Sunday, December 14, 2014

1 9 6 2 - Vivien Leigh visits São Paulo

Vivien Leigh at a press conference in São Paulo on 10 May 1962. Miss Leigh was part of the Old Vic theatre company tour of South America. Leigh was Hollywood royalty but it wasn't treated as such by the local media. She hardly posed for photos for newspaper. It seemed everyone forgot Scarlett O'Hara had ever existed in the hearts and minds of millions of Brazilian men & women.   
14 January 1962 - cartoonist Morales J. Morales honours Jorge Andrade's 'A escada' as the most awarded play by A.P.C.T. (Associação Paulista de Críticos Teatrais) Guild of theatre reviewers of São Paulo. In the cast: Cleyde Yaconis, Juca de Oliveira, Stenio Garcia, Ruthneia Morais. 
21st January 1962 - OESP columnist Mary Wynne gives a bird's-eyes-view of São Paulo night life in early 1962: Joel de Almeida, Mr. Carnaval at Michel; Ivaná, a Portuguese transvestite and her girls at Oasis: comedians Zilda Cardoso & Canarinho at Chicote; famous rocker Betinho & his combo at Studium; Argentine pianist Robledo at Muradas; Claudette Soares & Pedrinho Mattar at A Baiuca and many more.
Argentine pianist Robledo at the Claridge on Rua 9 de Julho.
25 February 1962 - columnist Mary Wynne congratulates Isaura Garcia in particular for getting the Roquette Pinto award for best female singer of 1961; these also got their  Award for being the best in their activities:  Irvando Luiz (comedy writer), Eduardo Moreira, Durval de Souza (MC & comedian), Manoel Carlos (TV producer), Wanda Kosmo (actress), Luiz Galon, Enrico Simonetti (band-leader), Walter Wanderley (musician), Conjunto FarroupilhaMiltinho, Lima Duarte (actor), Murillo Amorim Correia (comedian), Renato Corte-Real (comedian), Maria Tereza, Nair Belo, Blota Junior, Bibi Ferreira, Kalil Filho, Silveira Sampaio, Idalina de Oliveira, Tarcisio Meira, Zilda Cardoso, Manoel da Nóbrega, Urbano Reis, Ciro Bassini, Ivany Ribeiro, Vida Alves, Geraldo José de Almeida, José Carlos de Morais, Silvio Santos, Chocolate, Raquel Martins, Amilton Fernandes, Ceci de Alencar, Fidelis, Gabriel Migliori, Pery Ribeiro, Leila Silva, Carlos Gonzaga, Neide Salgado, Magno Salerno, Trio Maraya, Torres, Florêncio & Castelinho, Maria Odete, Radio Eldorado, Canal 7, Canal 4 e Grande Show União.

Mary Wynne also presents the list of those night-club acts nominated for the 1961 Sacizinho. Melhor atração nacional (best natinal attraction): Roberto Luna, Isaura Garcia, Sylvio Caldas, Elza Soares, Carminha Mascarenhas e Daisy Paiva.

Best international attractionTristão da SilvaCaterina Valente, Buddy Rich, Sammy Davis Jr., Lonnie Sattin, Caribe Still Band & Bienvenido Granda.

Best permanent national attractionCaco Velho, Claudette Soares, Claudia Barroso, Dick Farney, Noite Ilustrada, Johnny Alf & Matilde.

Best music combo: Pedrinho Mattar, Robledo, Vadeco-Odilon, Walter Wanderley, Moacyr Peixoto, Fred Feld & Betinho.

Best musicianLuiz Chaves, Miro, Betinho, Shu, Mario, Waltinho e Araken Peixoto.

Best female singer: Fernanda, Claudia Barroso, Elda Mayda, Claudette Soares, Maria del Carmen, Leny Caldeira, Martha Janette & Yolanda Rios.

Best male singer: Geraldo Cunha, William Fourneaut, Orlando Ribeiro, Noite Ilustrada, Dick Farney, Manolo & Vitor Rafael.

Female revelation: Martha Mendonça, Mariá, Zany Moura, Claudette Soares, India França & Maria Ferrer.
25 March 1962 - São Paulo's very best night-life performers get their 1961-Sacizinhos at Hotel Danubio; Luiz Chaves was voted the best musician; Portuguese singer Tristão da Silva the best international attraction; Robledo was best pianist; Caco Velho the best permanent national attraction; Mariá was female revelation; Elda Mayda best female singer and so forth...
Maria Fernanda plays Blanche DuBois in 'A streetcar named desire' (Um bonde chamado desejo) as seen by OESP cartoonist Morales J.Morales. 
10 May 1962 - Thursday night in São Paulo with Vivien Leigh playing Viola in Shakespeare's 'Twelfth's night' at Theatro Municipal while Brazilian actress Maria Fernanda plays Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams's 'Um bonde chamado desejo' (A streetcar named desire) at Teatro Oficina.

