What's going on at Feinstein's at the Regency? Donny Osmond's Love Songs of the '70s -- is it a mini-concert or a shrunk-down Las Vegas lounge act? Cabaret, it is not. So why was Donny booked for one week at the swanky Manhattan nightclub? Easy - he sold out the house, at least on the evening reviewed here.

Packing the room were women of various age groups, many traveling distances and flashing cell phones and cameras, to see Donny Osmond in person for the release of his new CD, Love Songs of the '70s, including songs like "You Are So Beautiful," "If," and an over-exuberant "Puppy Love." This could have been a respectable show except for certain drawbacks. One is the band, an electronic quintet. To call it overamplified is oversimplifying. You can barely decipher the tunes or lyrics. Arrangements lack variety and creativity. For people seated near the windows, it is a reverberating wall of sound.

Donny himself is a polished package. He flashes the Osmond grin and plays slickly to the audience. Unlike other performers with more fans than talent, Donny exudes little semblance of honesty and care for his enthusiastic audience. The show evidences a lack of preparation. If Donny O. had wanted to do himself and his songs justice at Feinstein's, he could have planned an program to remind us why these songs were popular, what they personally meant to him 30 years ago when he was a young television superstar, and what they mean to him now. He could actually interpret them with phrasing and stress, so that we might learn something about Donny Osmond and also something about ourselves.

Instead, this pop music veteran tosses out a show reflective of no personality. There is no encore; Donny is off and gone, without even a few moments to spare after the show, letting some fans say hello, take photos and get autographs?

Donny Osmond presents Love Songs of the '70s at Feinstein's at the Regency from April 25 to April 28, 2007.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
April 25, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org