Donny Osmond still reinventing himself on stage, screen, TV

Summertime is the perfect time for family reunions. But what if your family's last name is Osmond?

The Osmonds have had many family gatherings over the years — but earlier this week they taped a family reunion for television. The original Osmond Brothers joined with sister Marie and younger brothers Donny and Jimmy to tape a 50th anniversary reunion concert in the Orleans Hotel Showroom in Las Vegas. The show will air on PBS in March 2008.

Having Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay Osmond join the other three was a historic event. All seven have not sung together for more than 20 years.

For Donny Osmond — who will perform solo in Salt Lake City next week — the reunion in Las Vegas was an emotional skyrocket.

"I stood by Wayne when we sang the last song, 'He's My Brother,' and remember standing next to him in the '70s," Osmond said by phone from his home in Provo. "I looked down the line and saw all of my brothers, and it was an incredible feeling to know we have survived and have a legacy.

"We're all getting up there in age, and we may never do what we did in Vegas again. There are no plans. But I'm also one who says, 'Never say never."'

While the other brothers have occasionally performed in Branson, Mo., Donny and Marie have kept the family name alive in the media with talk shows, concerts, and Donny's gigs as a game-show host and Broadway star.

"That's one of the things where I consider myself lucky," Donny Osmond said. "I'm known as a recording artist, a TV personality, a Broadway performer and I'm in movies. It's been a life of reinventing myself."

Osmond just wrapped filming an appearance in a movie with Martin Lawrence and Raven Simone titled "College Road Trip." "If you've seen 'Weird Al' Yankovic's 'White and Nerdy' video, you see that I play up to that white-bread image that has stuck with me throughout my life. I played into this white-bread character (in 'College Road Trip') and had a lot of fun with it." (The movie is scheduled for release sometime next year.)

Meanwhile, he's been amazed at the success of his most recent album, "Love Songs of the '70s." "I made this album because it sounded like fun. It went gold (selling more than 500,000 copies) in the U.K. in a week. I had no expectations, and that surprised me."