Before the night fell at 5:00 PM Teatro Oficina's personnel organized a cocktail in honour of British actress Vivien Leigh who was given a gold plate; Maria Fernanda played a segment of 'A streetcar named desire' in Portuguese to honour the great actress who played it on the stage and in Elia Kazan's film which brought Miss Leigh her second Academy Award. Actress Henriette Morineau, who was the first actress in Brazil to play Blanche DuBois came all the way from Rio de Janeiro to pay homage to Vivien.
Maria Fernanda, Vivien Leigh and Henriette Morineau at Teatro Oficina get together which functioned as a press conference, on 10 May 1962.
Maria Fernanda, Vivien Leigh & Henriette Morineau on a cold night in São Paulo.
Miss Leigh was still a great beauty at 49.  
Vivien speaks to the press while Maria Fernanda watches...
time for a smoke... 
São Paulo fell in love with Vivien Leigh - 10 May 1962 & 13 May 1962.

The poetry of Vivien Leigh in Brazil (Part 1)

by @brunnojacob

The year was 1962 and Vivien arrived in São Paulo with Old Vic Theatre Company. The theatre troupe was making presentations in all the places of the world and after a passage in Montevideo and Buenos Aires, they landed in São Paulo on 7 May 1962 to fulfill the same program of plays that they would do in Rio de Janeiro.

Alongside theatre stars such as John Merivale, Sally Home and Basil Henson, with the direction of Robert Helpmann, she played the total of five plays, 'Twelfth Night' by William Shakespeare, the 'Lady of the Camellias' by Alexandre Dumas and Shakespeare's 'Great Scenes'.

When Vivien Leigh was in São Paulo, performing at the Theatro Municpal, a coincidence happened: the actress Maria Fernanda (1928) was playing the character Blanche DuBois, for which Leigh received her second Academy Award for best actress in the movie 'A streetcar named desire', in 1952. So the theatre decided to combine the meeting of Vivien, Maria Fernanda and French actress Henriette Morineau (1908-1990), the first interpreter of Blanche in Brazil.

Vivien was very chic with a fur coat and a scarf over her head, plus beautiful makeup, but according to Cinelândia magazine, she refused to be filmed on TV for claiming she did not have the "proper makeup." But when asked if she preferred Blanche, her theatre performance, being directed by Laurence Olivier, or the film director by Elia Kazan, she did not even blink: "My husband understood and loved Blanche Elia Kazan, no!" 

A cute anecdote was the son of Maria Fernanda, then only 5 years old, who offered a bouquet of flowers to Vivien, who classified her stay in São Paulo as a beautiful season, buying numerous souvenirs for her friends, as well as paintings by Aldemir Martins to take home. Vivien also chose a new wardrobe, according to the newspaper Última Hora, with six dresses from the Maison Dener (1937-1978), coming out arm in arm with the dressmaker! How chic.
10 May 1962 - Mary Wynne writes her funny breed of Anglicized Portuguese: Será mesmo que Pedrinho Mattar vai deixar A Baiuca? Foi isso que me falaram; que Pedrinho, seu trio e Claudette Soares vão para o Cambridge, na Av. 9 de Julho. Quando procurei saber do 'boss' Heraldo descobri que nem ele está exatamente informado. Pedrinho está na Baiuca desde sua inauguração na Praça Roosevelt, com pequenas interrupções quando viajava. Estou esperando um 'official statement'; Hoje vai embarcar pelo Boeing da Varig o nosso 'honorable' Fred Feld em vôo direto a Los Angeles, onde acontecerá a comemoração de bodas de ouro dos seus pais com toda a familia reunida. 'Bon voyage', Freddy; Ainda hoje no Teatro Tupi, na Rua da Consolação, estreará o jovem cantor norte-americano Fabian, numa curta temporada em S.Paulo, acompanhado pelo conjunto The Fabulous Four; Dorinha Freitas está fazendo grande exito no La Vie en Rose, onde se anuncia como proximas atrações (dia 11 de maio) Creusa Cunha e David de Castro; e no Michel é 'strip-tease' com humor (Adolfo Machado) e 'strip-tease' com travesti (Yvaná).

1st July 1962 - Cacilda Becker in 'A visita da velha senhora', directed by Walmor Chagas.
8 July 1962 - Fernanda Montenegro, Sergio Brito & Italo Rossi in Cervantes's 'O velho ciumento', Moliere's 'O médico volante' & Martins Pena's 'Os ciúmes de um pedestre' at Teatro Maria Della Costa.


29 July 1962 - Satellite Telstar is the star of news everywhere. It was launched into orbit by the Americans on 10 July 1962.

Soon, British musician-song-writer Joe Meek wrote a song named 'Telstar' which featured a clavioline, a keyboard instrument with a distinctive electronic sound. It was recorded in Meek's studio in a small flat above a shop in Hollowway Road, North London.

It was released by Decca and went to #1 in the Billboard single chart on 22 December 1962.

16 August 1962Henriette Morineau talks to daily OESP about how she got involved with Teatro Oficina.
12 August 1962 - venerable actress Henriette Morineau accepts to appear in Thomas Wolfe's 'Look homeward, Angel' (Todo anjo é terrivel) with experimental Teatro Oficina as part of its first anniversary.
19 August 1962 - At Teatro Record, 'Tio Sam...ba', a musical revue that was supposed to mark a new standard for Brazilian musical comedies; a vain effort to make S.Paulo a poor man's Broadway. It went nowhere even though the effort was worthwhile.
26 August 1962 - Maria Della Costa is back with Georges Feydeau's 'O marido vai à caça', directed by Maurice Vaneau and wardrobe by wife Marie Claire.

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