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NY’s Broadway, Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Corridor to require vaccines

NY's Broadway, Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall to require vaccines

If you want to attend a live performance in New York, prepare to show proof that you received your Covid shots.

The Broadway League announced Friday that the owners and operators of all 41 Broadway theaters in New York City will require viewers, performers, backstage crew and theater staff to be fully vaccinated by October.

Young children or people with medical conditions or religious beliefs that prevent vaccinations can still attend shows if they have a negative Covid-19 test. You will need a PCR test within 72 hours of the start of the performance or a negative antigen test that will be performed within 6 hours of the start of the performance in order to be admitted.

“A uniform policy in all New York Broadway theaters makes it easy for our audiences and should give our guests even more confidence how seriously Broadway takes the safety of the audience,” said Charlotte St. Martin, President of the Broadway League.

An exterior view of the Palace Theater at the premiere of “West Side Story” on Broadway at the Palace Theater on March 19, 2009 in New York City.

Neilson Barnard | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

Audiences in the theater must also wear masks, except when eating or drinking in designated areas.

In September, the league will review these guidelines for November performances.

The Metropolitan Opera also requires guests, performers, orchestras, choirs, and staff to provide proof of vaccination, but face masks are optional. The opera will prohibit children under 12 from attending performances.

“The Met policy states that masks will be optional, this could change depending on prevailing health conditions. Also, unlike Broadway, we will have absolutely no exceptions to the vaccination-only policy, ”a Metropolitan Opera spokeswoman said in an email.

Guests must present proof of vaccination upon entering the theater and be fully vaccinated with an FDA or WHO approved vaccine. This means that guests have to wait at least two weeks after their last recordings to attend a performance.

Carnegie Hall will also require proof of vaccination from all guests, artists, staff and visitors and will ban children under the age of 12 from attending performances, a statement said.

Younger children are not yet entitled to the Covid vaccine.

The new requirements result from the rapid spread of the Delta variant across the country, especially in areas with low vaccination rates. On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines urging people to return to wearing masks, even if they were vaccinated, in areas of the country where cases have increased. This was a reversal of the Agency’s previous policy.

The CDC warns that the Delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox and could make people sicker than the original Covid.

Broadway will begin reopening its doors to the public at full capacity on September 14th, having closed since March 2020. New York City lost billions in tourism dollars as live performances ceased on Broadway, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

The industry received government support through a program called the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, which allocated $ 16.2 billion to keep the entertainment industry alive across the country until performances could safely return to normal.

The surge in Covid cases due to the Delta variant comes at a precarious time for the industry, which has invested in reinstating artists and other workers in preparation for the resumption of performances.

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Entertainment

Paul Huntley, Hair Grasp of Broadway and Hollywood, Is Lifeless at 88

Paul Huntley, Hair Master of Broadway and Hollywood, Is Dead at 88

For the show “Diana” – a version shot without an audience during the pandemic and due to premiere on Netflix on October 1st – he created four wigs for actress Jeanna de Waal to portray the style of the Princess of Wales has changed over time, from lousy naivete to windswept sophistication.

Paul Huntley was born on July 2, 1933 in Greater London, one of five children of a military man and a housewife. From an early age he was fascinated by his mother’s film magazines. After school, he tried to find an apprenticeship in the film industry, but the flooded job market after World War II did not offer a place for him, so he enrolled at an acting school in London.

He eventually helped design hair for school productions and in the 1950s, after two years of military service, became an apprentice at Wig Creations, a major London theater company. He became the main designer and worked with Vivien Leigh, Marlene Dietrich and Laurence Olivier.

Mr. Huntley helped construct the signature braids that Elizabeth Taylor wore in the 1963 film “Cleopatra”. Ms. Taylor introduced him to director Mike Nichols, who a decade later hired Mr. Huntley to do hair for his Broadway production of “Uncle Vanya” in Circle in the Square. He eventually became a designer for plays and musicals, including “The Real Thing”, “The Heidi Chronicles” and “Crazy for You”.

Join The Times theater reporter Michael Paulson in conversation with Lin-Manuel Miranda, see a performance of Shakespeare in the Park, and more as we explore the signs of hope in a transformed city. For a year now, the “Offstage” series has accompanied the theater through a shutdown. Now let’s look at his recovery.

