The Copacabana Palace Hotel responds to my inquiry and Enéias' follow-up call. They indicate the availability of their function rooms, and the cost.
They have a room available that is about twice the size of the La Boheme nightclub in Adelaide.
And the hire costs is ten times as much as La Boheme.
But maybe we should go for it, because at least these people are communicating with us.
Unfortunately, they don't have any availability at the weekend. They can offer us a Thursday night for a private function. We would need to invite the guests, and would not be allowed to advertise the show publicly.
The Thursday night isn't much good. It wouldn't give us enough rehearsal time. And how will we draw an audience? I know some people in São Paolo who might come to a show, but not, I imagine, on a Thursday night.
Enėias suggests we enlist the help of his friend Mara to help us find a suitable venue.
Mara is a theatre producer. I met her in Jaraguá, and she seems intelligent and organised.
I email Mara, and she responds promptly. I tell her that she now has a client from Australia. Mara explores various options with the hotel, but they can't offer us anything suitable.
I suggest to her that we follow up the other venues that I have approached, to see if she can coax a response from them. These are:
1. The Botanic Gardens (Tom Jobim) performance space,
2. Bar Vinicius, and
2. Beco das Garrafas (Bottles Alley) bar.
I've also put together a list of international hotels on the beachfront. Surely they would all have a bar where we could perform? Not one of them responds to me.
The Botanic Gardens venue turns out to be enormous - and it's a bit out of the way.
Bar Vinicius doesn't reply.
To my surprise, Mara manages to get a response from Beco das Garrafas. As I had hoped, they respond to an approach by a Brazilian "artist agent", even though my own communications vanished into the ether.
They have availability on the Friday and Saturday nights, the week we are in Rio. We can either rent the space privately or make it a public performance - being presented by the club and taking advantage of their publicity. We opt for the public performance. It will be so much easier than trying to put on our own event.
They are booking us for their program.
Beco das Garrafas is an iconic, historic venue. It's where the Bossa Nova greats played in the early 1960's. It's called Bottles Alley because the neighbours got tired of the noise from the club, and would throw empty bottles from their upstairs windows to express their frustration. My husband and I visited this club one afternoon during last year's stay in Rio. It's got a blackboard listing the names of all the greats who have played there, and photos and other memorabilia. I have no doubt it will be a memorable experience to perform there.
I send Enéias some photos of the place, and also select a YouTube video that shows the bar in a good light. I choose the one of Marcus Valle (who wrote "Summer Samba") performing there, just a couple of years ago. I'm pretty sure he'll be impressed by this.
My message to him says "Same stage as Tom Jobim!". I want to keep him motivated. I suggest we could go to the Copacabana Palace Hotel for cocktails after the show.
At last, we have a venue for our show in Rio.
They have a room available that is about twice the size of the La Boheme nightclub in Adelaide.
And the hire costs is ten times as much as La Boheme.
But maybe we should go for it, because at least these people are communicating with us.
Unfortunately, they don't have any availability at the weekend. They can offer us a Thursday night for a private function. We would need to invite the guests, and would not be allowed to advertise the show publicly.
The Thursday night isn't much good. It wouldn't give us enough rehearsal time. And how will we draw an audience? I know some people in São Paolo who might come to a show, but not, I imagine, on a Thursday night.
Enėias suggests we enlist the help of his friend Mara to help us find a suitable venue.
Mara is a theatre producer. I met her in Jaraguá, and she seems intelligent and organised.
I email Mara, and she responds promptly. I tell her that she now has a client from Australia. Mara explores various options with the hotel, but they can't offer us anything suitable.
I suggest to her that we follow up the other venues that I have approached, to see if she can coax a response from them. These are:
1. The Botanic Gardens (Tom Jobim) performance space,
2. Bar Vinicius, and
2. Beco das Garrafas (Bottles Alley) bar.
I've also put together a list of international hotels on the beachfront. Surely they would all have a bar where we could perform? Not one of them responds to me.
The Botanic Gardens venue turns out to be enormous - and it's a bit out of the way.
Bar Vinicius doesn't reply.
To my surprise, Mara manages to get a response from Beco das Garrafas. As I had hoped, they respond to an approach by a Brazilian "artist agent", even though my own communications vanished into the ether.
They have availability on the Friday and Saturday nights, the week we are in Rio. We can either rent the space privately or make it a public performance - being presented by the club and taking advantage of their publicity. We opt for the public performance. It will be so much easier than trying to put on our own event.
They are booking us for their program.
Beco das Garrafas is an iconic, historic venue. It's where the Bossa Nova greats played in the early 1960's. It's called Bottles Alley because the neighbours got tired of the noise from the club, and would throw empty bottles from their upstairs windows to express their frustration. My husband and I visited this club one afternoon during last year's stay in Rio. It's got a blackboard listing the names of all the greats who have played there, and photos and other memorabilia. I have no doubt it will be a memorable experience to perform there.
I send Enéias some photos of the place, and also select a YouTube video that shows the bar in a good light. I choose the one of Marcus Valle (who wrote "Summer Samba") performing there, just a couple of years ago. I'm pretty sure he'll be impressed by this.
My message to him says "Same stage as Tom Jobim!". I want to keep him motivated. I suggest we could go to the Copacabana Palace Hotel for cocktails after the show.
At last, we have a venue for our show in Rio.
No comments:
Post a Comment