Cachaça was a nightclub located at 403 East 62nd Street in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. The upscale Brazilian-themed night spot opened in March 1977, located above the Hippopotamus disco. Both were owned by businessman
Olivier Coquelin Olivier Coquelin, nicknamed “Disco Daddy,” was a French expatriate entrepreneur and nightclub promoter. He opened Le Club, the first American discotheque, on New Year's Eve 1960, on East 55th Street in Manhattan. By 1962, ''The New York Times'' ...
, nicknamed "Disco Daddy," who had opened
Le Club Le Club was a members-only restaurant and nightclub located at 416 East 55th Street in Manhattan. French expatriate Olivier Coquelin founded ''Le Club'' in 1960.
It was a playground for New York's elites, including the Vanderbilts and Kennedys. A ...
, the first American discotheque, in 1960, followed by
Cheetah in 1966.
Promoting its opening, Coquelin said "There hasn't been a club like this one since the Blue Angel, where Streisand got her start." The decor was by architect Lawrence Peabody, who said "I've made Cachaça a simple bronze-mirrored box with lots of comfortable seats, no paintings, photographs or anything- so it can be crowded with colorful people. They're the decoration." Among the guests in its opening weeks were former New York mayor
John Lindsay and his wife Mary, Broadway producer
Michael Butler,
Vanessa Redgrave
Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, two ...
,
Rupert Murdock
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
, and
Mick
Mick is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Michael (given name), Michael. Because of its popularity in Ireland, it is often used in England as a List of ethnic slurs, derogatory term for an Irish people, Irish person or a ...
and
Bianca Jagger.
Entertainment included live and recorded music, with a 1977 listing in
''New York'' Magazine describing the ambience as "Mirrors, marble-topped tables, potted palms, gray-velvet chesterfield sofas, and Latin music," and announcing "singer Joyce Silveira with dancing to the
Helcio Milito nine-piece band, who play popular Brazilian music, every night from 10 to 4 am." Capoeira mestres
Jelon Vieira and
Loremil Machado
Loremil Machado (born 1953 or 1954; died March 11, 1994) was a teacher and performer of Afro-Brazilian dance. He and fellow dancer, Jelon Vieira, are considered to be responsible for the introduction of capoeira to the United States.
Career
Mach ...
performed a stage show weekly for "four or five years." The ballroom dance team of David Van Hamilton and Susan Silva performed regularly for two years.
While Olivier Coquelin jokingly denied to
Andy Warhol's ''Interview'' Magazine that any "striptease" would be taking place at Cachaça,
[ by early 1980, he had decided to open "Chez Elle at Hippopotamus," featuring male strippers. A notice in '' Back Stage'' directed "attractive male gymnasts, dancers and he-man types" to auditions at Cachaça. An article in '' Variety'' emphasized that the show was intended for a female audience, and said that "unaccompanied men will not be admitted until after the last of three shows at 11 pm."]
References
External links
1979 television feature showing Jelon Vieira and Loremil Machado performing at Cachaça
{{Upper East Side, state=collapsed
Nightclubs in New York City
1977 establishments in New York City
Upper East Side