This Is The Moment Forest Hills NY

This Is The Moment

Donny Osmond

Decca Broadway Records, 2001

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/09/2001

Imagine this: You're Donny Osmond. You're recording a CDfeaturing your renditions of songs from popular Broadway shows, This Is The Moment. Wouldn't you choose to include somethingfrom your days in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised that Osmond doesn't reprise anyof the songs he sang for over 18 months nonstop. After all, thisdisc gives him a chance to stretch his creative legs and put hisown spin on 13 selections from such musicals as Rent, Jekyll & Hyde and Sweeney Todd. Even if you're not a fan of Osmond's, you haveto admit he's got the perfect voice for these selections. But forall the praise I can offer This Is The Moment (and there is much), I do find myselfwishing that most of these songs hadn't had a pop spin put onthem.

Oh, it's not that Osmond isn't up to the challenge; he lovinglytakes on these songs as if he had been cast in the roles whichsurrounded these numbers. Hearing him take on "This Is The Moment"(from Jekyll & Hyde), "Immortality" (from Saturday Night Fever) and "Our Kind Of Love" (from The Beautiful Game) convinces me that Osmond could easilystep into any role and turn it into something special. Even when hetakes a classic like "Luck Be A Lady" (from Guys & Dolls), he's able to transcend all other versionsand make this particular song sound like this was the first time itwas ever being committed to tape.

And it's not that the pop stylings (as well as the production ofPhil Ramone) aren't suitable at times. The two selections from Seussical, "It's Possible" and "Solla Sollew," both workwell with this approach. (I still have the soundtrack to Seussicalto review - no, Beth, I haven't forgotten - and it will beinteresting to compare the two versions.) Likewise, both Osmond andRamone know when to respect a song's roots and leave the pop feelat the door, a prime example being "At The Edge Of The World" (fromRiverdance On Broadway).