REVIEW:

Donny and Marie put on the charm

Leila Navidi

Donny and Marie Osmond entertain the crowd at the Showroom at the Flamingo, where they’re playing a six-month gig. He knows the audience wants the old favorites, and she indulges a recent interest in opera.

By Joe Brown (contact)

Monday, Sept. 29, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Leila Navidi

Among the many duets the siblings do in their show is the classic "A Little Bit Country, a Little Bit Rock and Roll."

What: Donny & Marie

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 4 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: The Showroom at the Flamingo

Admission: $85-$250; 733-3111, www.harrahs.com

Running time: Approximately 90 minutes

Osmonds, Osmonds everywhere (5-12-2008)

The Official Site of the Osmond Family

Is it too late to nominate Donny and Marie for President?

OK, then. But what about president of Las Vegas?

Think about it: America’s First Brother and Sister are running on a pro-lively, antidepressant, universally entertaining platform. They’re pretty much scandal-free. We’ve all seen them grow up on television. They work the stage and screen like lifelong politicians, and no one alive — not even Bill Clinton — can grin, wave, point, wink and make eye contact like they can.

The toothsome twosome surely smile even while sleeping.

They’re installed for a six-month run at the Flamingo, but they could easily reign for four years — and be reelected by a landslide for another term.

The 90-minute show — it’s simply called “Donny & Marie,” because that’s exactly what it is — revives and revitalizes the idea of the classic performer-based Vegas revue.

Sure, there are eight energetic dancers, a nine-piece band with horns, light-up staircases, video montages and all the now-expected stuff on the showroom stage. But every effect serves solely to enhance the endearing and enduring duo.

It’s a money’s-worth show: The stars (he’s 50, she’s 48) look great, sound swell, and in the Flamingo’s human-scaled showroom you’re guaranteed a good look at them wherever you sit — if you’re seated anywhere near the stage, you’re more than likely to be able to touch them.

As solo artists and as a duo they don’t have the bottomless catalog of hits that Strip headliners Elton John and Cher enjoy, and it’s unlikely anyone would sit still for 90 minutes of either one of them separately. But together they’re irresistible. Corny, but irresistible.

After a round of duets, Marie gets a solo spot, nodding to her country-pop hits with a snip of “Paper Roses.” She rocks out Janet Jackson-style, flirts with the audience a bit, races through a sort of random Broadway medley, and indulges her recent interest in opera by prettily warbling Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Pie Jesu.”

Then it’s Donny’s turn, and he storms out, giving his “rock” hit “Soldier of Love” the full George Michael treatment. And he clearly enjoys paying tribute to his idol Stevie Wonder on a few numbers.

Donny knows what’s required of him, and he does his duty manfully, addressing his teen idol legacy with unplugged-style renditions of “Go Away Little Girl” and “Puppy Love” with affection and dignity. More than a trace of that youthful croon remains in his warm baritone. There’s a bit of his Broadway hit, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” (with video of a buff Donny rocking a loincloth), and funks it up a bit at the piano on the Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing.”

Marie rejoins him for more bratty banter (“I couldn’t get any sleep, my room is so bright — they put me behind Marie’s teeth,” Donny says, joking about the “little poster” that wraps around the front of the Flamingo), and the inescapable “A Little Bit Country, a Little Bit Rock and Roll.”

Entertainers since conception, these two are all-pro, all the time, and they’re really beyond concepts of sincerity or authenticity of interpretation. But they’re not robotic or on autopilot. They don’t overreach for hipness. Their bickering feels loose and spontaneous. They get winded, and work up a sweat. They flub lyrics (Donny flashed an adorably sheepish look when he missed a cue).

In a hilarious nod to Marie’s recent appearance on “Dancing With the Stars,” they work out their sibling rivalry with a climactic dance-off, comically set to the Sharks vs. Jets theme from “West Side Story” and tunes from “Grease.”

By the end of the evening, it’s hard not to get a lump in the throat or a tear in the eye, when they roll a montage of their entirely televised lives, with a galaxy of stars including just about everyone who has ever played Vegas.

Best of all, Donny & Marie sit right there onstage and watch themselves on TV with us.

They’ve got my vote, and not just because Donny fist-bumped me.

Discussion: 6 comments so far…

By GirlfromGA

9/29/08 at 7:02 a.m.

Suggest removal

We saw this show a couple of weeks ago and were totally and completely entertained!!!!! An hour and a half of constant entertainment.

The next night we saw Cher....felt like we spent an hour and a half waiting for her to change clothes...enough already....you could wear the same outfit for more than one song.

$$$ much better spend on D & M.
By TotallyDonny

9/29/08 at 10:50 a.m.

Suggest removal

Hi Mr Joe Brown,

I know there are not a lot of people in the UK who would sit and listen to Donny or Marie in concert for 90 mins, but they would certainly be there standing up and singing along with them, maybe you should come over next time they preform here.

Thanks.x.
By laguna

9/29/08 at 11:12 a.m.

Suggest removal

Its great to see such nice people like them replace that nasty diva Braxton.
By Evy

9/29/08 at 12:14 p.m.

Suggest removal

Thank you Mr. Brown for a lovely article. I'm happy to see that you went to the Donny and Marie show with an open mind and walked away with the same satisfaction and appreciation of the show that the audience does!

One point I beg to differ on though. "As solo artists and as a duo they don't have the bottomless catalog of hits that Strip headliners Elton John and Cher enjoy, and it's unlikely anyone would sit still for 90 minutes of either one of them separately."

Quite the contrary...they do have an enormous catalog of hits to choose from! True, there are not many who would not sit still for 90 minutes of Donny or Marie...that's because there are thousands who would be standing and rocking along with them...whether it be jointly, separately or with their brothers! I've witnessed that myself!

Just so you know, Donny can easily sell out 20,000 seat arenas and has been doing just that in recent years. We had him (solo) for 120 minutes...it WASN'T long enough!
By rkbak

9/30/08 at 12:17 p.m.

Suggest removal

My friend and I saw the show Friday night (Sept. 26th) and it was FANTASTIC! Best show I have seen in a long long time. I felt it was definitely worth the $$ when I left the Flamingo. I was throughly entertained and will admit that I had a tear in my eye when it came to an end. They are truly entetainers and this is a show the entire family can attend. I watched them on TV over the years and I remember buying my daughter Donnie and Marie dolls to play with....they might be a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll but together they are FANTASTIC!
By Kigan

2/7/09 at 5:06 p.m.

Suggest removal

I live in Vancouver, Canada and just spent 6 days in Vegas which I do 2-3 times a year. I was at last Tuesday night's show and loved it, even if it was a little campy and cost $277 for two tickets after the exchange rate. My only suggestion for the show would be to cut a bit of the banter and allow for a couple more songs - or make it a little less contrived - and for the hotel to do something about the floor seating. We were seated in A4 and could only see the performance when the performers were at the front of the stage (except for the video screen). All in all a great show, but we would've liked a better view for that kind of money.