1 9 6 0 - Night life & Theatre in S.Paulo

Odete Lara holds her Saci for 'best actress' of 1960; the statuette was designed by Victor Brecheret. Saci's were granted in a ceremony held at OESP's offices until 1955, when Radio Eldorado was inagurated and the celebration was held at the radio station's auditorium. In 1957 and 1958 the gala was held at Cine Marrocos.

3rd January 1960 - daily OESP columnist Mary Wynne shows pictures of the acts who won the trophy Sacizinho for best performers in each category in Sao Paulo's night-life scene of 1957 & 1958. Edith Piaf, Maysa, Leny Eversong, Caco Velho are among the winners. 

15 January 1960 - Japanese singer Hiroshi Maki is shown at Teatro Record with 'O Japão em São Paulo' (Japan in S.Paulo) a revue produced with local talents like rock'n'roller Takashi Ikeda and others.

Takashi Ikeda was a Japanese or a Nissei (ethnic Japanese born and raised in Brazil) young man who did a rock'n'roll act at Black Jack Boite, a Japanese night-club on Avenida Ceci, 1776 in the Southern sector of the city. As one can see the boite-crowd put on a musical revue to support Hiroshi Maki at Teatro Record.

OESP columnist wrote a review of Hiroshi Maki's presentation at Channel 7, TV Record:

Foi na noite de sexta-feira que o Canal 7 transmitiu, às 22:00, o recital de Hiroshi Maki, apontado como o 'maior cantor melódico do Japão'. Tivemos apenas um recital de musica popular internacional interpretado por um cantor de nacionalidade japonesa.

O programa teve início com 'Arirá', canção do folclore coreano cujo refrão foi cantado em português para que os telespectadores soubessem do que se tratava. Hiroshi cantou o bolero 'Quien sabe', 'Ao belo som da flauta', também do folclore coreano. Feito um intervalo para que o artista mudasse de roupa, trocando o suntuoso traje japonês com que cantou a 1a. parte, por um 'smoking' de belo corte, ele cantou 'Ninguém me ama'; uma canção japonesa em ritmo de mambo e o recital terminou com 'História de um amor' em tango, com o fraseado arrastado que Lucho Gatica popularizou.

É pena que a 1a. atração internacional de 1960, apresentada pelas Emissoras Unidas tivesse sido esta. Sem dúvida, Hiroshi Maki tem uma bela voz de barítono, revela estar à vontade no palco e canta boleros, tangos, sambas, mambos melhor que Nat King Cole e até que muitos artistas sul-americanos. Mas nós e, acreditamos, a maioria dos telespectadores, preferíamos ver e ouvir um recital de música japonesa.

O restante da revista 'O Japão em S.Paulo', de que Hiroshi é o ponto alto, não foi apresentado. Cesar Medeiros foi um bom MC e, na direção de TV, A.A. de Carvalho mostrou-se atento ao espetáculo.

15 January 1960 - Look who was singing at Chicote in early 1960! Gilda Lopes, who would soar to the peak of popularity in 1962-1963. She had just been back from Italy where she'd lived in Rome for a while; had recorded a 78 rpm single produced by pianist-song-writer João Roberto Kelly for Continental Discos and waited to become famous. Rio de Janeiro's Sylvia Telles had just finished a stint at Michel's.

17 January 1960 - Celia Biar (Pic-nic), Jardel Jercolis (Plantão 21) & Oduvaldo Viana Filho (Chapetuba F.C.).

24 January 1960 - OESP TV columnist writes about 'Show 713' a variety TV programme on Channel 7 TV Record in which singer-dancer Freddie Davis gave a special performance.

24 January 1960 - Teatro Brasileiro de Comedia presented 'Idade perigosa' (Blue denim) written by James Leo Herlihy (*27 Feb 1927 + 21 Oct 1993) & William Noble. Herlihy (photo) went on to write 'Midnight cowboy' and 'All fall down'.

31st January 1960. 

                                              7 February 1960      21st February 1960
7 February 1960 - TV Record's 'Show 713' was by far the best variety-show on TV. It was produced by Abelardo Figueiredo as if it were a Broadway show.

