Donny Osmond recovering from throaty concerns; ‘Absinthe’ joins the (night) club

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Caesars Entertainment

Olivia Newton-John and Donny Osmond at the Flamingo in Las Vegas.

Published Wed, Jul 29, 2015 (1:58 p.m.)

Updated Wed, Jul 29, 2015 (2:49 p.m.)

Donny & Marie Osmond's 500th Performance

Donny & Marie Osmond's 500th performance at the Flamingo on March 23, 2011. Launch slideshow »

Even the term sounds uncomfortable: bleeding polyp.

It is the vocal condition from which Donny Osmond has been suffering for the past several weeks. At issue is a lesion on his right vocal chord that took Osmond out of a planned solo tour in September and also forced him to miss three performances in the Donny & Marie shows at Flamingo Las Vegas in June.

Donny & Marie’s schedule otherwise remains unaffected, as they return to the Strip on Sept. 29 and have 15 dates through Nov. 14 on their current contract, which is due to time out in December.

While Osmond was away from the stage, his nephew David filled in with Marie for shows June 24-26. David Osmond has appeared onstage with Donny & Marie before and is an international symbol of hope for those suffering from multiple sclerosis. David Osmond and his father, Alan, both suffer from the disease.

At the Flamingo, Donny Osmond first detected something was amiss with his voice when he became hoarse. He sought treatment from a physician with a history of success in treating those with similar vocal concerns.

Posted on his Facebook page July 22 was this message from Osmond:

“I want to thank all of those who have left Facebook comments and tweets with your concerns, thoughts and prayers on my behalf.

“Rest assured, I’m in very good hands. Dr. Steven Zeitels is considered the best in the world. He’s helped artists like Adele, Sam Smith, Lionel Richie, John Mayer and so many others get back onstage with amazing success. He has assured me that I’ll be ready this fall when we start back up in Las Vegas.”

Zeitels is the director for laryngeal surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. Reportedly, Osmond underwent a microsurgical removal of the lesion last week. His postponed road dates from September are to be rescheduled.

In January, Osmond released the album “The Soundtrack of My Life,” a collection of cover tunes that have influenced and inspired his career. The songs range from Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour” to Frank Sinatra’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” to The Beatles’ “The Long and Winding Road.”

There is no word yet on when or even if Donny & Marie are to extend their contract at the Flamingo. A hotel spokeswoman said Wednesday that there is no new news to report about the show at this time.

Donny & Marie opened at the hotel with a six-week run in September 2008 and have since become one of the top-selling and best-reviewed shows on the Strip. The venerable showroom was named for the duo in fall 2013. They share the space with Olivia Newton-John’s show “Summer Nights” and the long-running “Legends in Concert.”

‘Melody Sweets’ Big Top Circus’

“Melody Sweets’ Big Top Circus & Burlesque!” on Friday, June 26, 2015, outside Caesars Palace. Launch slideshow »

• Spiegelworld founder and “improssorio” Ross Mollison is seeking to expand his “Absinthe” empire.

In an interview for a story about “For the Record: Baz” at Light in Mandalay Bay that appears on the current cover of sister pub Las Vegas Weekly, Mollison told me that he’s been mulling a late-night hang under the “Absinthe” umbrella. Or, tent, as it were.

“I’m really interested in launching the Absinthe Late-Night Lounge, and I’ve been working with our team trying to quantify exactly what that will be,” Mollison said.

“I feel there are people who would like to go out and get something that’s more casual in the form of entertainment, that is sort of married to and matches the brand of what we do. I’m really interested in doing that.”

When asked if this lounge would be set inside the Spiegelworld Tent, long the home of “Absinthe,” Mollison said, “That’s the $64 question. I’m thinking about that.

“We want to make something that’s a complement to the current brand and that might even work as a limited engagement. Do it one night a week for a month to see how it flies. So, yeah, we could do it in the current venue or put up a venue next to it and do something similar.”

One spin-off concept from “Absinthe” is already a proven success: The late-night productions assembled and hosted by Melody Sweets. The most recent of these rollicking showcases, a benefit for UNLV College of Fine Arts, was held June 26. With scant marketing, the production drew an audience of nearly 500 for a midnight (closer to 12:30 a.m., actually) show time.

Sweets is developing another burlesque-rooted production for August, which promises to be filled with the requisite fun and frivolity. Any show that features a genuine Wallenda (the peerless Lijana) performing a striptease out of a gorilla suit while walking on a high wire and an inflatable doll used in a two-man balancing act (Jimmy Slonina made that happen) is worth a trip to the tent.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

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