Carmen Miranda

The Ensenada, Mexico bartender from Brazil spoke to me in Spanish, "The Brazilian bosa nova singer and guitarist Antonio Carlos Jobim is my most talented friend. When I first knew him he sang in the most beautiful tenor voice. Now he sings in a baritone voice because he thinks he sounds more macho. I like it better when he sings high. I will tell you a story he told me. It's about when he played in a band that accompanied Carmen Miranda in New York City."

Then the bartender related the story to me still speaking in Spanish. "Carmen Miranda was a famous movie star who played in movies with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. She was a tiny hour glass shaped lady with a big toothy smile, flashing Spanish eyes. She sang songs and danced the rumba. Her costumes showed her belly-button, and she wore tropical orange, red and green colored skirts with extremely high soled shoes. She wore very tall hats made out of fruit, flowers and vegetables. Her night club act was a success and she earned good money. The young men in her band were from Latin American countries. Some of them spoke no English."

The Brazilian bartender continued, "One night Carmen invited all the band to go with her to an after hours show in the wee hours of the morning. She had made arrangements and the head waiter gave them a long table where they could sit around and watch the show. Quite a few lovely girls were in the chorus line. After the show Carmen invited some of the girls to sit at her table. Each of the showgirls sat next to one of the musicians in Carmen's band. By then the musicians had already drank a lot of alcohol. Carmen watched the fellows with pleasure as they continued to drink and talk to the beautiful girls. After a while she noticed one of her musicians who didn't speak any English. He was apparently touching one of the chorus girls under the table with his hand. Carmen Miranda discovered Julio had used sign language to make a date with the dancer. They had decided to go to his room."

"Carmen said to Julio, 'This joke has gone far enough. These showgirls are all female impersonators. So, Julio, you better stop flirting with her. She is a he.'"

"Julio replied, 'It's too late. We are already in love!' "