21st February 1960 - Cia. Nydia Lícia-Sergio Cardoso with Ferenc Molnar's 'Quando as paredes falam' (The play's the thing) at Teatro Bela Vista.

Tarciso Meira, Sergio Cardoso and Nydia Lícia in Molnar's 'The play's the thing' (Quando as paredes falam).

20 March 1960 - US Black vocal group The Ink Spots sing at Michel, one of the best night clubs in S.Paulo, On 29, João Gilberto would appear... and April 4, Hollywood sensation Yvonne De Carlo. 

11 March 1960 - great musical revue 'Te futuco... num futuca' premières at huge Teatro Paramount on Friday. This sort of lavish production had its use-by-date almost expired. In a couple of years it would be relegated to ever smaller theatres and it would die before the 1970s.

13 March 1960 - review of a comedy programme on TV Paulista. What one saw in 1960 is what one would see in the next 50 years. It looks like Brazilian humour has stopped in the 1950s and never advanced one single step. Actually popular Brazilian humour especially that showed on TV has only gone down...

27 March 1960 - Luigi Pirandello's 'Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore' (Seis personagens à procura de um autor) by Tonia Carrero, Adolfo Celi & Paulo Autran is praised by OESP as the best ever Brazilian production of this play. In Paris, Gianfrancesco Guarnieri's 'Gimba' will be finally seen by the French after a disagreement between the author Guarnieri and producer Sandro Poloni who wanted to dump director Flavio Rangel who had been paramount in the success of the play to start with.

3rd April 1960 - Canadian Yvonne De Carlo sings, dances and acts at Teatro Record being introduced nightly by Helio Souto and Marcia de Windsor plus 'Eu sou o samba', a musical revue by Ernani Filho.

10 April 1960 - an article about the Saci Award granted by daily 'O Estado de S.Paulo' (OESP) to the best achievers in the Brazilian movie industry & theatre. Here's the list of those who got the Award since it started:

1951 - Tom Payne's 'Terra é sempre terra' (film); Marisa Prado (actress); Anselmo Duarte (actor)
1952 -  Adolfo Celi's 'Tico tico no fubá'
1953 - Lima Barreto's 'O cangaceiro'
1954 - J.B.Tanko's 'A outra face do homem'
1955 - there was no best film because OESP deemed the year 'too poor' artistically. What a nerve!
1956 - Oswaldo Sampaio's 'A estrada'
1957 - Carlos Alberto de Souza Barros's 'Osso, amor e papagaio'
1958 - Walter Hugo Khoury's 'Estranho encontro'

Saci trophy for the best in the Theatre:

1952 - Sofocles's 'Antigone' / Anouih 's Antigone staged by TBC (Teatro Brasileiro de Comédia).
1953 - Pirandello's 'Assim é se lhe parece' by TBC; Margarida Rey (actress); Sergio Cardoso
1954 - Anouih's 'O canto da cotovia' staged by TMDC (Teatro Maria Della Costa)
1955 - Ben Jonson's 'Volpone' staged by TBC.
1956 - John Patrick's 'A casa de chá ao luar de agosto' (Teahouse of the August moon) by Franco Zampari (TBC)
1957 - Robert Anderson's 'Chá e simpatia' (Tea & sympathy) staged by Sergio Cardoso (Teatro Bela Vista)
1958 - Bertold Brecht's 'A alma boa de Tse-Tsuan' staged by Teatro Popular de Arte.

Saci's gala night as seen by Morales Y Morales for daily 'O Estado de S.Paulo' (17 November 1957); actors Paulo Autran (middle) and Sergio Cardoso (right) can be seen holding their statuettes.

OESP 10 April 1960.

24 April 1960 - Brasilia, the brand-new Brazilian capital city was inaugurated on Thursday, 21, April 1960. On the Sunday, Varig Airlines placed this ad on OESP.

24 April 1960 - Brazil was like a big party in 1960. Moscow Circus was all the rage in Sao Paulo  at Ibirapuera's Arena with clown Karandach and Jorgito, the Bear.

