POP : Williams Croons for Christmas

Andy Williams still remembers his first Christmases growing up in the small town of Wall Lake, Iowa. “It was like a big block party,” the 62-year-old singer recently recalled. “Everybody knew everybody else, and their doors were always open. The two streets in town were decorated and everyone would go around drinking egg nog and giving candy to the children. I remember it being a very wonderful time.”

Williams, who appears Wednesday at the Celebrity Theatre in Anaheim, says he tries to re-create the same feeling in his Christmas shows today. “We bring the children up on stage and give them candy canes. A local choir appears with us wherever we go. I try to make it look and feel as much like a family Christmas as I can.”

Beginning on television in 1962 when his musical variety show premiered on NBC, the sight of Williams singing carols by a festively decorated tree surrounded by children has been one of the evergreen scenes of holiday entertainment. In recent years he has been taking his show to theaters around the country; this Christmas tour is his 10th.

Yet, as the singer explained by phone earlier this week between appearances in St. Louis, the idea of taking his Christmas show on the road came about almost by accident.

“I was doing a benefit with the Seattle Symphony late one December and a few days before the date the lady who was staging the benefit called and said she was very excited that I was coming up there to do a Christmas show. And I said, ‘What do you mean? I’m not doing a Christmas show; I’m doing a symphony concert.’ And she said she thought I was doing a Christmas show, like I did on television.

“Well, I told her, I wasn’t prepared to do a whole Christmas show, but if she would have them bring out a Christmas tree on a dolly after I finished my regular concert, I’d sing some Christmas songs. And that’s what happened. It turned out to be such a big hit, that my agency later got 12 requests for me to do the Christmas show like I did in Seattle. So we decided to take it on the road.”

But Williams’ show Wednesday at the Celebrity Theatre in Anaheim will be his last Christmas appearance here (the tour will end its run in Japan). Beginning next year, the singer will celebrate Christmas with performances at his new performance hall, the Moon River Theatre, which opened last May in tiny Branson, Mo.

Branson, with a population of fewer than 4,000, has become a mecca for country music fans since the opening of theaters there by such entertainers as Roy Clark, Mel Tillis and Ray Stevens.

Even though Williams’ last recording was a collection of country songs titled “Nashville,” the singer said, “I’m not trying to be Garth Brooks, or take advantage of country music. And I’m not going to do country music in Branson. I try to let the people who come and see me there know that. I open with a Gershwin number. My second tune is ‘Our Love Is Here To Stay.’ Even though they’re country music fans, they’ve watched me on television and know who I am.”

Williams, whose season in Branson will run April through October plus the Christmas show, cites several advantages to working in his own theater. But the thing he likes best about is that he’ll be home for the holidays. “I’ll have my family around. That’s something I haven’t had for 10 years.”

What: The Andy Williams Christmas Show.

When: Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 8 p.m.

Where: The Celebrity Theatre, 201 E. Broadway, Anaheim.

Whereabouts: Take Harbor Boulevard south from Riverside (91) Freeway or north from the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway and head east on Broadway. The Celebrity is on the left, just past Anaheim Boulevard.

Wherewithal: $28.

Where to call: (714) 999-9536.