Mr. Huntley returned to a show on a regular basis to make sure standards were being met. He referred to himself as “the hair police”.

Tony Awards are not given for hair design, but Mr. Huntley was given a special Tony in 2003.

“Everyone says, ‘I want Paul Huntley,'” Broadway producer Emanuel Azenberg once told the Times. “He does the hair organically for the show. It’s not about him. “

Mr. Huntley saw hair not just as a decorative element, but as an expression of an era or a change in society and an integral part of character development. For “Thoroughly Modern Millie” he tried to remember New York City in 1922, his pony, his spit curls and finger waves were marked by a feeling of liberation after the First World War.

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Entertainment

New Musical About 19th-Century New York Plans Broadway Run

New Musical About 19th-Century New York Plans Broadway Run

“Paradise Square,” a new musical that explores racial relations in 19th-century New York.

Revised and in development for a decade, the show is about a long-gone slum in Lower Manhattan, Five Points, where free black residents and Irish immigrants coexisted prior to the Civil War until the draft of 1863.

The musical isn’t just about the history of New York City, it’s also about the history of music and dance. It features songs by Stephen Foster, a prominent 19th century American songwriter who spent time at Five Points towards the end of his life, and credits the Five Points community with a role in the origins of tap dancing. (Tap is an American dance form that is widely believed to have roots in the British Isles and Africa; it has a complex and gritty history, but the Five Points dance cellars were an important development site for the form.)

“Paradise Square” is a comeback offer from famous Canadian producer Garth Drabinsky, who won three Tony Awards in the 1990s but was later convicted of fraud. He was serving time in a Canadian prison; Charges in the United States were later dismissed.

The musical is set to play Joaquina Kalukango, a Tony nominee for “Slave Play,” as the owner of the saloon where much of the action takes place. Other actors include Chilina Kennedy (“Beautiful”), John Dossett (a Tony candidate for “Gypsy”), Sidney DuPont (“Beautiful”), AJ Shively (“Bright Star”), Nathaniel Stampley (“The Color Purple”) , Gabrielle McClinton (“Pippin”) and Jacob Fishel (“Violinist on the Roof”).

The Broadway run is slated to begin previewing on February 22nd and open at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on March 20th. Prior to the pandemic, the musical was slated to capitalize up to $ 13.5 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission; A spokesman said actual capitalization is likely to be a little lower.

The show has a complex production history and an evolving creative team led by director Moisés Kaufman (best known as creator of “The Laramie Project”) and choreographer Bill T. Jones (a two-time Tony winner for “Fela!” And “Spring Awakening”). It is based on a musical called “Hard Times” that was conceived by Larry Kirwan, lead singer of Black 47, and performed in 2012 at the Cell Theater. Then it was produced as “Paradise Square” at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in 2019 and this fall, before it moves to Broadway, it is slated to run for five weeks at the James M. Nederlander Theater in Chicago.

The book is now attributed to four authors: Kirwan and three playwrights, Christina Anderson, Marcus Gardley, and Craig Lucas. The score, which includes both original songs and songs attributed to Foster, now has three authors: Jason Howland, Nathan Tysen, and Masi Asare.

Kaufman said the interruption to the pandemic gave the creative team “an opportunity to think”.

“At Berkeley we learned our story was epic, but we had to keep focusing on our individual characters,” he said. “And that is the work that has taken place.”

Brian Seibert contributed the reporting.

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Business

Neil Diamond Bio-Musical Units Sights on Broadway

Neil Diamond Bio-Musical Sets Sights on Broadway

A musical featuring the songs – and life story – of Neil Diamond now has a title, a choreographer, and scheduled performance dates in Boston, followed by Broadway plans.

“A Beautiful Noise,” named as a reference to the singer-songwriter’s 1976 album, is slated to run for four weeks next summer at the Emerson Colonial Theater in Boston, the show’s producers, Ken Davenport and Bob Gaudio, announced on Tuesday. They plan to move production to New York after this run.