28 April 1960 - OESP's 'Vamos ao Teatro' section; husband & wife Henri Gerro & Rosita Londner perform 'Os alegres patrícios' at Teatro de Cultura Artística. They were a couple who lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina and traveled the world performing songs and plays in Yiddish. Londner was born in Warsaw but migrated to Argentina still a child and had singing lessons with Alberto Mario Zecca. In 1951, Rosita (real name: Raisla) met Henri Gerro, a talented Jewish comedian, singer and fiddle player. They got married in 1953.

1st May 1960 - Benedicto Ruy Barbosa's 'Fogo frio' at Teatro de Arena. Teatro Oficina was a group started in 1958 by Jose Celso Martinez Correa & Renato Borghi, two Law School students who loved theatre. They soon staged Carlos Queiroz Telles's 'A ponte' and Jose Celso's 'Vento forte para um papagaio subir'.

8 May 1960 - actress Leila Abramo who was outstanding in Gianfrancesco Guarnieri's 'Eles não usam black-tie' (They don't wear black-tie) now will appear as Brecht's 'Mutter Courage' (Mãe Coragem) at Teatro de Cultura Artística.

Fauzi Arap, Carlos Vergueiro, Edsel Britto e Lucia Dultra (Edmundo Mogadouro is missing in the pic) in Benedicto Ruy Barbosa's 'Fogo frio' (Cold fire) directed by Augusto Boal.

1st May 1960 - Two-thirds of a page of daily OESP (Estadao) announces Ella Fitzgerald as a special gift for Mother's Day. It's hard to understand the connection between Ella and Mother's Day...

12 May 1960 - popular Carioca comedian Vagareza plays 'Mulheres me afobei?' a 'sexyonal' revue at Teatro Natal. with a huge cast with dancers, show-girls and actors; at Teatro das Bandeiras (Aluminium Theatre) 'E agora? Tudo de fora'... which is a pun for 'now everyone strips bare' or 'every male show his dick'.

15 May 1960 - after 2 years in Rio, Tito Madi & pianist Ribamar are back at night-club Chicote. In the meantime Tito & Ribamar have recorded 'Carinho e amor', a #1 album for Columbia and Tito is #1 at the singles's chart with Luiz Antonio's 'Menina moça';  Look who's playing piano at Michel every night: Antonio Carlos Jobim while Carioca Dalva de Andrade is singing at boite Oasis.

15 May 1960 - Tonia Carrero & Paulo Autran in Lillian Hellman's 'The children's hour' ('Calúnia'). 

12 June 1960 - Leila Abramo in 'Mutter Courage' with Berta Zemel playing the blind girl.

19 June 1960 - at Teatro de Cultura Artística, John Osborne's 1956's 'Look back in anger' (Geração em revolta) with Oswaldo Loureiro, Jardel Filho, Nydia Licia, Maria Fernanda and Sadi Cabral.

19 June 1960 - Mary Wynne writes: 'O 'big business' desta semana no Michel, foi o contrato entre Jimmy Christie e Aloysio de Oliveira, dois 'showmen' de fama internacional. O 'ex-leader' do antigo Bando da Lua, que durante tantos anos permaneceu nos E.U.A. com a saudosa Carmen Miranda, é agora o diretor-artístico do Michel. Competentíssimo, conhecedor do 'metier', o Aloysio já adiantou a programação até fins de agosto, inclusive Marlene (atual atração), Norma Benguel, Sylvia Telles, Frankie Laine, Lonnie Sattin, Johnny Restivo e Vera Nepy(?).

26 June 1960 - Tonia Carrero & Paulo Autran in Jean Paul Sartre's 1944's 'Huis clos' (Entre 4 paredes) at Teatro Bela Vista.

26 June 1960 - Sammy Davis, Jr. arrived in S.Paulo to perform at Teatro Record. The Brazilian press pestered him about his Swedish blonde-wife who stayed back in Hollywood.

