Performing Andy Williams tunes with orchestra thrills Gillespie
This weekend, former central Ohio television anchor Chuck Gillespie will be back in town to perform a tribute to singer Andy Williams.
Some audiences may be drawn to the concert to discover what Gillespie has been up to — or to assess his vocal chops — but the former newsman and meteorologist cautions: The show is not about him.
“My name is not on the billboard,” said Gillespie, 68. “My name is not on the poster. If it is, it’s not in big print. Expressly, it’s about the life of Andy Williams.”
“Moon River Tonight: The Andy Williams Story” — named for one of the most famous songs recorded by Williams — will be performed Friday at the Abbey Theater in Dublin. Backing Gillespie will be the Moon River Tonight All-star Orchestra, consisting of 19 central Ohio musicians assembled specifically for the show.
Although Gillespie has previously performed tributes to Williams, he has never before done so in
Who: Chuck Gillespie with the Moon River Tonight All-star Orchestra
What: “Moon River Tonight: The Andy Williams Story”
Where: Abbey Theater, 5600 Post Road, Dublin
Contact: www.dublinohio usa.gov/abbey-theater
Showtime: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Tickets: $28.50
collaboration with a live ensemble.
“The first time we’ll hear them is Wednesday before the show,” said Gillespie, now a resident of Titusville, Florida. “We will assemble them at the theater and spend probably a good three to four hours rehearsing the show.”
The concert reflects a recent career change for Gillespie, who had a run on a morning show on WSYX and WTTE (Channels 6 and 28) in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Thereafter, he found part-time work on television, including WBNS (Channel 10), before relocating to Florida in search of gigs as a singer.
“I picked Titusville because it seemed to be a good location on the map so I could reach the central Florida retirement communities and theaters and 55-plus communities,” said Gillespie, who received a degree in theater from Ohio State University and has in the past performed in productions by CATCO.
Also carefully considered was Gillespie’s choice to create a show centered around Williams.
“When I thought of a show to bring to Florida, I first looked at the market in Florida of performers,” he said. “They are doing everything under the sun musically, but they’re not doing anything with Andy Williams at all.”
Through the performance of 18 songs associated with Williams — including “Born Free,” “Charade” and “May Each Day” — “Moon River Tonight” will attempt to evoke the entirety of the performer’s career.
“The show tracks his hit-record career as a solo act from the middle 1950s right until the time he goes to Branson (Missouri) to the rest of his life,” said Gillespie, who will tell stories and make use of 103 projected images.
Among Gillespie’s favorite tunes to perform is the title song from the 1962 film “Days of Wine and Roses,” starring Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick as a couple bedeviled by alcoholism.
“He finds the memory of the two leads … when they were young and how beautiful the beginning of their relationship was,” Gillespie said.
Gillespie anticipates drawing an older audience already familiar with Williams, who died in 2012, but the content of the songs will be appropriate for most ages.
“He just never worked blue at all,” Gillespie said. “Maybe it’s just the right time for us to find some morality in the music. I don’t work with a cigarette in my hand and a cocktail in my hand. … Andy was the main purveyor of romantic, beautiful ballad music.”
And the former TV news anchor thinks he is the right person to rekindle memories of the performer.
“If you like the tunes, you’ll love this orchestra,” he said. “And I don’t do a bad job, so hang in there.”