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Christmas crooner: Andy Williams breaks from Branson for holiday show on the road
Sunday, December 13, 1998 By Rebecca Sodergren, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Andy Williams may be 68, but he's far from retired.
Since 1992, he's been performing two shows a day, six days a week for nine months each year at his Moon River Theatre in Branson, Mo. Now he's on tour, too.
'Andy Williams Christmas Show'
Where: A.J. Palumbo Center, Downtown.
Tickets: $32.50-$35; 412-323-1919.
Granted, it's just a 12-day tour - "It's like nothing compared to the two-year tours some people take now" - and he'll head for Palm Springs for a couple months' break afterwards. But he's still leading the life of a busy, popular performer.
His 2,000-seat Missouri theater closed for the season yesterday, and his tour starts today in Columbus, Ohio. He'll be here at the A.J. Palumbo Center, Uptown, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. He'll end with two days in New York City Dec. 23 and 24, then will be done just in time for Christmas, the holiday he's been crooning about for years.
"The Andy Williams Christmas Show" will include favorites such as "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "The Christmas Song" and "Sleigh Ride," interspersed with anecdotes and jokes. He invites children to come to the stage and sit around him, and there's an audience sing-along near the end of the show.
Williams' Christmas specials as part of his television series, which aired on NBC from 1963 to 1972, embodied the holiday season. His family performed with him each year.
He looks back on that time with special fondness.
"My children were growing up then, and I was stationary in Los Angeles" instead of being on the road. "I was very proud of the quality of shows we did. We get them back out and watch them sometimes - it was very good television." Indeed, the series won three Emmy awards, including best musical/variety series in both 1966 and 1967.
Williams began singing with his brothers in a Presbyterian church choir established by their parents in Wall Lake, Iowa. They debuted on radio station WHO's "Iowa Barn Dance Show" in Des Moines when he was 8.
In 1944, they made their first recording, "Swinging on a Star," with Bing Crosby. When they finally disbanded in 1951, Williams moved to New York.
At age 24, he performed on Steve Allen's "Tonight" show - his introduction to performing on television.
With the recent release of a new holiday album, "We Need a Little Christmas," his album total is up to 64. And he's currently recording No. 65 - "not Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett" songs, as some might expect, but Sting, Bryan Adams and more contemporary artists' songs.
"I've been working on it for six months - I just don't have any time" to work on it on a regular basis.
Aside from his recording and TV careers, he's equally proud of his current venture, Moon River Theatre, which was featured in Architectural Digest.
The 48,000-square-foot structure is situated on 16 landscaped acres with foliage, rock formations, waterfalls and a stream.
And he doesn't mind the busy schedule. "I wouldn't do it if I didn't really like it. I can't think of anything else I'd rather do.
"A lot of my friends in L.A. think I'm nuts [for moving to Branson], but people in the movie business think there's nothing other than that. And people in New York think there's nothing other than that."
He and wife Debbie have discovered a kinder, gentler environment, building a country French home in Branson overlooking Lake Taneycomo. "The Ozarks [mountains surrounding Branson] are a beautiful part of the world, and the people here are simple and kind. You don't have to worry about getting hit over the head if you go out."
Yet he's willing to leave his home to charm fans on the road once again. "It'll be like having a party every night," he said.
And by the way, don't worry that if you go to his Christmas show, you'll miss hearing his biggest hit. Maybe this will spoil the surprise, but he revealed that at the very end of the show, he says, "And now, my favorite Christmas song ..." and launches into "Moon River."
No Williams performance - even a Christmas show - would be complete without that.
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