The hair is a little longer and the baby face a little more mature. But the grin is still the same, as wide and as white as a toothpaste commercial.
It's hard to believe Donny Osmond, late of the Osmond Brothers and "Puppy Love" and "The Donny and Marie Show" and yes, even "Going Coconuts," will be 35 in December. He's also the father of a teenage son, 13-year-old Donny Jr., as well as three other boys ranging in age from 1 to 11.For much of the next year, you'll find Osmond, wife Debbie and their four sons in Canada as part of the performer's loyalty to a lavish revival of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." It's the biblical story of Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers and who later became the Pharaoh's right-hand man.
The show, originally written in 1967 as a pop cantata by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, has settled in for a summer run at the Elgin Theater, a restored vaudeville house in downtown Toronto. It will play there through Sept. 5, before moving to the State Theater in Minneapolis, Sept. 15-Dec. 5. Then it's back to Toronto for another engagement that could stretch into spring.
"Joseph," which has been expanded since its original 15-minute version, usually has been a showcase for a young pop star to play the title character. This latest revival has been directed by Stephen Pimlott and is based on his recent London incarnation, a big hit at the Palladium.
"When I made the commitment, I realized that everything else - like recordings, concert tours - had to be put on the back burner," Osmond was saying the other day over lunch. "The way I work, when I do something, I really focus into it."
Osmond's career has taken some turns in the past. Bubblegum stars usually are washed up and out by the time they are able to vote. Osmond has shown a remarkable ability to bounce back - usually in a new direction.
He did it in the late '80s. Clean-cut gave way to stubble, blue jeans and a leather jacket. More important, the songs changed. "Sweet and Innocent" and "Go Away Little Girl" were replaced by "Soldier of Love" and "Sacred Emotion."
"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" is another career change.
"Doing the show was a big decision," Osmond says. "I told my agent, `Let's just try it and see what happens.' I always wanted to get back to theater because of the experience I had years ago on Broadway, even though it ended abruptly."
"Abruptly" certainly is the word. In 1982, Osmond starred in New York in a revival of "Little Johnny Jones," a George M. Cohan musical. Opening night was also closing night.
"I thought it was a good show," Osmond says now. "In hindsight, I didn't allow myself to really become the character. I was still Donny Osmond up there on stage. I think that's the biggest difference between Johnny Jones and Joseph.
"From that experience, I made a promise to myself that one day I'm going to be back in the theater because, even though it is hard work, it is rewarding. It took 10 years to do it."
The hard work included three months of vocal training as well as acting classes.
"I went into vocal training because I had to learn how to sing a little bit differently," Osmond says. "Not that I want to sing operatic, but there's a whole different style in the theater that's much more proper. Your projection is different, and your articulation has to be different."
Osmond also has a personal trainer for the show.
"When you know you are going to be up there in a loincloth in front of 1,400 people each night, you work out," he says. Three times a week Osmond exercises under the supervision of a former Mr. Ontario.
"Joseph" was written when Lloyd Webber was only 20, and the show has a youthful exuberance that Pimlott has tried to preserve. He has put two children's choirs, taken from local school choral groups, on stage to sing much of the music.
Osmond works easily on stage with the children, most of whom didn't have any idea of his showbiz beginnings with his brothers on "The Andy Williams Show" or his later work with his sister, Marie.
He says one 10-year-old girl came up to him during rehearsal and asked, "Didn't you used to work with a girl with a big smile?"
"I'm always being compared to what I've done in the past, depending on the generation I'm talking to," Osmond adds. "It doesn't bother me any more. It used to, but you grow out of it. I think a lot of my peace of mind grows out of the fact that I'm now doing what I love to do and being accepted for it.
"When you introduce an element of change, people resist it. But if you can overcome that hurdle, it makes life and your career so much easier. That's why when `Soldier of Love' hit, it was a springboard to go on to bigger and better things. If you get stuck in a rut, or are happy with the status quo, you stop progressing as an artist."
Osmond sees a long run in "Joseph" as a chance to have a more normal home life.
"I'm usually on the road," he says. "When you're touring in concert, you're doing one-nighters. The kids are at home and in school. This show enables us to be a family again."
His wife and children will settle in Toronto for the year, and the children will go to school here.
Osmond has tried to keep his family separate from his career.
"When I go home, I'm a dad," he says. "It's difficult when your picture is in the paper or on television, but my kids handle it pretty well."