Copacabana (nightclub)

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Copacabana (often referred to as The Copa) was a famous New York City nightclub. Many entertainers, among them Danny Thomas and the comedy team of Martin and Lewis, made their debuts at the Copacabana. The 1978 Barry Manilow song "Copacabana" is named for and about the nightclub, and part of the 2003 Yerba Buena song "Guajira" is set there. The Copa was used as a setting in the films Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Tootsie, Carlito's Way and Beyond the Sea, as well as several plays, including Barry Manilow 's Copacabana (musical).

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[edit] History

The club opened November 10, 1940[1][2] at 10 East 60th Street in New York City. Although Monte Proser's name was on the lease, he had a powerful partner: mob boss Frank Costello. Costello put Jules Podell on the scene to look after his interests, and within a few years Proser was out and Podell was the official owner.[3]

Podell had a strict "no blacks" policy. In 1944 Harry Belafonte was banned from the Copacabana for being African-American. He was in the U.S. Navy at the time, and was denied entry with a date. Eventually Podell was persuaded to change his policy, and Belafonte returned in the 1950s as a headliner at the club. In 1965, The Supremes made their debut in July to much success and aclaim. The Supremes opened The Copa to The Temptations, The vandellas, Marvin Gaye, etc.

The nightclub was the venue for the launch of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis as a duo. They were frequent performers at the club, and did their last performance there as well, on July 25, 1956.

This nightclub achieved a degree of notoriety due to a May 16, 1957 incident involving members of the New York Yankees. One evening, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Hank Bauer, Yogi Berra, Johnny Kucks and Billy Martin of the Yankees, along with the wives of the former five arrived at the nightclub to celebrate Martin's birthday. Sammy Davis, Jr. happened to be the headliner. During the performance, a group of bowlers, apparently intoxicated, started to interfere with Davis' act, even hurling racial slurs at him. This behavior incensed the Yankees, especially Martin, since his club roommate was catcher Elston Howard, the first African American to join the Yankees. Tensions erupted between the two factions, and the resulting fracas made newspaper headlines. Several of the Yankees were fined. One of the bowlers sued Bauer for aggravated assault, but Bauer was found not guilty.

In the mid-1970s, the Copa became a discothèque. It was closed for three years in the 1970s after the owner died.[4]

In 1992, then-owner Peter Dorn moved the club from its original location of over 50 years, to 617 West 57th Street. Dorn charged landlord Nicola Blase with "not liking Hispanics," the stated reason for the move.[1]

In 2001, the club was forced to move a third time to W. 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue on the west side of Manhattan, when its landlord terminated its lease early to build office towers on the site. It has presented mostly Hip-Hop and Salsa acts since then.[4]

On January 20, 2007, the club announced that it would have to move by July 1 because its current location was condemned due to the planned expansion of the IRT Flushing Line (7 <7>) of the New York City Subway.[2]. June 30 of the same year was the last night the club was open with "El Gran Combo" performing. The owners plan to reopen the club once a suitable new location is found.

[edit] Entertainers who have performed at the Copacabana

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Austen, Brie (2002). The Great American Supperclub. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  2. ^ New York City - The Cabarets (1959). Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  3. ^ THE COPA: JULES PODELL AND THE HOTTEST CLUB NORTH OF HAVANA by by Mickey Podell-Raber and Charles Pignone. Scott Marks' Emulsion Compulsion (2007-11-05). Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  4. ^ a b Navarro, Mireya. "Night Spots Confront Residential Growth And Higher Rents", The New York Times, 2001-08-04, p. B1.  Late Edition (East Coast).

[edit] External links

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