“Personally, I hope this announcement shows the world that the Broadway factory is coming back to life and that smoke is coming out of our chimneys,” Davenport said in an interview on Tuesday. “We’re starting to do things again – we may not be able to show everyone right now, but we will.”

The show, which was first announced in 2019, has put together a marquee team: The director is Michael Mayer, who won a Tony Award in 2007 for “Spring Awakening”. Steven Hoggett, whose work was featured in “Once” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” will provide movement and dance. Anthony McCarten, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind “The Theory of Everything” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” writes the book.

“A Beautiful Noise” will cover the ups and downs of Diamond’s life, from growing up poor in Brooklyn to his rise to star in the 1970s (thanks to hits like “Cracklin ‘Rosie” and “Song Sung Blue”) to the decades later his career when he became a living legend. In that regard, it promises to be similar to the shows about Tina Turner and Donna Summer that recently hit Broadway.

When asked if theater fans would still have an appetite for jukebox musicals after the Broadway hiatus caused by the pandemic, Davenport (a Tony winner for reviving “Once on This Island” in 2018) said that “A Beautiful Noise ”shouldn’t be put in a drawer in advance.

“I characterize it as a biographical musical drama rather than a jukebox musical,” he said. “We’re excited to show people what makes it different from some of the jukebox musicals out there.”

In a statement, Diamond, now 80, said the opening of the show will resemble the performance of his song “Sweet Caroline” in Fenway Park after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, an experience he described as a “moment of relief.” designated. Unity, strength and love. “

When performances begin in June 2022, “and we can all safely be in the same room together and experience the thrill of live theater, I can imagine the same emotions will overwhelm me and the entire audience,” he said.

The Boston area has recently been a popular testing ground for Broadway musicals, including Jagged Little Pill, which opened at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge in May 2018, and Moulin Rouge! The Musical, ”which premiered at Emerson Colonial in July. Both had successful New York runs when the pandemic disrupted live theater and face numerous Tonys, including the best musical.

Casting details and ticket information for “A Beautiful Noise” will be released later.

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Entertainment

Broadway Reopened. For 36 Minutes. It’s a Begin.

Broadway Reopened. For 36 Minutes. It’s a Start.

Three hundred and eighty-seven days after Broadway went dark, a dim light began to shimmer on Saturday.

There were only two performers – one at a time – on a bare Broadway stage. But together they conjured up decades of theater history and referred to the songs, shows and stars that once filled the big houses in and around Times Square.

The 36-minute event in front of a masked audience of 150 people, spread over a 1,700-seat auditorium, was the first such experiment since the coronavirus pandemic that closed all 41 Broadway houses on March 12, 2020, and industry leaders hope it will. A promising step on the road that is sure to be a slow and bumpy road to eventual reopening.

Dancer Savion Glover and actor Nathan Lane, both Tony Award winners, represented a universe of unemployed artists and fans who lacked show as they performed a pair of pieces created for the occasion.

Glover, a well-known tap dancer, played an improvised song-and-dance number in which he seemed to conjure up ghosts of past productions. He went on stage, removed the ghost lights, traditionally left on to keep the ghosts out of an unoccupied theater, and then sang lyrical samples accompanied only by the sound of his gleaming white tap shoes. “God, I hope I get it,” he began, quoting the longing theme “A Chorus Line”.

And from there he went off and quoted from “The Tap Dance Kid”, “Dreamgirls”, “42nd Street” and other shows that he said had influenced him, often celebrating the urge to dance and at the same time the challenges of the Entertainment recognized industry. (“There’s no such thing as show business,” he sang before adding, “Everything about it is like.”) He was also referring specifically to black life in the US, interpolating the phrase “knee-to-neck -America “” In a song from “West Side Story”.

“I was a little nervous, but I was excited and happy and there was nostalgia and I was sentimental – it was all,” he said in an interview afterwards. “And I felt very safe. I want to rub my elbows and hug myself – that’s what we’ll be looking for at some point – but there’s no safer place than in the middle of this phase. “

One of Broadway’s greatest stars, Lane, performed a comedic monologue by Paul Rudnick in which he portrayed a die-hard theater fan (with an alphabetical Playbill collection) who dreams (or was it real?) That a Broadway parade Stars, led by Hugh Jackman, Patti LuPone, and Audra McDonald, arrive at his rent-controlled apartment and vie for his attention as they rudely mend each other.

