Christmas time is Crosby time in Spokane
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - Christmas time is Crosby time in Spokane, where crooner Bing Crosby was raised.
The singer of "White Christmas" and numerous other carols is being remembered in a stage play, film festival, lectures, documentary and some new archived music and film releases.
"It can be an unbelievably nostalgic feeling when you hear Bing intoning that song on the car radio driving down Sharp or Riverside avenues and know that these are the Christmas scenes Bing knew until he was 22 years old," said Bill Stimson, president of Advocates for the Bing Crosby Theater.
The theater is ground zero for Crosbyphiles this Saturday, showing the film "White Christmas" and hosting a roster of speakers.
Among them will be Robert Bader, who was hired by the Crosby family as curator of the music and films in Crosby's personal archives.
Crosby was one of the first stars to make extensive use of tape and video, and Bader has said that going through the archives reveals constant surprises.
Among the recent finds was the only surviving film of the seventh game of the 1960 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Crosby, a part-owner of the Pirates, had stored the film in the wine cellar of his home near San Francisco.
Bader will present some other newly-found footage, including a 1932 film clip of Crosby with George Burns and Gracie Allen; clips from his Christmas shows during World War II; his first TV appearance in 1948 on "Philco TV Playhouse;" film of Crosby receiving his Oscar from Gary Cooper for "Going My Way"; and a 30-minute TV documentary of Crosby's 1968 visit to Spokane.
Bader, who is vice president of Bing Crosby Enterprises, has recently produced holiday CDs and DVDs from the archives, and more will follow. Recent releases include a CD of 19 Crosby Christmas songs, including a 1977 version of `The Little Drummer Boy" he recorded with David Bowie.
At the theater, Crosby's niece Carolyn Schneider of Las Vegas, who has written two books on the performer, will lecture on Crosby's work during World War II. Howard Crosby, a nephew who lives in Walla Walla, will sing and share stories about his uncle.
Across town, the Spokane Civic Theater's production of the musical "White Christmas" is nearly sold out.
Crosby was born in Tacoma, Wash., in 1903, but his family soon moved to Spokane and he remained a figure in the city's history for the rest of his life. He returned often to visit family and friends, and was a generous donor to Gonzaga University and a number of causes before he died in 1977.
"White Christmas" was for decades the biggest selling single of all time.
"Next year it will be 80 years since Bing first sang it on his radio show, and he's still singing it on every radio show and in every mall," Stimson said.
The singer of "White Christmas" and numerous other carols is being remembered in a stage play, film festival, lectures, documentary and some new archived music and film releases.
"It can be an unbelievably nostalgic feeling when you hear Bing intoning that song on the car radio driving down Sharp or Riverside avenues and know that these are the Christmas scenes Bing knew until he was 22 years old," said Bill Stimson, president of Advocates for the Bing Crosby Theater.
The theater is ground zero for Crosbyphiles this Saturday, showing the film "White Christmas" and hosting a roster of speakers.
Among them will be Robert Bader, who was hired by the Crosby family as curator of the music and films in Crosby's personal archives.
Crosby was one of the first stars to make extensive use of tape and video, and Bader has said that going through the archives reveals constant surprises.
Among the recent finds was the only surviving film of the seventh game of the 1960 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Crosby, a part-owner of the Pirates, had stored the film in the wine cellar of his home near San Francisco.
Bader will present some other newly-found footage, including a 1932 film clip of Crosby with George Burns and Gracie Allen; clips from his Christmas shows during World War II; his first TV appearance in 1948 on "Philco TV Playhouse;" film of Crosby receiving his Oscar from Gary Cooper for "Going My Way"; and a 30-minute TV documentary of Crosby's 1968 visit to Spokane.
Bader, who is vice president of Bing Crosby Enterprises, has recently produced holiday CDs and DVDs from the archives, and more will follow. Recent releases include a CD of 19 Crosby Christmas songs, including a 1977 version of `The Little Drummer Boy" he recorded with David Bowie.
At the theater, Crosby's niece Carolyn Schneider of Las Vegas, who has written two books on the performer, will lecture on Crosby's work during World War II. Howard Crosby, a nephew who lives in Walla Walla, will sing and share stories about his uncle.
Across town, the Spokane Civic Theater's production of the musical "White Christmas" is nearly sold out.
Crosby was born in Tacoma, Wash., in 1903, but his family soon moved to Spokane and he remained a figure in the city's history for the rest of his life. He returned often to visit family and friends, and was a generous donor to Gonzaga University and a number of causes before he died in 1977.
"White Christmas" was for decades the biggest selling single of all time.
"Next year it will be 80 years since Bing first sang it on his radio show, and he's still singing it on every radio show and in every mall," Stimson said.
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