Osmonds for Edinburgh

Nov 10 2020 | By More

Osmonds musical to visit Festival Theatre

The Osmonds: A New Musical, is set to visit Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre in October 2021 as part of its world premiere tour, starting in London in August and running through to 2022.

With a story by middle Osmond brother Jay, the musical  tells the true story of the four brothers from Utah who were pushed into the TV spotlight as children in the early sixties and, with their three younger siblings, went on to create pop record success with hits up to the end of the seventies.

The Osmonds on stage at the London Palladium circa 1973. Credit: Getty Images

The musical will open at the London Wimbledon Theatre running Thurs 26 to Sat 28 August 2021, visiting Aberdeen Tue 28 Sept-Sat 2 Oct, then Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre from Tuesday 5 to Saturday 9 October and the Glasgow King’s in February 2022.

Tickets for the Festival Theatre, the Glasgow King’s and most venues go on general sale from Friday 13 November 2020 at 10am. Festival Theatre tickets are already available to Friends of the theatre. Full tour details and ticket links are below.

The Osmond Brothers

The group started out as The Osmond Brothers with a residency on The Andy Williams Show from 1962 as a barbershop quartet and were quickly joined by Donny, then Marie and little Jimmie. The stayed on the show until 1969.

As The Osmonds they won bonafide pop success during the ‘Osmondmania’ years from 1971 to 1975 and then moved on with popular variety TV show The Donny & Marie Show, from 1976 to 1979.

In the pop, and then rock years, they remained tight-knit, the older brothers being the band or backing group, even when teen sensation Donny or duo Donny and Marie, were the focal point.

Jay Osmond

Speaking at the launch of the musical, Jay Osmond said, “I’ve wanted to tell my story for such a long time and the opportunity to create this beautiful musical, a sort of ‘living autobiography’, seemed the perfect way to do so.

“I spent my whole life performing live – on stage, on TV specials, in arenas – so the buzz of live theatre felt like the perfect place for me.”

Despite their clean-cut Church of the Latter-day Saints image, the Osmonds’ story is not without its dramas. Marie’s insecurity over her weight, Donny’s loss of confidence, being pushed by parents and, of course, the decision to invest in their own studio just before The Donny & Marie Show was cancelled.

difficult times

Jay says: “There were some difficult times of my life, and some big hurdles to overcome, and this musical will tell people things that will surprise them… but despite that trouble, when you look back and think of the fans, the music, the once in a lifetime things we did – it’s joyful.”

The musical recognises the family’s huge commercial successes in the 1970s, selling millions of records both under the group’s name and solo and duet outfits.

It features a list of songs which became anthems in the Seventies, from early chart-topper One Bad Apple through Down by the Lazy River, Crazy Horses, Let Me In, Love Me for a Reason, (We’re) Having a Party, Puppy LoveLong Haired Lover From Liverpool and Paper Roses.

“I guess I want to do this now to try to spread a little bit of that joy” adds Jay. “I’ll know I’ve done a good job telling this story if I stand at the back of the theatre and see people waving their arms in the air, singing along and dancing in the aisles.

“I just want people to be enjoying themselves. I guess that is in the Osmonds’ DNA.”

The Osmonds: A New Musical has a story by Jay Osmond and book by Julian Bigg and Shaun Kerrison. It will be directed by Shaun Kerrison with choreography and musical staging by Bill Deamer.

Listings

The Osmonds: A New Musical
Festival Theatre, 13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT.
Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Tuesday 5 – Saturday 9 October 2021
Evenings: 7.30pm; Matinees Wed, Thurs & Sat: 2.30pm
Tickets and details:  Book here.

Glasgow King’s Theatre, 297 Bath St, Glasgow G2 4JN
Tuesday 15 – Saturday 19 February 2022
Evenings: 7.30pm; Matinees Wed, Thurs & Sat: 2.30pm
Tickets and details:  Book here.

The Osmonds on tour 2021:
Thu 26 – Sat 28 Aug London
New Wimbledon Theatre
0844 871 7646 Book online
Tue 31 Aug- Sat 4 Sep Manchester
Palace Theatre
0844 871 3019 Book online
Tue 7 – Sat 11 Sep Brighton
Theatre Royal
0844 871 7650 Book online
Tue 14 – Sat 18 Sep Cardiff
New Theatre
029 2087 8889 Book online
Tue 21 – Sat 25 Sep Southampton
The Mayflower Theatre
02380 711811 Book online
Tue 28 Sep – Sat 2 Oct Aberdeen
His Majesty’s Theatre
01224 641122 Book online
Tue 5 – Sat 9 Oct Edinburgh
Festival Theatre
0131 529 6000 Book online
Tue 12 – Sat 16 Oct Birmingham
The Alexandra Theatre
0844 871 3011 Book online
Tue 19 – Sat 23 Oct Bradford
Alhambra
01274 432 000 Book online
Tue 26 – Sat 30 Oct Hull
New Theatre
01482 300 300 Book online
Tue 2 – Sat 6 Nov Liverpool
Empire
x Book online
Tue 9 – Sat 13 Nov Dartford
Orchard Theatre
01322 220000 Book online
Tue 16 – Sat 20 Nov Cheltenham
Everyman Theatre
01242 572573 Book online
Tue 23 – Sat 27 Nov Sunderland
Sunderland Empire
0844 871 3022 Book online
Tour continues in 2022:
Tue 11 – Sat 15 Jan Llandudno
Venue Cymru
01492 872000 Book online
Tue 18 – Sat 22 Jan York
The Grand Opera House
08448 472 322 Book online
Tue 25 – Sat 29 Jan Southend on Sea
Cliffs Pavilion
01702 351135 Book online
Tue 1 – Sat 5 Feb Torquay
Princess Theatre
0844 871 3023 Book online
Tue 8 – Sat 12 Feb Ipswich
Regent Theatre
01473 433100 Book online
Tue 15 – Sat 19 Feb Glasgow
King’s Theatre
0844 871 7648 Book online
Tue 22 – Sat 26 Feb Oxford
New Theatre
0844 871 3020 Book online
Tue 1 – Sat 5 Mar Woking
New Victoria
0844 871 7645 Book online
Tue 8 – Sat 12 Mar Peterborough
New Theatre
01733 852 992 Book online
Tue 15 – Sat 19 Mar Wolverhampton
Grand Theatre
01902 429212 Book online
Tue 29 Mar – Sat 2 Apr Blackpool
Winter Gardens
0844 856 1111 Book online
Tue 5 – Sat 9 Apr Stoke-on-Trent
Regent Theatre
0844 871 7649 Book online
Tue 12 – Sat 16 Apr Belfast
Grand Opera House
02890 241919 Book online
Tue 19 – Sat 23 Apr Leicester
Curve Theatre
01162 423 595 Book online
Tue 26 – Sat 30 Apr Bromley
Churchill Theatre
08448 717 620 Book online

ENDS

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