POP MUSIC REVIEW : Williams’ Silver Bells Still Ringing

Warm and comfy, cozy and nice. There’s no other way to describe Andy Williams’ annual Christmas show at the Celebrity Theatre on Wednesday. Looking trim and fit, dressed in a familiar white sweater adorned with a shimmering Christmas tree, the veteran singer left few seasonal images untouched in a program as sweetly idealized as a letter to Santa Claus.

Williams started out by announcing that he was going to perform some “chestnuts,” and he wasn’t kidding. His opening segment was devoted to pop-style holiday numbers: “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Blue Christmas,” “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and “Christmas Needs Love to Be Christmas” were among the best examples.

If there has been any deterioration in Williams’ voice over the last few decades, it was nowhere apparent in his singing. Hitting even the highest notes with crystal-clear accuracy, warm and expressive with his rich chest tones, he had the look and the sound of an artist enjoying the maturity of his career.

Predictably, given his extended string of hits, Williams added a medley of long-familiar items to his holiday wares. Especially appealing were his elegantly moody readings of the themes from movies, “The Days of Wine and Roses,” “Charade” and his signature “Moon River.”

But the highlight of the evening was a portion of the program in which several children from the audience came onto the large, circular stage with Williams to join him in singing “Silver Bells,” “The Little Drummer” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” The moment became especially magical when one tiny tot, who had persistently resisted his mother’s efforts to join the other children, finally decided on his own to amble over to Williams for the reward of a Christmas candy cane.

As one watched the bright, well-scrubbed faces of the youngsters, their cheeks ruddy in the stage lights, however, it was impossible not to contrast them with the horrifying images of similarly aged children in Somalia and Sarajevo that we’ve been deluged with of late on television and in newspapers. And if there was anything missing in Williams’ Christmas celebration, it was an acknowledgment of the need for the holiday spirit of giving and sharing--especially in these troubled times--to reach beyond the easy expression of musical sentiment.

Comedian-ventriloquist Jay Johnson joined Williams on the bill.