“It’s the first step home – the first of many,” said Jordan Roth, president of Jujamcyn Theaters, which own and operate the St. James Theater, where the event was held. Roth was visibly tearful before the event even started, moved by the moment. “That’s not” Broadway is back! “This is ‘Broadway is Coming Back!’ “He said,” and we know that this is possible. “

The performance used a range of safety protocols: a limited audience, mandatory masks, and socially distant seating. In addition, all participants were required to provide evidence of a negative Covid test or completed vaccination regimen and complete a digital questionnaire confirming the absence of Covid-19 symptoms or recent exposure. The arrival times of the participants were staggered. there was no break, food or drink; and although the bathrooms were open, participants were encouraged to use a bathroom prior to their arrival to reduce potential overcrowding.

A historic city landmark built in 1927, St. James was chosen in part because it is large – one of the largest theaters on Broadway – and empty. The theater also has a modern HVAC system that was installed when the building was expanded in 2017. The air filters were upgraded during the pandemic to reduce the spread of viruses in the air.

While the event was free, it was an invitation only, and the invitations were mostly to employees of two theater social service organizations, the Actors Fund and Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS. Among them was a Broadway Cares volunteer, Michael Fatica, who is an actor; He was on the cast of “Frozen,” the final show at St. James, which announced it wouldn’t reopen on Broadway. “You were fantastic,” he said afterwards. “And it’s unbelievable that people perform. But it’s so far from commercial theater and tens of thousands of actors are still unemployed. “

The event was also an opportunity to bring the theater staff back. Tony David, a doorman, wore his black suit, tie and hat with the Jujamcyn logo, as well as latex gloves and a face shield over a mask. “It’s nice to be back and do something,” he said. “Hopefully this is the beginning.”

The event was led by Jerry Zaks, a four-time Tony winner who has served as both a St. James and a director over the years. “This was the longest time I haven’t been to a theater in 50 years,” he said. “I don’t want to sound dizzy, but I am excited and feel like a kid. There’s a pulse – it’s weak, but there is and it’s a good sign for the months to come. “

The performance was sponsored by NY Pops Up, a partnership between the state government, producers Scott Rudin and Jane Rosenthal, and artist Zack Winokur. Empire State Development, which funds the state’s economic development initiatives, has allocated $ 5.5 million from its marketing budget to fund 300 shows through August. The purpose, the state said, is to boost the mood of New Yorkers and boost the entertainment industry.

Organizers said they would read up on the lessons of the Saturday morning event and expect nine more programs at Broadway homes over the next 10 weeks. However, most producers assume that full-size plays and musicals won’t return to Broadway until the fall. Commercial theater producers have stated that they do not find it financially feasible to reopen at reduced capacity, and the state is hoping to increase occupancy limits and decrease restrictions over time.

“I don’t have a crystal ball – neither of us, but we have shows that are slated to reopen in September, October and November,” said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League. St. Martin, who attended the Saturday event, said the Pops Up performances should be helpful steps towards reopening.

“It will give the health department a chance to see how the theaters work and hopefully learn what we need to get 100 percent open,” she said. “And it’s also a great opportunity to remind us all of what makes New York so special.”

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Business

‘Sport of Thrones’ Broadway present to be penned by George R.R. Martin

'Game of Thrones' Broadway show to be penned by George R.R. Martin

Robert Aramayo portrays a young Ned Stark in “Game of Thrones”.

Source: HBO

George RR Martin gives Broadway his talents.

The author of the megahit book series “A Song of Ice and Fire”, which formed the basis for HBO’s Emmy Award-winning series “Game of Thrones”, is now writing a script for a play that is based on the fantasy world based out of Westeros.

The Hollywood Reporter was the first to cover the news on Tuesday, revealing that the play will revolve around the Great Tourney in Harrenhal and will debut in New York City, London and Australia in 2023. Martin will work with playwright Duncan MacMillan (“1984”). and famous theater director Dominic Cooke on the project.

