Donny and Marie, Colm Wilkinson and Green Day’s American Idiot musical coming to the Four Seasons Centre

Donny and Marie, Colm Wilkinson and Green Day’s American Idiot musical coming to the Four Seasons Centre

Donny and Marie Osmond, Colm Wilkinson and John Gallagher Jr. in American Idiot

A Broadway legend, some American rock ’n’ roll and a pair of former teen stars who (hopefully) still have it will grace Toronto’s stages over the next year. Dancap Productions announced three new shows for 2011–2012 in a press conference earlier today: Colm Wilkinson in Concert: Broadway and Beyond (August 12–13), American Idiot (December 28–January 15) and Donny and Marie (July 5–17).

This last announcement is particularly exciting for fans of a certain eponymous 1970s variety show starring the brother–sister duo. Currently in residence at the Flamingo Las Vegas, Donny and Marie Osmond will bring their live act to Toronto this summer at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Donny Osmond, who famously played the part of Joseph in a production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat here in the 1990s, was present at the press conference. Osmond told the press, “When Marie and I put this together, we didn’t want to just make this a retrospective of our careers.” Instead, the dancing and singing sibling duo wanted to make the show as modern as possible. Still, diehard Donny and Marie fans can still expect renditions of their classics, like “Puppy Love” and “Paper Roses.”

Osmond says he and his sister work best feeding off each other on stage. “[There’s] something organic about [the show] that you don’t want to touch,” he said. So who is this show for? The fans, of course—who, Osmond says, range in age 16 to 102. Osmond wrapped the press conference with the assurance that he’d be performing something from Joseph for the show’s Toronto run—“But I don’t think I’ll wear the loincloth. I’ll leave that up to Colm.”

Colm, of course, is Colm Wilkinson, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables on Broadway. Wilkinson will take the stage for two days at the Four Seasons Centre. Also coming to Toronto for the only Canadian stop on its North American tour is American Idiot, the musical based on Green Day’s 2004 album, with direction by Michael Mayer, choreography by Steven Hoggett and orchestrations and arrangements by Tom Kitt. Open auditions will be held for the national tour of American Idiot on March 26.

(Images: Donny and Marie, Erik Kabik; Colm Wilkinson, David Leyes; American Idiot, Paul Kolnik)