Kathryn Crosby is introduced at the beginning and end of her show, My Life with Bing, as “Mrs. Bing Crosby.” However, after an hour-plus of telling stories about Bing and singing songs associated with him, she earns the right to her own name — Kathryn Crosby. She has a warm, endearing stage presence, a twinkle in her eye and a self-deprecating sense of humor (“I got a seven-year contract with Columbia and signed up the next day for acting classes at UCLA,” she said).

At 77, Crosby — a vision in shocking pink — is petite and still beautiful, though there’s a steeliness in her demeanor that suggests she must have been quite a pistol during her 20-year marriage to Bing prior to his death in 1977 — as demonstrated in her description of their oft-delayed wedding, which prompted her to leave the country to make a movie and to not respond to several letters from him before she finally agreed to marry him.

The feelings she still has for him are palpable — reflected in her opening song, “(I Like New York in June) How About You?” (Burton Lane/Ralph Freed), when she sang, ”And Lillis Crosby’s looks/Give me a thrill,” with a tear in her eye. Likewise, much later in the show, after she sang “The Second Time Around” (Jimmy Van Heusen/Sammy Cahn), from the movie High Time, she said lyricist Cahn told her seven years after Bing’s death that he had asked him to write the song specifically for her — a revelation that made her tear up and the audience sigh.

In between the teary moments, she sang many of Bing’s standards to illustrate various parts of their relationship. Kathryn’s voice is soft, with pure tones, and she sings with effective phrasing, excellent diction and an evocative delivery — all within a vocal range that makes few demands on her voice. But her sincerity and pleasure in sharing the songs are obvious throughout.

Among the high points of the evening were “Pennies from Heaven” (Arthur Johnston/Johnny Burke) and “Moonlight Becomes You” (Van Heusen/Burke) — the latter a song she said belonged to Bing and daughter Mary Frances Crosby.

The early part of the show featured songs Bing sang before she met him, mostly from the World War II era. In several instances, Kathryn sang one song, followed by one by Edward Sayegh, her pianist and vocal teacher, with the two songs ultimately sung in counterpoint. While the combinations were effective — “Imagination” (Van Heusen/Burke) with “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons” (William “Pat” Best); “Blue Skies” (Irving Berlin) with “Just One of Those Things (Cole Porter); and “I’ll Be Seeing You” (Sammy Fain/Irving Kahal) with “The More I See You” (Harry Warren/Mack Gordon) — it was a bit repetitive to do it three times in the first 15 minutes.  And, at no point in the evening did she attempt a duet with an old recording of Bing’s, which might have been much more meaningful and appropriate.

There was, however, enthusiastic audience participation, with Crosby encouraging the audience to sing along as a TV screen played clips of Bing singing: “You Made Me Love You,” (James Monaco/Joseph McCarthy, Sr.); “Don’t Fence Me In” (Porter); and, inevitably, “White Christmas” (Irving Berlin).

Though the audience was on its feet at the end, applauding Crosby after her exit, she did not return to the stage for an encore.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
June 28, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org