The Harrenhal Grand Tournament is an important historic event in the world of Westeros. 16 years prior to the events of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” the contest was held for 10 days and included tournaments of jousting, archery, and combat. It is also the place where Prince Rhaegar Targaryen sparked a nationwide scandal for dedicating his victory to Lyanna Stark in place of his wife. That decision resulted in Roberts Rebellion and the Targaryens being overthrown.

While no characters have been officially announced and the play has not been titled, it is expected that young iterations of Ned Stark, Lyanna Stark, Jaime Lannister, Robert Baratheon, Rhaegar Targaryen, Oberyn Martell and Barristan Selmy will likely be in the cast.

“The seeds of war are often planted in peacetime,” Martin said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Few in Westeros knew the carnage would come when the highborn and the little people gathered in Harrenhal to see the best knights in the realm compete in a grand tournament during the year of false spring. It’s a tournament that often happens during HBO’s Game of Thrones and in my novels, A Song of Ice & Fire … and now we can finally tell the full story … on stage. “

Martin’s representatives were not immediately available to comment.

The news comes just days after Martin signed a five-year deal with HBO to create content for the network. WarnerMedia, owned by HBO, has already started work on a Game of Thrones prequel called House of the Dragon, which is expected to premiere in 2022. The company has at least five other series in various stages of development for HBO and streaming service HBO max.

Additionally, New York City’s Broadway, which has been closed for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, could reopen in September. Last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a vaccine rollout in the Theater District that would vaccinate members of the industry in hopes of getting the shows back on in the fall.

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Business

‘We’ll Be Again,’ Broadway Says, on Shutdown Anniversary

‘We’ll Be Back,’ Broadway Says, on Shutdown Anniversary

A year ago, grim news that Broadway had been closed spread through the theater district. The performers packed up their things and went home. Theater workers were stationed in lobbies to intercept ticket holders and explain to them that the show was canceled.

As the return date was postponed further and further, artists and theater staff gave up trying to find work elsewhere.

But on Friday, the anniversary of the day their beloved industry closed its doors, Broadway singers, dancers, actors and front-of-house staff gathered in Times Square, right across from the TKTS discount card counter, to live for a small audience of industry insiders and passers-by to perform.

The pop-up show was part concert, part rally. Broadway legend Chita Rivera spoke about the power of theater to heal a troubled society, and then André De Shields, wearing a glittering gold suit and transparent face mask, sang the opening song of “Pippin” along with a number of Broadway stars , Singers and dancers.

“I’m just glad we’re all trying to remind the world that we’re still here and we’ll be back,” said Bre Jackson, a singer who pulled out a solo on the “Pippin” number.

A year ago, Jackson, 29, returned to New York from a national tour of The Book of Mormon and was preparing for five auditions. Within 12 hours, she said, all auditions were canceled and suddenly she was pushed into a job market without the need for professional singers and actors. Jackson eventually found work as an office manager for a therapy practice and found appearances from time to time.

One of the primary purposes of these pop-up appearances – of which there have been dozens across town – is to provide paid appearances to people in the industry who have lost all of their income during the pandemic, said Blake Ross, one of the organizers Producer, with Holly-Anne Devlin. The performance was funded by a collection of organizations including the nonprofits Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS and NYCNext.

Though they won’t likely return to theaters until after Labor Day, the show’s message was that the end of the industry’s nightmare seemed nearer. Last night, President Biden asked states to question all adults for vaccination by May 1. This is a hopeful sign that shows may be able to begin rehearsing this summer.

The performance landed in New York City on one of the first warm spring days of the year and caused a stir. It felt like some kind of reunion: after a long time working from home, some people screeched when they saw each other. To ensure the crowds did not form in Father Duffy Square, the event planners did not make a public announcement of the performance; instead, passers-by gathered at the edges of the makeshift stage and stood on raised areas for better views.

The cast began with a current classic, George Benson’s “On Broadway,” with a group of energetic, sneaker-clad and masked backup dancers. (There had hardly been time to rehearse beforehand, so the dancers ran their choreography right behind the stage on the concrete shortly before the show.) The singers Lillias White, Nikki M. James, Peppermint and Solea Pfeiffer “joined” next. Home ”. from “The Wiz”. And Michael McElroy’s choir Broadway Inspirational Voices sang an original song about the pandemic break “We Will Be Back” by Allen René Louis. Costumes from shows like “Wicked” and “Phantom of the Opera” lined the edges of the stage and glittered and shone on mannequins.

