News

Connie Francis, the pop singer who released a string of hit singles across the late Fifties and early Sixties including “Where the Boys Are” and “Who’s Sorry Now?,” died on Wednesday at the age of 87.

Francis’ death was confirmed on Thursday by Ron Roberts, her friend and president of her Concetta Records (Francis’ birth name was Concetta Franconero). “It is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that i inform you of the passing of my dear friend Connie Francis last night,” Roberts wrote on social media in a...

Connie Francis, the actress and beloved pop vocalist who had hits with “Who’s Sorry Now?,” “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” “Stupid Cupid” and “Where the Boys Are” before her life took several turbulent turns, has died. She was 87.

Ron Roberts, her friend and the president of the musician’s label Concetta Records, shared the news on Facebook on Thursday. “It is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that i inform you of the passing of my dear friend Connie Francis last night,” he wrote in a note that was reposted by the official Francis account on Facebook. “I know that Connie would approve that her fans are among the first to learn of this sad news.”

The news comes after the star was hospitalized earlier this month. “I am back in the hospital where I have been undergoing tests and checks to determine the cause(s) of the...

The band Lawrence has released a new "stripped-down" version of “Who’s Sorry Now?” performed by Tony nominees Gracie Lawrence (as Connie Francis) and Andrew Resnick (music director and orchestrator) from the hit Broadway musical Just in Time. Composed by Ted Snyder with lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, the song was originally written in 1923 but later popularized by Connie Francis in 1958. Check out the performance now! Broadway's Just in Time stars Tony Award winner Jonathan Groff, Gracie Lawrence, Tony Award winner Michele Pawk, Joe Barbara, Drama Desk Award nominee Emily Bergl, Lance Roberts, Caesar Samayoa, Christine Cornish, Julia Grondin, Valeria Yamin, John Treacy Egan, Tari Kelly, <a...

Anne Marie is tracking Judy Garland's career through musical numbers...

With Judy Garland's growing success, MGM decided it was time to have her star in her own feature. The studio dusted off some musical numbers (arranged by Roger Edens) as well as a handful of contract players and Ziegfeld stars. Judy played a young aspiring actress stuck in a conservative school. Supported by her zany Russian maid (Fanny Brice), the young girl decides to join a musical. The result was another hit for Judy, and a delight for future Vaudeville nerds and historians.  

The Movie: Everybody Sing (MGM 1938)

The Songwriters: Harry Ruby & Bert Kalmar

The Players: Judy Garland, Fanny Brice, Allan Jones, Reginald Owen, Billie Burke, directed by Edwin L. Marin

The Story: In Everybody Sing, Judy was joined by not one but two famous Ziegfeld women: Billie Burke (aka Mrs. Florenz Ziegfeld, who we'll see again later), and Fanny Brice,...

Goodman Theatre is proud to announce the complete creative team for the 2009/2010 season opening musical Animal Crackers, written by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, with music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. Director Henry Wishcamper taps Tony Award-nominee John Carrafa (Sex and the City; Broadway's Urinetown, Into the Woods) to choreograph the cast of nine, including the four roles originated by the Marx Brothers, joined by Chicago favorites, Clowning Director Paul Kalina (500 Clown's Elephant Deal and Macbeth) and Music Director Doug Peck (Court Theatre's Carousel; Caroline, or Change).

"Hooray for Joey Slotnick!" Director Henry Wishcamper has tapped Chicago native Joey Slotnick for the lead role of the African explorer "Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding"-the heightened vaudevillian persona created by Groucho Marx for the 1929 stage and screen original-in Goodman Theatre's season opening musical Animal Crackers, written by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, with music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby.