Puppy Love

Tigerbeat magazine - the lifeblood of teenage girls in the 70s. I’d eagerly scrutinize each issue, clipping pictures and discovering the latest news on all the teen stars. David Cassidy, Andy Gibb, Bobby Sherman, and my favorite – Donny Osmond.

As a young girl, I loved Donny Osmond. He was so cute. When purple was his favorite color, it became my favorite color. I watched the Donny and Marie Show on TV and all their Christmas specials. The Osmond brothers were great, but Donny was my favorite. He was handsome, funny, nice, and an all-around great guy – absolutely perfect in my dream world.

And then I grew up. Dumped the posters, stored the record albums, swapped my favorite color to blue, and moved on to the life of reality.  Graduated from college, became a teacher, worked in Pittsburgh, McBain, and Holland. Traveled to several countries and became involved in my church. I’m happy with my life and seldom think about my teenage pop star crush.

But when I saw that Donny and Marie were doing a Christmas show in Chicago, I couldn’t pass it up. It was the perfect way for my sister and I to celebrate our birthdays and bask in nostalgia.

So my sister and I spent a wonderful day in Chicago yesterday.  The weather was perfect: cold but sunny. We took the train into the city, enjoyed lunch at the Corner Bakery, and browsed the Christkindlmarket and Macy’s. And then we walked to the Oriental Theatre to see – in person – Donny and Marie!

The auditorium was packed - primarily with people in our age group.  Apparently I’m not the only one reliving adolescent memories. The curtain opened and – there he was!  Oh my – he’s still handsome. I actually felt a little giddy. My teenaged crush returned – for an afternoon. It was hard to believe that the boy I had spent my teenage years dreaming about was on stage just a few yards away.

Donny and Marie put on a fantastic show – geared especially to those who grew up with them. They mixed in a few of their teenaged hits and old video clips with new songs and Christmas medleys. There were numerous costumes changes and great dance sequences. They even included updated jokes, ala the Donny and Marie show. It was wholesome, lighthearted, and fun.  I loved their music; they can still belt out the songs. I might even have to check them out on itunes.

The only downside is my wish to have Donny sing Happy Birthday to me and get a photo with him is still unfulfilled. Although Donny and Marie both came down the aisles and shook hands/hugged those on the end, we were on the wrong end of the aisle. Oh well. I guess you can’t have everything. I had to settle for this photo:

(It’s amazing how lame middle-aged women can be; there was actually a line of women waiting to pose with the cardboard cutout!) 

Ah, puppy love!