During the pandemic, two musicals, Mean Girls and Frozen, announced they would not be returning to Broadway, as well as two pieces that were previewed, Martin McDonagh’s “Hangmen” and a revival of Edward Albees ” Who’s Afraid “by Virginia Woolf? “On Friday, several shows promised they would actually be back, including” Mrs. Doubtfire, “which went through three shows before closing, and” Six, “which was due to open on March 12, 2020.

On that day, Judi Wilfore, the property manager of the Imperial Theater, remembers standing in the lobby before the planned evening performance of “Ain’t Too Proud” and telling the ticket holders the news. Although Broadway was closed on a Thursday, Wilfore came to work that weekend in case any spectators showed up.

Over the summer, Wilfore decided she needed to find work elsewhere and took an online course at Health Education Services to become certified as a Covid Compliance Officer. At Friday’s event in Times Square, her job was to make sure people were following safety guidelines and to lead a team of theater staff on site who were hired to run the event.

Wilfore has been compliance officer here and there for appearances – including unloading the “Beetlejuice” set from the Winter Garden Theater – but like many in the industry, she longs to return to the indoor theater, overseeing the busy theater Movements of employees and spectators.

“We love what we do,” she said, “and the fact that we haven’t done it in a year is unfathomable.”

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Health

NY goals to reopen Broadway, massive venues, with Covid testing, Cuomo says

NY aims to reopen Broadway, large venues, with Covid testing, Cuomo says

All New York theater performances will be suspended until the end of 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Pictured Broadway theater with shutters.

Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images

New York plans to use extensive coronavirus testing to reopen its difficult entertainment options, which have been closed for months during the pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday.

The coronavirus has crippled the live theater industry, particularly at its central hub in New York City. Broadway has been closed since March 2020 and is not expected to reopen until May 30 this year, according to the Broadway League, a trade organization that represents producers and theater owners.

However, Cuomo said there was hope that New York could allow Broadway, among other entertainment options, to reopen with some restrictions. The state would likely set an audience size limit, require everyone to take a negative Covid-19 test before entering, and require proper ventilation systems in theaters, the governor said.

“Would I go to a play and sit in a playhouse with 150 people? If the 150 people tested and they were all negative, I would,” Cuomo said during a press conference. “I think reopening with testing will be key.”

Cuomo said he couldn’t immediately provide a timetable for major venues to reopen. Much of the state’s plan depends on a pilot program that ran in January that allowed nearly 7,000 football fans to attend the Buffalo Bill’s home games as long as they presented a negative Covid-19 test.

The governor had already announced in late January that New York will allow some wedding ceremony venues to reopen on March 15 with limited capacity. Attendees can hold a wedding if all attendees are tested prior to the event and organizers get approval from their local health department in advance, he said.

“Opening locations with testing is something New York wants to lead the way,” Cuomo said Monday.

This is a developing story. Please try again later.

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Entertainment

Juan Carlos Copes, Who Introduced Tango to Broadway, Dies at 89

Juan Carlos Copes, Who Brought Tango to Broadway, Dies at 89

This obituary is part of a series about people who died from the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here.

Tango was originally a ballroom dance performed in neighborhood gatherings and dance halls. But Juan Carlos Copes turned it into dance for the stage, with a complex, highly polished choreography that could delight an audience for an entire evening.

Mr. Copes moved across the dance floor for seven decades. Most of the time he danced with a partner – at times with his wife – María Nieves Rego. They came to define a new style of tango called “estilo Copes-Nieves”.

“I’ve seen two styles danced,” said Copes in a 2007 interview with tango magazine “La Milonga Argentina”. “One with many steps and the other smooth and elegant. My innovation was to combine the two into one. “

Mr. Copes died on January 15 in a clinic in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. He was 89 years old. The cause were complications from Covid-19, said his daughter Johana Copes.