3rd July 1960 - Theatre in S.Paulo was busy as ever with various good companies competing with each other. Cia.Tônia-Celi-Autran was owned by actors Tônia Carrero, Adolfo Celi and Paulo Autran. Actor Adolfo Celi had migrated to Brazil at the end of WWII like dozens of his countrymen only to go back to Italy in the early to mid-1960s when business started picking up there again. Celi went back to Italy in time to appear at James Bond's 'Thunderball' 4th film released in 1965.

'Entre quatro paredes' (Huis clos) a Jean Paul Sartre play staged in 1944 had Tonia Carrero, Paulo Autran, Margarida Rey and Laercio Laurelli.

10 July 1960 - actress Glauce Rocha plays Princess in Tennessee William's 'Sweet bird of youth' (Doce passaro da juventude) for Pequeno Teatro de Comedia at Teatro Maria Della Costa; at Teatro Record Frankie Laine gives some good performances of his greatest hits like 'My little one', 'Sunny side of the street', 'High noon', 'Gunfight at the OK corral' etc.; One could see two shows for the price of one: see Jose Vasconcelo's 'Eu sou o espetaculo' as the opening for Frankie Laine's recital.

24 July 1960 - Mary Wynne tells everything about Frankie Laine visit to Dick Farney's night-club on Praça Roosevelt. From left to right: Dick Farney, Frankie Laine & Dino Tuffini, the actual owner of Farney's.

24 July 1960 - Paulo Autran & Tonia Carrero in George Axelrod's 'Esses maridos' opens at Teatro Brasileiro de Comédia. 

7 August 1960 - Paulo Autran in 'Esses maridos' drawn by Morales y Morales. 

Autran & Carrero. 

24 July 1960 - Argentine Yidishe comedians-musicians Henri Gerro & Rosita Londner are back in S.Paulo at Teatro Cultura Artistica with 'O rei do chocolate'.

31st July 1960 - Dias Gomes's 'O pagador de promessas' premieres at Teatro Brasileiro de Comedia, with Leonardo Vilar, Nathalia Timberg, Cleyde Iaconis directed by Flavio Rangel.

31s July 1960 - British author Graham Greene whose book 'Stamboul train' (O trem de Istambul) was #1 in Brazil's best selling list, visited S.Paulo & Rio. Mr. Greene praised the Cuban Revolution and said the Eisenhower government was incompetent. Those were the times when freedom of speech was a reality, not like today.

7 August 1960 - 'Doce passaro da juventude' opens with a stellar cast at Teatro Maria Della Costa.

11 August 1960 - US actress and singer Dorothy Dandridge performs at the stage of Cine Marrocos, the best cinema house in town, Miss Dandridge was engaged by theatre impresario Carlos Machado.

21st August 1960 - US teen heart-throb Johnny Restivo sings for a week at Teatro Record then is followed by Black teen-sensation Frankie Lymon.

Here are some articles I cut out of daily 'O Estado de S.Paulo' of December 1960 about the columnist who used to write 'Radio e Televisão'. As usual they did not sign their articles so we don't know their (his or her) names. He writes about band-leader Enrico Simonetti who had a variety show on TV Excelsior on Friday nights; the 2nd article is about popular singers on TV. 

Sylvio Caldas e Simonetti

Sintonizando na noite de sexta-feira, ao sabor do acaso, as 5 estações de TV de S.Paulo, deparamos, cerca das 21 horas, com o programa de Simonetti , no Canal 9. O pianista e compositor Enrico Simonetti deve ser o estrangeiro, ou pelo menos italiano, que mais fácil e depressa aprendeu a musica popular brasileira. Vinha do Cairo, de Istambul, ou de qualquer outra cidade dessa região e chegado a S.Paulo, logo foi ter a um local, na rua Major Diogo, onde era habito reunirem-se na época, depois de espetáculos ou de filmagens, atores e atrizes do nosso teatro e cinema. Referimo-nos ao Nick Bar. Teve a sambista Aracy de Almeida como 1ª professora de musica local, que em 1950 estava no auge de sua carreira.

                                       4 December 1960                              11 December 1960.