The Osmond Experience

While in Las Vegas with the family recently to celebrate my wife and I being together for 25 years, we decided to take a show in on our final night in Sin City, just the two of us. There were lots of them to choose from- Celine Dion, Brittany Spears, Penn & Teller, Terry Fador, David Copperfield, The Million Dollar Quartet and many others were all playing within a short walk of our hotel. But we chose Donny and Marie Osmond for several reasons. They were playing at our hotel, The Flamingo at the heart of the strip. Their show has been voted Best In Vegas for 4 years running and we've been long time fans since watching their ABC show on TV during our childhood in the 1970s. We had a little more invested in the duo since I had gotten to know Marie while working in country radio. We met about 25 years ago and worked together while she was promoting her country music career at the time. We had been able to stay connected over the years thanks to social media. So, once I secured out tickets to the show, I emailed Marie and told her we would be in attendance that night and would love to catch up afterwards. She replied within a day and we were set with backstage passes. I didn't tell my wife until we were on our way to the airport to make the cross country flight to Vegas, needless to say her excitement level was off the charts! We arrived at the Donny & Marie Showroom just before the curtain went up, just in time for a photographer to snap a nice pre show candid photo.

The curtain was raised promptly at 7:30pm and the siblings appeared at the top of the center stage staircase ready to descend to the crowd singing their longtime standard It Takes Two. They played an opening 15 minute set set that included their recent release It's A Beautiful Life and hits like Deep Purple, I'm A Little Bit Country/Rock N Roll, Make The World Go Away, Leaving It All Up To You while giving us the brother and sister banter we all remembered. Teasing each other just like they did so many years ago on national television, making us laugh every week, and it works still today. Immediately, the show became interactive when they both went into the crowd during their performance of Taking It To The Street. Donny found a couple of girls laps to sit on while Marie found a couple of bald heads to kiss and both shook many hands to the delight of the sold out theater.

Marie then took the spotlight for about a thirty minute solo set of hits and covers like Paper Roses, a guitar rocking version of Walk This Way, and a couple numbers from an upcoming album. She even wowed us with an opera number that brought the theater to it's feet. Then it was Donny's turn for his half hour solo set that included his hits like Puppy Love, Go Away Little Girl, Soldier of Love and Crazy Horses. The show was high energy throughout and exactly what you'd expect from a Vegas show with a team of incredible choreographers and full band that could play the entire catalog of Osmond songs spanning several genres- country, rock, pop, opera, R&B and more. All throughout each set and costume change, we were treated with video highlights on the big screen of their careers and a walk down memory lane with scenes of their many TV shows and Christmas specials. They both returned to the stage together for a final 15 minute set to close out the show by paying a musical tribute to the many entertainment icons they have worked with over their amazing 50 year career like Andy Williams, Lucille Ball, Elvis, Michael Jackson, The Carpenters and many others. After a few Dancing With The Stars pot shots from champion Donny to his little sister runner up Marie, they closed the show the same way they ended their TV show every week so many years ago...by thanking the audience with "May Tomorrow Be A Perfect Day..." that sounded better than it ever has. With that, we headed over to the Diamond Club room where they have their post show meet and greets. After freshening up a bit and making another quick wardrobe change, they came out together to spend some quality time with their special guests for the evening.

They worked the room separately and each of them had their

 own photographer that followed them around the room taking many candid shots as well as nicely posed ones as well. Donny reached up first and it was the first time either of us had met him. So, we introduced ourselves and he couldn't have been better as we talked about how he lived just a few miles up the road from us in Virginia for a few years. We discussed our families, and the difficult task of keeping your integrity intact over the course of many years and decades in the public eye and the ability to be creative enough to reinvent yourself to stay relevant in the business.

A few minutes later, Marie made it over to us and she recognized me right away. We reminisced about working together so many years ago. We talked about the people we knew back then and what they were doing today. Then we got caught up with each other's personal lives and new projects going on now that we were each involved in. We enjoyed a laugh while we looked at old photographs of us together and joked with each other about the aging process and how time had been better to her that it had me.