Mr. Copes and Mrs. Nieves may have had their greatest influence on the show “Tango Argentino”, which premiered in Paris in 1983 and became an international juggernaut. She toured Europe and Asia before coming to Broadway in 1985, where she was nominated for several Tonys. The show, in which the couple re-starred, returned to Broadway in 1999 when it was nominated for Best Revival.

“Tango Argentino” led to a worldwide resurgence of tango, which had fallen out of favor even in Argentina and was replaced by the emergence of predominantly American pop music. Tango clubs have opened all over the world.

“The fact that we tango artists today even have a profession is thanks to Copes,” said New York-based dancer Leonardo Sardella, who has often performed with Johana Copes, in an interview.

Mr. Copes stayed in the spotlight, dancing and choreographing dozens of tango shows in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1998 he starred in the dance film “Tango” by the Spanish director Carlos Saura alongside the Argentine ballet dancer Julio Bocca, to whom he had taught tango. (He also taught Liza Minnelli.)

Mr Copes was born on May 31, 1931 in Mataderos, a district of Buenos Aires, to the bus driver Carlo Copes and the housewife María Magdalena Berti and grew up in the Villa Pueyrredón, another district on the outskirts. His maternal grandfather, Juan Berti, was a pianist who specialized in tango.

As a teenager he studied electrician. But he also attended tango evenings in social clubs, where he met Ms. Nieves.

In 1951, the couple took part in a major dance competition at Luna Park Stadium, where they won the grand prize among 300 couples. This led to appearances in clubs and cabarets and in 1955 to her first tango show at the Teatro El Nacional.

Mr. Copes and Mrs. Nieves went on tour four years later with the composer Astor Piazzolla. The itinerary included the United States, where they landed the first of several spots on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1962. The footage from this first performance shows the super-fast footwork, sharp kicks, and streamlined style that had made them so popular.

They married in Las Vegas in 1964. The marriage ended in 1973, but they continued to dance together until 1997, despite being very opposed to each other.

“We’d scold each other when we went on stage and carry on when we left the stage. But in between there were the real Copes nieves, ”said Copes in a 2007 interview.

After divorce became legal in Argentina, he married Myriam Albuernez in 1988.

Together with his daughter Johana, who has become his main partner in recent years, he is survived by Mrs. Albuernez. another daughter, Geraldine; and five granddaughters.

“He taught me how to breathe tango,” said Johana Copes. “His dance had a delicacy and purity that was difficult to achieve. I now understand why he always wanted to prepare, rehearse and dance. I understand this need. “

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Entertainment

‘Mike Nichols’ Captures a Star-Studded Life That Shuttled Between Broadway and Hollywood

‘Mike Nichols’ Captures a Star-Studded Life That Shuttled Between Broadway and Hollywood

When writer and director Mike Nichols was young, he had an allergic reaction to a whooping cough vaccine. The result was a complete and lifelong inability to grow hair. One way to read Mark Harris’ crisp new biography, Mike Nichols: A Life, is a gentle comedy about a man and his wigs.

He got his first set (hair, eyebrows) before going to college. It was dark. Nichols attended the University of Chicago, where Susan Sontag was also a student. One reason they weren’t together, Harris writes, is that “she was thrown off his wig.”

Nichols moved to Manhattan to do it as a comedian. A friend said she would go into his tiny apartment and “the smell of acetone” – wig glue remover – “would just slap you in the face.”

Nichols became famous in his mid-20s. His improvised comedy routines with Elaine May, whom he had met in Chicago, were fresh and irresistible. They went to Broadway in 1960, where Nichols met Richard Burton. He would meet Elizabeth Taylor through Burton.

On the set of Cleopatra, Taylor asked the production hairstyle designer, “Do you make personal wigs? Because I have a dear friend who’s doing a comic in New York and he’s wearing one of the worst wigs I’ve ever seen. “It wasn’t long before Nichols’ toupees were unrivaled.

“It takes me three hours every morning to become Mike Nichols,” he told actor George Segal. He had a sense of humor. He would tell how his son Max crawled into bed next to him and, when he only saw the back of his head, shouted: “Where is Papa’s face?”

I’ve talked about hair and the lack of it for too long. But growing up bald, said Nichols’ brother, “was the defining aspect of his childhood.”

