1 9 6 9 - Antonio Bivar's 'O cão siamês'

Antonio Bivar & Agnaldo Timóteo in the mid-1970s.

6 August 1969 - Yolanda Cardoso & Antonio Fagundes in 'O cão siamês' which opened on a Wednesday at Teatro do Meio, one of the many spaces at Teatro Ruth Escobar, on Rua dos Inglêses, 209.

6 August 1969 - Antonio Bivar's 'O cão siamês' is hailed as a big event by daily 'O Estado de S.Paulo'.

3rd August 1969 - Sunday - This is what one would see at various theatres through the city at that time.

6 August 1969 - This is page 7 of newspaper 'O Estado de S.Paulo' on the same day 'Cão siamês' opened at Ruth Escobar's Teatro do Meio. It gives a taste of the 'zeitgeist' of the period. It's no wonder it's been called the 'lead years' (anos-de-chumbo). 

Yolanda Cardoso & Antonio Fagundes in 'O cão siamês' which would be re-written by Antonio Bivar during his stay in New York City in 1971, and be called 'Alzira Power'.

Yolanda Cardoso was born on 28 September 1928, in Rio de Janeiro and died on 10 July 2007. 

Antonio da Silva Fagundes Filho was born on on 18 April 1949, in Rio de Janeiro although his family moved out to São Paulo in 1957, when he was 8 years old.

José Dionísio Marcello Salles Picchi, was born on 8 October 1948, in São Carlos-SP.   

14 September 1969 - This is what São Paulo's theatre scene looked like when 'O cão siamês' was running at Teatro do Meio. 

1 9 7 1 - Antonio Bivar's 'Alzira Power'

Yolanda Cardoso & Antonio Fagundes in the first staging of 'Alzira Power'.

13 June 1971 - at Teatro Oficina, Antonio Bivar's 'Alzira Power' with Yolanda Cardoso & Marcelo Picchi, a 'tour-de-force' seldom seen on the stage. I particularly was very moved by the play and regarded Mr Bivar as the great 'white hope'. 

Antonio Bivar reminisces about the time 'Alzira Power' was first produced:

De todas minhas peças a pièce de résistance é 'Alzira Power'. Embora não seja a que eu mais goste, Alzirona, sem dúvida, já faz parte do moderno repertório da dramaturgia nacional. Com 'Alzira Power' você passa representar um instante histórico do teatro brasileiro, disse-me a grande Fernanda. E de onde veio essa personagem? Já contei a história mil vezes, mas vou repeti-la. 

Tinha ido ao Correio enviar algumas cartas e a vendedora de selos em seu guichê fisgou minha atenção pelo jeito brusco e bastante másculo de ser simpática e falante na plenitude de uma evidente meia-idade ativa. Em minutos a mulher imprimiu em mim tal vibração que de volta ao apartamento no Arpoador na mesma noite escrevi a peça. Direta, reta, curta e grossa. Dois personagens: uma doidona aposentada dos Correios & Telégrafos que num surto de porra-louquice resolve chutar o balde e pôr os pingos nos is. Podia ser um monólogo, mas Alzira precisava de um saco-de-pancadas careta para nele se vingar de tudo o que a vida lhe negara e outro tanto. E o coitado do Ernesto, jovem pai de família e vendedor de carros usados na amesquinhada batalha pela sobrevivência, cai nas malhas de Alzira, que faz dele gato-e-sapato. E o resultado espantoso é que a platéia em peso torce por ela!

Inaugurando uma arena incrustada num canto do aglomerado Teatro Ruth Escobar, 'O Cão Siamês de Alzira Porra-Louca', o titulo original de 'Alzira Power', era uma peça p'ra capar entre a vulcânica Yolanda Cardoso e o jovem Antonio Fagundes dirigidos por Emílio di Biasi. De tão curta, a peça tinha intervalo de 20 minutos depois de começada e o mesmo tanto depois do intervalo. Foi sucesso underground numa temporada em que a contracultura também logo daria continuidade com o musical yankee 'Hair'. 

No ano seguinte, já em Londres, fui procurado na casa de Gilberto Gil por Antonio Abujamra de passagem pela cidade. Abujambra estava decidido a montar 'Alzira' no Rio de Janeiro desde que eu aumentasse a peça. Pagou minha passagem de Londres a New York para que lá eu escrevesse o que era preciso e lhe entregasse o texto antes de sua volta a São Paulo. 

Em New York, Jorge Mautner me hospedou numa suite vaga e da qual dispunha no lendário Hotel Chesea. Ali, insuflado por Abujambra e instigado pela cena new-yorkina, impregnei Alzira de toda voluptuosidade dos movimentos políticos em plantão permanente, em especial o movimento feminista e todos os outros reivindicatórios em moda. E seduzido pelos nomes esdrúxulos das superstars warholescas mudei o titulo da peça para 'Alzira Power'. Power, por causa do poder jovem em plena vigência e também uma homenagem ao Tyrone Power, um dos ídolos de minha infância cinematográfica.

'Alzira Power' estreou no Teatro Gláucio Gil em Copacabana e foi o estouro da temporada. Cheguei de viagem e ainda peguei a última semana, com Yolanda Cardoso arrebentando e Marcelo Picchi em nu frontal (ideia do Abujamra) e o mulherio afoito saindo pelo ladrão, como se dizia. 

Desde então 'Alzira Power' não mais parou de ser encenada por alzirófilos e alzirófilas em montagens alternativas pelo mundo afora. Eu soube (recebi o programa) que foi levada até na Serra Pelada durante a corrida pelo ouro. Foi feita até por um lendário travesti, Brigitte Búzios, com o aval da direção de Amir Haddad. Em Buenos Aires; duas montagens em Londres, uma na década de 1980 e outra em 2006; outras duas em Lisboa; e por todo o Brasil, montagens sempre pipocando no cult circuit pelas capitais e pelo hinterland.

