RESCUE THE RUSSELL is $ 23,850.00 closer to reaching it's goal after this year's festival!!!

	Pre-Festival Reports Maysville's Ledger Independent Reviews: The Clooney Crosby Connection Linda Ronstadt's Concert Cincinnati & Kentucky Post Report: Festival Raises $20K Cincinnati's CBS News Report Festival Photos: The Clooney Crosby Connection Photos Kathryn Crosby Book Signing Silent Auction Festival/Dinner/Concert After Party Photos Nick Clooney's Wrap-up

$20K raised for theater By Jeanne Houck Kentucky Post   September 23, 2003   Photos by JASON D. GEIL/The Post

The sign at the Russell Theater says it all at the Rosemary Clooney Music Festival in Maysville.

Singer Rosemary Clooney may have died last year, but that didn't stop her from helping to raise more than $20,000 Saturday to restore the Russell Theater in her hometown of Maysville. The money is proceeds from the Fifth Annual Rosemary Clooney Music Festival, which was headlined by singer Linda Ronstadt and attended by nearly 3,000 people. "Now that's a successful fund-raiser,'' a delighted Maysville Mayor David Cartmell said Sunday. "It was the greatest show I've ever been to.'' Backed by the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, Ronstadt performed selections that Clooney made famous, including "Miss Otis Regrets,'' and "What's New?'' During an auction, state House Majority Leader Greg Stumbo, who is running for attorney general, placed the winning $1,000 bid for a signed print of a picture painted and donated by singer Tony Bennett, Cartmell said. The mayor said that Stumbo, a Democrat from Prestonburg, then gave the painting back so more funds could be collected from a second purchaser. Saturday morning, Kathryn Crosby and Clooney's brother, Cincinnati Post columnist Nick Clooney, welcomed some 300 people to the Washington Opera House in Maysville. There, they showed clips of Rosemary and Bing performing together as the internationally known couple did in the 1954 film "White Christmas." Crosby also sold and autographed her most recent book, "My Last Years with Bing.'' Nick Clooney's son, George, the actor and producer, did not attend. But the guest list attracted a wide range of people, such as singer Debbie Boone and Kentucky Attorney General Ben Chandler. The festival began in 1999 when Rosemary was approached by a group from her hometown looking to restore the Russell Theater, the grand Spanish Colonial structure typical of the movie palaces of the '30s. Built in 1930, it was where young Rosemary spent her Saturdays as a youngster. As brother Nick Clooney has written, the Russell was "the launching pad of our dreams." In 1953 Rosemary insisted that the premiere of her first movie, "The Stars Are Singing," be held at the Russell. By 1983 the theater had closed, finally giving way to the age of television and multiplexes. It was bought in 1995 by a non-profit group called "Rescue the Russell!" Restoration of the theater, its terra cotta figures and Moorish columns will cost an estimated $3.5 million. Rosemary instantly agreed to help the effort, and so she sang for the Russell. Thus was born the Rosemary Clooney Music Festival, a yearly event that was gaining in national significance, attracting stars like Michael Feinstein and Debby Boone and hosted by the Clooney family. Then Rosemary was stricken with cancer in early 2002. Her brother, Nick, says Rosemary's big wish and goal was to be able to recover from surgery in time to appear at the Maysville Festival that year. It was not to be, though; she died in June 2002 at 74. The festival went on, though, headlined last year by Alison Krauss and full of mourning and tribute for the "girl singer." Post staff reporter Rick Bird contributed to this story. Publication Date: 09-22-2003

Fifth Annual Rosemary Clooney Music Festival 12 WKRC - CINCINNATI CBS - 9/20/2003 11:13:55 PM The Fifth Annual Rosemary Clooney Music Festival wrapped up Saturday night with a special guest who was a friend of Clooney's : Kathryn Crosby, the widow of the late Bing Crosby. Bing Crosby and Clooney starred in "White Christmas" in 1954. They also worked on a daily radio program for CBS. Mrs. Crosby said the chemistry the two shared on screen was undeniable. "She sang the way she spoke. As Bing sang the way he spoke ... I think that I was Bing's off stage wife, and Rosey was his musical wife," Crosby said. In her new book, Crosby tells of how she met her husband and Clooney at about the same time. She came to Maysville for the annual festival this year not only to share her memories with festival goers, but for her friend too. "Rose was my friend. They're not many of us left." The festival was headlined by Grammy award winning singer Linda Ronstadt. Every year, entertainers flock to Maysville for the festival, aimed at saving the Russell Theater. Clooney, and her siblings used to watch movies on the big screen at the theater when they were children. Her film "The Stars Are Singing" premiered there in 1953. The condition of the theater has deteriorated over the years. Although the cost of the festival is high, organizers promised the theater would receive at least $5,000 from the event this year. But organizers said saving the historic building is important not only for history's sake, but for preserving Clooney's memory. "Everyone of them thinks they know Rosemary, and of course they're right, they do know Rosemary. They are our family and that hasn't changed. I don't think it will," said Clooney's brother Nick Clooney. The Russell Theater will receive $7,000 from this year's festival.