Storming Mormons! It’s the warts and all Osmonds musical

Crazy horses! They were squeaky-clean devout Mormons who became the sibling singing sensations of the Seventies.

Now the life and times of the Osmonds is to become a West End musical. The project is the brainchild of middle Osmond brother Jay, who has relocated from america to Chester.

He and second wife, Karen, moved to the UK to collaborate with a group of English scriptwriters. ‘It will be part Bohemian rhapsody, part Jersey Boys,’ says Jay , 64, the group’s drummer. ‘Without the swearing, of course.

‘The story as it’s been told before has been too sugary. I wanted to tell how hard it was.’

Called He’s My Brother, the play is due to open next year in the West End.

Jay says: ‘I wanted to tell the true unvarnished story of how it really was growing up, the obstacles we faced, and how we stayed together through the journey of our showbusiness life.

‘Some of the obstacles and opposition we faced within the industry itself, and some of the ways we were disciplined as a militaristic kind of family took a heavy toll.

‘Our dad was an army sergeant, so we were raised as soldiers basically. The attitude was all for one and one for all, where we had each other’s backs.’

The play will include a cast of famous faces who helped the Osmonds become the Osmonds, including Walt Disney, andy Williams, Elvis and Jerry Lewis.

The Osmonds were especially popular in Britain with a string of hit records and Donny Osmond, now 61, becoming a major teen idol. youngest brother Jimmy, 55, who also had solo success with Long Haired Lover From Liverpool, is still recovering from a stroke he suffered in panto in Birmingham in December.