Everything about Copacabana Nightclub totally explained
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).
History
The club opened November 10, 1940 at 10 East 60th Street in New York City. Although Monte Proser's name was on the lease, he'd 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.
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.
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.
(External Link
)
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.
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 of the
New York City Subway.
(External Link).
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.
Entertainers who have performed at the Copacabana
Further Information
Get more info on 'Copacabana Nightclub'.
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