Donny Osmond‘s upcoming Las Vegas residency is going to look back on his 63 years in show business, and the entertainer revealed that his retirement is coming, although he can’t say when.
“I mean, let’s be honest, it’s inevitable … to retire,” Donny, 67, revealed during a Thursday, March 13, appearance on The View.
“I love what I do. I really enjoy it. I’ve got a great job. My job is to make people happy. How can you complain about that? It’s a lot of work, and I put 100 percent into my show, but I still have a lot of fuel in this body,” he continued. “And because I’ve raised the bar so high for myself, the day that I can’t reach that bar and give 100 and 110 percent on stage is the day the curtain will not go up. It’s not around the corner, but it’s inevitable.”
Donny kicks off a revamped residency at Harrah’s Showroom in Las Vegas on March 18. His show was set to run though July, but on March 13, Caesars Entertainment announced the former teen heartthrob was extending his stay to include dates from August through November.
“We’re announcing right now, we’re extending till the end of the year. You never know in show business what’s gonna happen. And I put everything into the show,” the “Soldier of Love” singer shared with The View‘s panelists. “I have the best in the business, the best dancers, the band, the crew. It’s just we’re having the time of our lives, and the audience is having a great time.”
“I don’t want to sound like it’s a nostalgic show. It’s six decades of show business in 90 minutes, so it goes from the beginning to the current and everything in between. I don’t know how I fit all six decades in the 90 minutes, but I did!” Donny said of his legendary career and described how he’s using artificial intelligence to perform his 1972 hit “Puppy Love” with his 14-year-old self.
“About the middle of the show, I’m standing there, the curtain opens up and there’s an AI version of me at 14. And we sing ‘Puppy Love’ together. I’m looking into the eyes of myself 53 years ago, talking to him and singing with him,” he described about how his face was digitally put on the body of his grandson to create the moment.
Donny’s long career has meant that his fanbase spans several generations, from his days on the Donny & Marie variety show through voicing the character of Captain Li Shang in Disney’s 1998 animated smash Mulan. His residency show includes a full Broadway production of his hit song from the film, “I’ll Make A Man Out Of You.”
“What I find interesting is — because I really do spend a lot of time on social media — I find the demographics of the audience have become so wide and varied. I got a lot of young kids that know me from Mulan … So, I find that the audience is expanding,” he said of those attending his residency shows over the years.