Nichols’ talent as a director was his ability to locate and easily pull in the details that make up a character. If he had made a movie of his own life the wig scenes would have been great – satirical and melancholy. He may have put a bathroom mirror mount on the Beatles’ early cover of “Lend Me Your Comb”.

His awkwardness made him wary. He became a student of human behavior. When he finally got the chance to direct, it was like he’d been preparing for it all his life.

Nichols’ first two films were “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “The Graduate” – the first angry, daring and grown-up, the second defining the zeitgeist. At almost the same moment, he staged four successive hit pieces. Oscars, Tony Awards and a landslide of wealth followed.

He made up for his time as an outsider with all his might. He collected Arab horses and Picassos and made friends with Jacqueline Kennedy, Leonard Bernstein and Richard Avedon. He was a cocky prince who became a master of what Kenneth Clark liked to refer to as a “swimming bell,” a way of moving through elite society like a barge of silver and silk.

Nichols was born in Berlin in 1931 as Michael Igor Peschkowsky (or Igor Michael, it’s unclear). His father, a doctor, was a Russian Jew who changed the family name to Nichols after the family emigrated to the United States in the late 1930s. The family had some money, and one of Nichols’ father’s patients in New York was pianist Vladimir Horowitz. Nichols attended good schools in Manhattan, including Dalton.

Recognition…David A. Harris

At the University of Chicago he became an omnivore and movie viewer. His joke withered; People were afraid of him. May’s joke was even more devastating. They were made for each other. They were never really a romantic couple, Harris writes, although they may have slept together once or twice early on.

Harris is the author of two previous books, “Pictures of a Revolution: Five Films and the Birth of New Hollywood” and “Five Came Back: A History of Hollywood and World War II”. He’s also a longtime entertainment reporter with a talent for shooting scenes.

He’s at his best on Mike Nichols: A Life when he takes you on a production. His chapters on the making of three films – “The Graduate,” “Silkwood” and “Angels in America” ​​- are wonderful: smart, tight, intimate and funny. They feel that he could turn anyone into a book.

Nichols was a director of an actor. He was avuncular, a charmer, broad in his human sympathies. He was trying to figure out what an actor needed and provide it. He could put a well-polished fingernail on a tick that wanted to be a hook. But he had a steely side.

He fired Gene Hackman on The Graduate during the first week. Hackman played Mr. Robinson and it didn’t work out, partly because he looked too young for the role at 37.

Sacrificing someone early on could be a motivator for the remaining cast, he learned. He fired Mandy Patinkin at the beginning of the filming of “Heartburn” and brought in Jack Nicholson to play Meryl Streep’s faithless husband.

One reason the chapter in Nichols’ film about Tony Kushner’s play “Angels in America” ​​is so rich is because Harris, who is married to Kushner, had access to the playwright’s diary.

Nichols turned to projects like “Angels in America” ​​to bolster his serious side. But in everything he did, he found it funny. He knew instinctively that tragedy mostly speaks to the emotions while comedy touches the mind.

Nichols presided over a lot of crap with George C. Scott, expensive flops like “The Day of the Dolphin”; “The Fortune” with Nicholson and Warren Beatty; and “What planet are you from?” with Garry Shandling. Reading Harris’ accounts of the making of these films is like watching a cook strain his supplies.

Nichols’ Broadway flops included a production of “Waiting for Godot” with Steve Martin and Robin Williams. His mistakes shook him. He was battling depression (one of his vanity labels read “ANOMIE”) and had suicidal thoughts after being treated with Halcion, a benzodiazepine. Harris wrote that he had “an almost punitive need to prove the opposite to his critics.”

He had a manic side. He snorted his stake in cocaine and used crack for a while in the 1980s. You imagine him racing back and forth from the movie to Broadway on the latter as if coming through a series of constantly swinging cat doors.

Harris describes the numerous collaborations in his field with Streep and Nora Ephron. Nichols has been married four times. His last marriage to Diane Sawyer was ongoing.

Nichols was hard to get to know, and I’m not sure we’ll get him much better by the end of Mike Nichols: A Life. He was a man in constant motion, and Harris chases him with patience, clarity, and care.