INTERVIEW: Joseph Peacock, currently playing Donny Osmond in The Osmonds - A New Musical on tour around the UK

Joseph Peacock is currently taking on the challenge of playing international superstar Donny Osmond in the new musical, The Osmonds. His other credits include Young Gideon in The Last Ship (US Tour), Bat Out Of Hell (London Coliseum, Dominion Theatre), Benjamin in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (UK Tour), Pete in Burnt Part Boys (The Park Theatre), Grease, and West Side Story (The Factory Playhouse).

Aside from his busy touring schedule, he managed to find some time to tell us all about what life is like being an Osmond brother. 

You’re playing the icon that is Donny Osmond in the show, a man well-loved by many around the world. When you got the role, did you feel any pressure and how do you feel now you’re well into the run?

I’m so grateful to be playing Donny Osmond. There definitely was an initial pressure, because he is an icon. Not having lived through the time when the Osmonds were at their peak, I underestimated how much love the fans still have for them, it’s amazing. I just want to be able to live up to their expectations, and Donny set the bar pretty high!

There must be very different challenges that come with playing a real person, What kind of process did you go through to prepare for the role?

Research, research, research. It’s the only way you can get an accurate representation. I read Donny’s autobiography Life Is Just What You Make It, to get as much from his own words as possible. However, a real blessing for us was having Jay Osmond work so closely with us. He would answer any questions we had about his brothers, and he was so open with us that we could form a rounded vision of how we could portray them onstage without becoming an ‘impression’.

INTERVIEW: Georgia Lennon, currently playing Marie Osmond in The Osmonds - A New Musical on tour around the UK

Georgia Lennon is currently taking on the role of icon and legend Marie Osmond in the new musical, The Osmonds. Her other credits include Lady Chatterley in Lady Chatterley’s Lover (Shaftesbury Theatre), Belle in Beauty and the Beast and Princess Apricot in Jack and the Beanstalk (Belfast Grand Opera House).

With a couple months of the tour left, we managed to catch up with Georgia and chat all things Osmonds! 

Marie Osmond is an international star, when you got the role did you feel any pressure and how do you feel now you’re well into the run?

I was completely lost for words when I found out that I’d landed the role of Marie Osmond. Being a huge lover of country music and getting the opportunity to play one of the biggest influences of that genre was a real ‘wow’ moment for me. 

I think there’s pressure when playing any of the Osmond family because they’re real people; most of whom are still alive and performing now. I feel a real responsibility to pay homage to the strong, independent woman Marie is, but also want to do her music justice night after night. After all, we’re playing characters that have such an incredible fan base and that comes with a certain expectation. However, this pressure is certainly eased through working with the man himself; Mr Jay Osmond. Jay has been with us throughout the entire rehearsal process and hearing all of his stories and first-hand accounts about each Osmond has allowed us to inform our character choices accurately. We’ve all been able to grab a real essence of who each family member really is, and was.

There must be very different challenges that come with playing a real person, What kind of process did you go through to prepare for the role?

You’re totally right; the approach to real and fictional roles differs a little bit. As I mentioned before, there’s more expectation attached to a role like Marie Osmond, because she already has quirks and personality traits, so it’s important to take the time to understand these specifics and to watch them in action where possible.

I loved the process for Marie Osmond. I started by reading her book 'Might as Well Laugh About It Now' only shortly after I’d been offered the role, which gave me a true sense of her life from childhood through to the present day. And then came the most fun part, I watched SO many episodes of the Donny and Marie Show. I’m convinced that if I’d been around when that show aired, I’d have been obsessed with it! I think I’m a Little Bit Country might be one of my favourite jingles of all time.

Having Jay work so closely with us throughout the rehearsal process and into our run was also extremely special and it was only through his anecdotes that I felt my character of Marie really came alive.

REVIEW: The Osmonds at the New Wimbledon Theatre

Having been born in the late eighties and with scarce knowledge of the sights and sounds of the 1970s music scene, I was enormously intrigued by the illustrious family of singers whose journey has effectively been brought to life on stage in a full-on, exuberant, and brightly coloured musical tribute to their lives!

I was slightly apprehensive about what to expect from the touring production of The Osmonds, A new musical about one of the most successful family singing groups in America, and not forgetting their colossal worldwide celebrity and recognition over the decades. However pre-musical jitters are somewhat healthy as fear of the unknown usually turns into pure delight, especially when a great story accompanies equally celebrated musical numbers. These so call ‘numbers’ are a nostalgic flashback to an era that produced some of the greatest groups and performers we know today, and we can thank The Osmonds for contributing to some of the most recognizable songs of all time. 

REVIEW: The Osmonds at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking

There is a continually growing trend bringing Jukebox musicals to the stage in Regional Theatres and the West End with the fabulous Jersey Boys still leading the way at the Trafalgar Theatre in London alongside the Drifters Girl, Get up Stand up, and Tina. Out on the regional road are Thriller, Beautiful, We Will Rock You and very soon, The Cher Show, together with a host of tribute band acts. They work because the Artists featured have a catalogue of hits and a loyal following of fans with memories of their music interweaved with the nostalgia of their youth. Occasionally we get insight into the artist's back story but mainly it’s a celebration of their musical legacy.

The Osmonds is riding this wave of recognition and nostalgia and is presented as a new musical with a story by Jay Osmond (the drummer in the group who he says was always stuck in the middle). For a short period from 1972 to 1974 members of the Osmond family had UK number 1 hits and Osmondmania hit the streets and concert halls of the country although the family members had been performing in the US from 1963 and would continue to perform together until the Eighties. The story is told through two simple overused devices of Jay Osmond (Alex Lodge) narrating the back story of the family relationships and development as artists and their “Number 1” UK fan, Wendy, (Katy Hands) reading her letters to him giving the fans perspective. While it fills in the gaps it lacks drama even as it describes the draconian relationship the boys had with their father (Charlie Allen).