Donny Osmond

It was 1995 and Donny Osmond was in town kicking off an engagement of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It had been a huge hit in Toronto and Chicago, they were taking it on tour and Minneapolis was the first stop. It was a pretty big deal, the governor (Arne Carlson) signed a declaration making it Donny Osmond Day. Donny, who we had lined up to do one segment on our mid-morning show, actually volunteered in the green room to co-host the whole hour if we wanted. And of course we did. After the show Donny and I took a limo ride to the Mall of America where he did a little PR appearance at Planet Hollywood, gave them a pair of purple socks for a display case and did a quick song. When that wrapped up Donny headed to the theater to get ready for opening night of the run and the photographer and I went back to the studio and packaged up a story for the 6:00 p.m. news. My impressions of Donny were simple - he may be a Mormon, but he's a total mensch.