountaintop (I'm male, Jewish, hate to fly and have vertigo). The other would be a Donny Osmond concert. Yet here I am, front and center in the Lyric, Row E, Seat 102. And I'm not alone. This is a surprise to me. I didn't know there were Donny Osmond fans. I don't believe I've ever met one before. In fact, I'm sure of it. |
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| Lisa W. |
| Here's another surprising thing: The handsome man up on the stage with a set of teeth like a keyboard, he's not 13 years old. That's about the age of the only Donny Osmond I'm aware of. And frankly, I only dimly recall that one. Nice kid, lots of brothers, tight, spangly costumes, and music that couldn't have been more grating to me. Back then, the world divided itself neatly. On our side were the Stones, Springsteen and Richard Pryor; on the other, Donny Osmond, Frank Sinatra and Richard Nixon. The two did not find themselves at the same parties. So now they tell me that pleasant fellow up on the stage dressed in all black is, indeed, that same Donny Osmond. Turns out, he's aged just like the rest of us - well, better, I have to admit. He's 43 now, and a looker, I'll give him that. The place is nearly full. The predominant demographic is white, matronly women. That's what they look like anyway. It's not how they're acting. With every crescendo, with every wiggle, with every wave, Donny elicits peals of screams. "I love you, Donny," they call, some, it seems to me, with more than a hint of lasciviousness. If I were a Mormon, I think I'd be blushing. In fact, I am blushing. Donny, to his credit, simply smiles boyishly. A woman in a red dress in the balcony begs him for the towel he has used to wipe the sweat from his face. He tosses it up to her, and she nearly topples over the railing to reel it in. "I would have thrown it again," Donny tells her. Many others rush to the stage to give him flowers or plead for a kiss. Donny obliges, chastely. The woman beside me is sitting on the edge of her seat, clasping her hands tightly to her heart. I notice, with astonishment, that there are tears in her eyes. Her lips are mouthing the words along with Donny as he sings songs that apparently trace his 35-year career. I've never heard most of them, but when I look beyond the woman, I see others down the row singing just like her. Is it possible to have an acid flashback without taking acid? If not, I've been thrust into an alternate universe. Frankly, a scary one. |
| I should have been prepared for this. When I first arrived at the Lyric, I found a group of women waiting for a backstage visit with Donny. An uncommon number of them were wearing purple, and someone explained that Donny's favorite color as a youngster was purple. I nodded as if this were an adequate rationale. One of the women, a 34-year-old kindergarten teacher named Lisa Williams, was wearing a Donny Osmond banner draped across her chest. She held a thick scrapbook of Donny Osmond pictures and memorabilia. Already, she had seen Donny in concert at least five times in the past few months, including this exact show only three nights ago at Wolf Trap. In pursuit of him, she has endured long bus rides and hours in ticket lines on wintry days. Even after tonight's concert, it will not be enough. She is booked for trips to Philadelphia and Las Vegas this summer to catch more Donny performances. She and her girlhood friend, Elaine Gisriel, have been fans since they were children. "We used to fight over who was going to marry him," Lisa said. In Washington last year, Donny summoned the pair down to the stage, where he sang "Puppy Love" to them. (Puppy Love!) "I almost died," Lisa said. Why? I asked. Why Donny? The answers came rat-a-tat-tat from every direction. "It's his eyes." "He's so nice." "He's a family man. "He believes in God and country." "He has nice teeth." |