1 9 6 0 - TAIB is opened / Frankie Laine / Jane Russell / Mary Wynne

Tarciso Meira & Sergio Cardoso. 

3rd January 1960 - George Kaiser's 'O soldado Tanaka' with Sergio Cardoso and Tarcisio Meira at Teatro Bela Vista.

26 June 1960 - Mary Wynne at 'Carrossel' (Mary go-round) at OESP shows a photo of "three Yankees and a lovely Brazilian showgirl': US pianist Fred Feld, Sammy Davis Jr. the awesome artist with the 'mostest' press notices; Marlene, a gay and charming actress and dearest Jimmy Christie, owner of Michel, which will welcome Sammy for the last time tonight. 
Soon, we'll have yet another US attraction in the person of Frankie Laine who will also perfomr at Michel.

 

26 June 1960 - Mary Wynne says: The other night when I went out with some friends from Texas I thought I'd take them straight to Captain's Bar to see Caco Velho  and his girls. Unfortunately we got there a little late. We still had time to see Cléa Soares accompanied by Walter Wanderley's combo. Cléa sang a lot of lot of Brazilian music: pure samba, slow-samba (samba-canção), 'batucada' (samba drumming), bossa-nova etc. Thank you, Cléa!

26 June 1960 - Caco Velho was a song-writer & musicist Mateus Nunes (*12 March 1920 +14 September 1971. He made his fortune mainly in Paris & Las Vegas and opened his own night-club in São Paulo. 

Cléa Soares sings at TV Paulista's 'Grande Espetáculo' - Radiolândia, 1956.

24 July 1960 - The night Frankie Laine dined at Farney's - photo shows Laine being given the 'red carpet treatment' while descending the stairs arm-in-arm with his long-time-friend Dick Farney and Dino Tuffini. 

6 October 1960 - at Teatro Natal at Avenida São João: 'Tem rififi no rufufu'...

9 October 1960 - Nelson Rodrigues' 'Boca de ouro' opens on 13 October 1960, starring Rubens de Falco, Dalia Palma, Raul Cortez, Celia Helena at Teatro Federação which soon would be turned into Teatro Cacilda Becker; US horn player Harry James will perform at Teatro Record from 17 through to 23rd October. 

The night TAIB was inaugurated on 24 October 1960. 

15 October 1960 - Clifford Odets' 'Golden boy' (O menino de ouro) with Julio Lerner & Adelia Victoria would open TAIB to the public. 

16 October 1960 - Teatro de Arte Israelita Brasileiro at Rua Três Rios, 252 would be opened on 27 October 1960 with Clifford Odets' 'Golden boy' (O menino de ouro) directed by Amir Haddad. 

Austrian actress Luise Rainer & Clifford Odets in January 1937, a few days before their marriage which lasted until 1940.

23rd October 1960 - Mary Wynne talks to night-club owner Jimmy Christie about his plans to finally open a piano bar in São Paulo. US pianist Fred Feld would be in charge of such a place. Ms Wynne says every time she goes to a cocktail party at Othon Grill she can't help but reminisce about when they gave charming dancing parties. Back at the Danubio Hotel where Mary lived, she regretted former stylish African Boite was still empty. Many interested parties would enquire about its rent but to no avail. 

As a last item in her column Mary wonders whether Mary Gonçalves (Mrs Standish) would spend 1960 Christmas in Brazil along with her husband, after visiting his family in Texas. 

Mary mentions she'd met old-timer Joel de Almeida at Gratinee late one night and he said he intended to move to São Paulo for good and open his own night-club early in 1961. 

23rd October 1960 - OESP - TV Excelsior, Channel 9 is number One again in October in São Paulo; the most watched channel on Sunday nights with 'Brasil 1960' a variety show commanded by actress-singer Bibi Ferreira.

20 November 1960 - Mary Wynne posts a photo of Frankie Laine and Mr. Klaus Ihde, manager of the Othon Palace, at Praça do Patriarca where Laine stayed in July when he toured São Paulo and sang at TV Record and Jimmy Christie's Michel. Ms Wynne says: 'We're already missing the presence of a great North-American star in our night life! 

Ms Wynne says Jane Russell, known in the Brazilian press as 'O Busto' (The Bust) would perform at Teatro Record on the 23rd November and then sing at restaurant Jardim de Inverno Fasano on 23rd, 24, 25 and 26. She talks to Fasano's owner Fabrizio 'Tex' Fasano about the steep prices charged by international artists to visit South America. A Texan friend of hers told her Bobby Darin and Frankie Laine refused top dollars to perform in hotels in Dallas. Ms Wynne knew a lot about local and American show business.

27 November 1960 - Torch-song chanteuse Elza Laranjeira sings at La Vie En Rose, at Rua Major Sertório, 114, while at Michel's at 104, show-girl Dorinha Duval stars in a show which Hugo Santana is the crooner.

23rd November 1960 - Hollywood actress and singer Jane Russell known as O Busto (The Bust) performs only once for the audience at Teatro Record today at 22:15 hours. Miss Russell also appears nightly at Jardim de Inverno Fasano at Gala Shows on 23rd, 24, 25 & 26 November 1960. 

27 November 1960 - 'Brasil 60' a Sunday evening variety show produced by Manoel Carlos presented by Bibi Ferreira becomes Number One in the TV ratings in São Paulo. TV Excelsior which started only 4 months earlier on 9 July 1960 did the unthinkable: it left all 3 older stations TV Tupi, channel 4, TV Paulista, channel 5 and TV Record, channel 7 far back...