The Copa by Mickey Podell-Raber

the stage. Doug was the house production manager, electrician, and the soundman. He was, in fact, a “can do” kind of guy. The girls’ entrance was at the foot of the steps, where all working personnel entered through the lobby of the upstairs hotel. Organized confusion often reigned in this area as waiters allserved dinners from this location as well. Sound and lights were also controlled here. Doug, who had a slight but disarmingly attractive speech impediment, did his best to control the situation, but most often it was without success and at times could be quite funny.
    One day I received a call from Paul Anka, whom I had worked with at A&R Recording Studios. He was performing at the Copa and asked if I could stop by to check out the sound. It seemed he was having some inconsistencies with the sound levels. The sound equipment, though dated, appeared to be working fine as I positioned myself in the show room during his performance. Still in view of the sound equipment, I saw a waiter with a tray of food pass by the equipment and, without missing a step, lowered Paul’s volume control, only to see another waiter a moment later change it back again. Simple enough; I taped all the controls fixed to the correct level, and the rest of the show went flawlessly. Later, with Paul, I explained the reason for volume changes and what had been done to prevent it from occurring again. Though upset, Paul just shook his head in dismay. However, to prevent it from happening again, he requested I attend each evening’s performance until his run was over. This eventually led to my touring with Paul Anka for many years.
    My experience at the Copa, allowed me throughout the subsequent years to enjoy working with many wonderfully talented artists including Frank Sinatra. Those were the days.

    A night at the Copa.

    Dad’s famous ring; one tap would send shivers up the spine of the Copa staff.
    Walter Winchell, the renowned gossip columnist, was a good friend of my parents. Winchell was also famous as the narrator on the popular television series The Untouchables . I remember him as an old man who smoked a cigar. Whenever he would come to our house he wasalways friendly to me. Winchell ’s wife liked the name Malda, God knows why, and they named their daughter Walda, after me. So her name was Walda Winchell. When I complained to my mother for naming me Malda she would say, “At least we didn’t name you Walda!” After a while I said I was changing my name to Mickey, and I would tell people to address me as Mickey.
    The late comedian Joey Villa would recount this story about working the Copa:
    In 1962 I was booked at the Copacabana as the opening act for Nat King Cole. At that time, I was part of a comedy team called Forbes and Villa. When Nat Cole played the Copacabana for Jules Podell the place was packed…Cole was one of the club’s highest-rated performers. One evening my partner, Don Forbes, and I were just getting ready to walk down the steps of the nightclub floor. Don was on the left and I was on the right side of the room when the announcer was introducing us to start the show. While he was on the side of the stage, Don started to flirt with one of the Copa Girls—which did not sit well with Jules Podell. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Podell walk[ed] by and punched Don in the stomach; so hard that he was winded and couldn’t even speak. By this time our names had been announced, so I was onstage for a few minutes alone before Don finally arrived huffing and puffing. Podell had rules in his club, and when you were at the Copa you better stick to them.
    Famous publicist Lee Solters, who has represented everyone from Barbra Streisand to Michael Jackson, remembers, “I had a client that was working the Copa, I can’t even remember who it was now, but I went to the rehearsal. I didn’t want to be noticed, so I found a seat by a table in the back of the room, figuring I