NKOTB News

Donnie was interviewed by the Hollywood Reporter!

Donnie Wahlberg Says NKOTB’s Final Las Vegas Shows Will Be “Super Emotional,” Teases New Elements and Shares What’s Next

New Kids on the Block are set to perform eight final shows in October to close out their residency, “The Right Stuff," at Dolby Live at Park MGM.

It’s been over a year since New Kids on the Block debuted their Las Vegas residency, “The Right Stuff,” at Dolby Live at Park MGM.

During that time, the show has made use of more than 4 million pieces of confetti, 7,000 rhinestones,

80,000 streamers, 1,000 stage lights, 500 pieces of pyrotechnics, four giant foot-foot disco balls, one “big-ass” NKOTB Vegas sign, one Ferris wheel car and one “wedding” between NKOTB and the entire audience. (See more fun facts below, at the end of this story.)

Through it all, the band — Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood — have made a point to connect with the fans, as is their custom. They’ve taken part in such events as meet-and-greets, photo ops and pop-up experiences. Wahlberg also hosts “The Night Stuff After Hours,” an official post-show party series.

Now, their residency is heading into its final stretch, with NKOTB set to perform the last eight shows in October. Ahead of the final performances, Wahlberg spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about his favorite memories, what’s next for NKOTB and why he will probably need tissues for the last show.

What’s been the best thing about doing this residency for the past year-plus? Do you have a favorite memory?

There are a lot. I guess if I had to choose one memory, I think it’s been really good for the band. It’s helped us in some ways, and what I mean is, we remember talking about it as kids, one day going to Vegas, and everyone had different thoughts about what that might be like one day, but we never really had serious conversations. In many ways that it brought a lot of perspective to us, to be doing it now..

Vegas is different than the old days; when we were talking about Vegas, it’s kind of where you went to retire, right? Or where you went to pre-retire and do cover songs and just watch people have drinks while you perform. That’s the old Vegas. But nonetheless, it did come along when we were 40 years into our careers, right? I think the show has a lot of nostalgia that the fans feel and in some ways it also feels very new to them and fun and fresh and exciting. They’re not just going into a time machine, they’re also taking time for themselves to get a weekend away and enjoy themselves. And I think for us, there’s that element of, we feel like we put on a really good show, and it’s very strong, and it’s Vegas-centric, of course, but true to New Kids.

What I will remember are the times backstage before we step onstage, being in the same place every night, in the same hallway, we gather every night in the same hallway with our team and the dancers and friends and family, and we all have a moment and have a little circle. That consistency in that feeling and looking around at each guy and knowing how far we’ve come together. One can’t help but reflect on the fact that it’s been 40 years, and now we are in Vegas and doing that thing that we talked about back in the ’80s. And we’re still healthy, we’re still having fun, we still love performing for our fans, we still are blessed with the greatest fans ever, and it’s a very overwhelming experience.

You had so much success when you all were in your teens. Could you have ever imagined NKOTB would be doing this all these years later and continuing to have so much success in an industry where many people can flame out pretty quickly?

I would say that I never thought I would be 57, never mind performing at 57. (Laughs) Honestly, I think when we used to say one day we’ll go to Vegas when we’re older, I don’t think we envisioned us actually being older. I think we envisioned us still being 19, 20, 21 years old, just having been around for a while. You can’t envision who you’ll become, physically, emotionally, spiritually. I could not envision who I would become all those years ago; the way I would feel about this whole experience is very emotional for me.

I go to the pop-up each day and take pictures and selfies with the fans, and it’s very emotional. It’s not just us who are here all these years later, it’s the fans too, and of course there are a lot of new fans, but the fans who’ve been there for all these years — it gets me emotional. We’ve spent a lot of our lives together. Sometimes at a distance, sometimes it might be fans just playing our songs in the car with their children now, and it might be fans watching [his show] Blue Bloods with their parents who are older. There are so many levels and layers to it, and to still get to be able to get together and share these times, making new memories, reliving old memories, it’s a very special thing. How could we ever have imagined that part of it as kids? We just would imagine ourselves on the stage goofing around singing songs, and the Vegas lights, but to actually be doing it is beyond anything that I could ever have envisioned.

You all do a good job of cultivating that relationship with your fans, from the meet-and-greets to the pop-up appearances to the cruises. I’m sure that’s a lot of work but you can also see how much the fans appreciate it. I have friends who’ve been on the cruises, and they’re like, “They remember my name every time I see them.”

