CONNIE FRANCIS STATEN ISLAND CONCERT
April 12, 2008.
Saturday, April 12, 2008 was a remarkable day for many Connie-fans including myself. Connie Francis performed for one night at the Saint George Theatre, built during the 1920’s and located on Staten Island’s North Shore Empire Zone.
A beautiful theatre, perhaps somewhat over gilded in its renovation, that once housed 3000 people and was a showcase for celebrities.
On Saturday morning we met Connie´s assistant and long time friend Pat Niglio in downtown Manhattan. He told us that Connie knew already that several fans from The Netherlands had come to New York, especially for this concert and that she insisted that her Dutch fans would attend rehearsal, so with Pat as our guide we took the Staten Island ferryboat and walked up to the theatre, located not far from the Staten Island ferry terminal. When we arrived at the theatre the 21 piece orchestra was already on stage and about an hour later Connie and her entourage arrived. Connie greeted us warmly and then entered the stage. We noticed that she was in excellent spirits and her voice was strong and clear. She did not rehearse every song she wanted to do that night, but worked amongst others on “Frankie”, “Fever” and “Among My Souvenirs” When she finished rehearsal we had the opportunity to meet and greet her once again and to present a photo book that we had made especially for her titled “Connie Francis, Queen Of Hearts: Connie In The Netherlands”, with all kinds of items related to what we would call her “Dutch career”. Connie asked if we all had contributed to the book “Among Our Souvenirs” and told us that she had read all the stories during the past weekend and that some of these stories had brought her to tears. She never realized that she could have such an impact on people’s lives!
After rehearsal we had dinner in a very nice restaurant not far from the theatre called “Besos” together with some friends from the USA. One of them introduced me to lovely Arlene Franconero (Connie’s sister-in-law, who was married to her brother George) and her present husband.
Then the big moment was there. We all returned to the theatre and waited until we could get inside and while waiting, we met some other Connie-fans who we, until then, only knew by name. Apart from many American fans, there were also fans from Switzerland, Belgium and Brazil.
When Connie entered the stage she was greeted with a standing ovation and she started with “Let Me Try Again”, followed by a medley of greatest hits with of course “Who’s Sorry Now”, “Frankie”, “Where The Boys Are” and “Among My Souvenirs”. I really was thrilled to hear her “Unchain My Heart” and when she did her stunning interpretation of “Fever” the audience went wild! She also sang “LA Vie En Rose” in excellent French (during this show she performed in five different languages!), Exodus/Havah Negilah, Malaguena and of course a medley of Italian songs including “Luna Caprese”. In between she talked to the audience and made jokes. Actually we were supposed to bring her flowers (roses and tulips) on stage during the show, but unfortunately we missed our “clou” and when we realized that it was too late to go on, because Connie said “Well, someone was supposed to bring me flowers, but they don’t show up, so I guess they gave them to Brenda Lee!”
The show ended with “God Bless America” and everybody stood up and sang together with Connie, a very moving moment. Before Connie finally left the stage she received several standing ovations. It was an unforgettable evening and for me personally a dream had come true!
After the show Connie returned for the “Meet and Greet” and did not leave before everyone had had the chance to meet her and to get autographs and make pictures. During this “Meet and Greet” we brought Connie the flowers and said “Connie, here are your flowers, we did not give them to Brenda Lee!”. She laughed.
After this remarkable and unforgettable day we had two more days to explore New York City, which is a fantastic and overwhelming place, with lots of interesting things to see and do. We were also lucky to have good weather with a lot of sunshine.
When we arrived on JFK Airport for our flight back to Amsterdam it appeared that our KLM flight had been cancelled and we had to wait for another 3 hours to come back on a Delta flight. But who cares, after having experienced such a wonderful week.
Reading reviews on other, earlier concerts it struck me that everyone always loves Connie and has a great time meeting her. Well, now that I have met her in person I can only say: it is true, not only is she a great artist, she is also a kind, wonderful and warm personality who really appreciates her fans!
Hans Künzel, The Netherlands
(thank you Hans for this great review !!!!)
photos (1) of Connie's Staten Island Concertphotos (2) of Connie's Staten Island Concert