 As it usually does as a minister, our conversation turned to the spiritual things. We talked about the goodness of the Lord in our lives since our last visit together. How Christ had seen us through the ups and downs, the good times and the tragedies we each had walked through. We discussed the power of prayer and how we could release the ministry of angels in our lives by praying for one another and we committed to pray for each other and our families. It was a sweet reunion time that we had together and she was incredible with my wife who was so nervous meeting her for the

 first time. Having been in the entertainment business in one form or another for over a quarter century, I have been fortunate enough to be able to spend time around so many celebrities and I can tell you, this brother and sister are as real as they get. They put you at ease with a smile and kind word. Funny, sarcastic, genuine, quick witted, generous, transparent- they are all of that all the time. We love their beautiful hearts. The respect that we have for them and their families cannot be measured and it's an honor to count them as friends. We cannot recommend seeing their show enough. Whether

 you see them in Las Vegas or catch them on the road or during their Christmas Tour, they are worth the price of admission. They are in their seventh year in Las Vegas and are still selling out their showroom at The Flamingo. Do yourself a favor and see these iconic American entertainers that are a credit to the industry. Our country needs more like them and many of today's current crop and up and comers would do well to watch them and learn from them.

It was a fitting end to our celebration in Las Vegas and was a night we will long remember. It was a late night as the meet greet lasted at least an hour by the time they had worked the entire room and we had given all of our contact information to their photographers. It made for a short night and an early morning departure across the Mojave Desert into California where we would encounter a few more days of classic TV homes, presidential libraries, iconic sports venues, and the Pacific coast beaches of Malibu and Santa Monica that we'll begin to dive into with travel tips and experiences to be shared the next time we hook up together in Simm City!

Day trip from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon

While in Las Vegas last week with the family, we decided to make the short 2 1/2 hour drive southeast to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon since none of us have ever seen any part of the Seventh Wonder of the World. It's an easy trip for those staying on the Vegas strip or nearby, now that all roads to the Hualapai Indian reservation, where the west rim is located, have been paved with asphalt. We stopped on the way that morning for breakfast at a delightful little diner in White Hills, AZ called Rosie's Den Cafe for an excellent meal that provides down home service with a smile at a decent price. We recommend the omelets, biscuits and gravy, and french toast. The over sized pancakes that draped over the plates looked very good as well. It's like going back in time with it's western motif flavor except they provide the modern convenience of a free wireless network.

It's about a halfway point stop and the perfect place to get out and stretch your legs before driving the last hour or so through the cactus covered desert to the canyon. Once you arrive at the the Hualapai Tribe's reservation, you are directed to the welcome center where they have an airplane landing strip and helicopter pads for the many fly over tours that are also available there. You can either purchase tickets in advance online for the canyon tour, or buy them there at the welcome center. We purchased ours in advance and saved the wait time through the long lines of folks buying them. You are then taken by shuttle bus to the first stop- the Hualapai Ranch which is a working little cowboy ranch town where you can experience life in the old west and take pictures with all of the cowboys/horses/buildings. The second stop is at Eagle Point where the famous glass skywalk bridge is located. For an extra $30, you can purchase a ticket to walk out over the canyon over a glass walkway that gives you the illusion that you are literally walking on air. A gift shop is also inside.

From there you are taken to the final stop at the west rim of the canyon that was actually my favorite of the three called Guano Point. Here you can have lunch as well as see a Native American village up close and interact with the Hualapai people. I believe you also get the prettiest views of the west rim of the canyon and even get the only vantage point of the Colorado River racing through the west rim.

From there you board the shuttle for the trip back to the visitor center. Expect to spend a good 3 hours here if you make all three stops and have lunch overlooking Guano Point. Once on the road back to Las Vegas we also made the short stop at the Hoover Dam which is located along the Arizona/Nevada border only about 30 miles from Vegas. There isn't much parking here and since we didn't want to take the official tour we decided to just drive over it a couple of times and take it in visually from the car. It is nestled between some extremely high mountains and very curvy roads that you have to take quite slow but it is well worth the stop. Also worth mentioning is the gorgeous views of Lake Mead that the drive coming and going provide. If you leave Las Vegas between 7-8am, you can take in this day trip and all it has to offer and be back on the strip easily in time to grab a shower before taking in a show that evening like we did...which I will cover in my next installment.