That’s a huge deal for us. I don’t see it as selling things or marketing things. It’s so much more than that to me. It’s hard to explain it sometimes to people on the outside, but I do think the fans understand it and they understand that it’s more than a business. There’s not a day that I don’t think about our fans and what I can be doing for them: “Am I reaching out enough? Am I doing enough to stay connected with them?” I’ve had to learn to recharge my own batteries now and to take time and rest, because I used to just go 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I’m having to learn to balance that, but they are still a big part of my life. I want to continue to nurture and care for the relationship and give them things that are meaningful.

It’s not ever just a show for me; it’s meaningful. On a micro level, it’s like it’s a night out, they’re choosing to go see the New Kids. They could be doing anything on a Tuesday night; instead they’re going to go see the New Kids. That’s a huge commitment. Then there’s the big picture, which is like we’re part of their lives. I’m sure there are other bands who’ve had fans for longer than us, and they may not engage and treat it the same way I treat it. But I don’t know any other way to do it. I love knowing as many fans as I can. I love when I remember names. That stuff matters. When I do meet-and-greets, I tell all of them, I love you. I love the fact that they’ve walked through those doors. I appreciate them and I love them, and if they take nothing else away from me, just know that you’re loved.

You have your final eight shows coming up. A while back, you launched a “Remix” of the show. Can you talk about how the Vegas shows have evolved from opening night?

The way I explain it to people is, we threw everything at the original Vegas show but the kitchen sink. Now we’ve thrown in the kitchen sink. For example, we did a sort of an acoustic piano set, and that was intended for the original show. And the show was getting too long, and it was gnawing at me that we didn’t do it. It really was bothersome that we didn’t get to do it and so I wanted to find a way to get it into the show and get more songs into the show. It’s really hard to strip the show down and rebuild it from the ground up and change the overall set lists, but I knew there was a way within the framework of the show that we could add so much more. So for me that’s really what it is. It’s like we’ve thrown in the kitchen sink and now we’re going to throw in the dishwashing detergent and the sponge and the SOS pad.

What can fans expect from the final group of performances?

I don’t want to give too much away, but we never tour in the winter. So there’s an album that we never get to perform because it’s a winter album, and we’re going to try to get some of that into the show. And I’m working on some stuff there and a couple more songs and a few little surprises. It’s going to be super emotional for us.

What is your favorite song to perform?

In the Vegas show, I don’t know that I can choose one, but I think the opening song “Twisted” is super fun. I love “The Whisper.” That’s when we fly around in the boxes — they call them phone booths, but I’m like that’s not a phone booth. Superman leaves the phone booth to fly; he doesn’t fly in it. (Laughs) “Games” is great because there is so much in it; we remixed it and mashed it up with [Sister Sledge’s] “He’s the Greatest Dancer.” It’s very disco, and we get to perform part of our song “Get Down” in it as well, and we get to do a little homage to Prince in there and to Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. It’s such a big audacious production. It’s a real high point for me in the show.

What comes next for New Kids after the residency is over?

As much as we love the stability of Vegas, we know not everyone can get there, and we do love touring, so I think certainly we’ll hit the road again. … I would love to tour the world one more time, at least. We are a touring act. It’s unbelievable, you know, we should have just been a board games and dolls and blankets and pillows and collectibles [type of band], but we’ve become a touring band and I think we take great joy in that. We’re grateful that people want to show up and see us in arenas all around the country and hopefully the world.

Do you have any final parting thoughts about the show?

I think every New Kids experience can be very emotional. I do think the last run of shows is going to be super emotional. Knowing our fans and what they bring every night into the building, and knowing the guys, It’s not the end of anything, but it’s the closing of a chapter. And I think it was a very meaningful chapter in the book of our shared New Kids and Blockheads experience. So I do think it’s going to be very emotional, and if you like having your heartstrings pulled, I would definitely say, we should get there. There are going to be a lot of tissues and tears.

“The Right Stuff” By the Numbers

Over 4 million pieces of confetti

7,000 rhinestones

80,000 streamers

80 foot wide and 40 foot tall stage set

Tens of Thousands of Blockheads

1,000 stage lights

500 pieces of pyrotechnics

2 hydraulic lifts

40 foot conveyer belt

6 dancers

5 flying Boxes Over the audience