Discover São Paulo scenes that appear in the film about Gal Costa

Gal Costa lived in São Paulo in the 1960s, when she was trying to gain recognition as a singer and had just left Salvador. In the capital of São Paulo she lived with Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Tom Zé and shared an apartment with businessman Guilherme Araújo.

Some of the scenarios from that time appear in the biopic “Meu Nome É Gal”, showing since Thursday (12).

AVENIDA SÃO LUÍS, 43

Caetano Veloso and Dedé, the singer and composer’s first wife, lived in an apartment in the Santa Vigília condominium, at number 43 on Avenida São Luís, downtown São Paulo. In the film, the place appears as a meeting point for other artists, hairy people in general and even a fugitive from the military dictatorship, who appears injured and in need of hiding.

In 1995, professor Maria Lucia Guilherme reported to the Sheet the reaction of residents to the presence of the artists. “The building was serious. The people who lived here at that time were very peaceful and respectful. Suddenly, we started to see more young people, with hair,” he said.

GUILHERME ARAÚJO APARTMENT

Gal Costa also lived on Avenida São Luís, in the apartment he shared with businessman Guilherme Araújo. It is in this apartment, according to the biopic, that the singer’s mother, Mariah, appears unannounced to take care of her daughter. Before São Luís, Gal had lived in a studio apartment on Avenida São João, also in the central region.

RECORD THEATER

It was at the former Teatro da Record, now Teatro Renault, on Avenida Brigadeiro Luís Antônio, that Gal sang, in 1968, “Divino, Maravilhoso”, an explosive milestone in the change from the discreet and shy girl to the artist symbol of Tropicália.

With a black power hair It is wearing a tunic decorated with mirrors, she won over the audience at the IV Festival of Brazilian Popular Music with the chorus “It’s necessary to be attentive and strong”, from the song composed by Caetano and Gil, and marked, through her posture and lyrics, the position against the military dictatorship.

ALMANARA

Founded in 1950 in the center of São Paulo, the Arabic food restaurant Almanara appears in the film as the setting for an interview in which Gal becomes irritated with a journalist due to questions about his personal life. The scene shows the singer’s reserved personality, one of her hallmarks throughout her career.

BAR

In a typical bar in São Paulo, Gal and other tropicalistas plan their move to Rio de Janeiro. Caetano and Gil had been arrested, and then exiled, the atmosphere was heavy. Gal, according to the film, was called lice on the streets. In Rio, she frequents a stretch of Ipanema beach that is nicknamed “Dunas da Gal” and performs the iconic show “Gal a Todo Vapor”, known as “Fa-Tal”, at Teatro Tereza Rachel, in Copacabana.

The section of “Meu Nome É Gal” covers the beginning of Fa-tal’s career and success. After that, the singer lived in Rio, Bahia and returned to São Paulo, where she died, aged 77, in November 2022.

Gal was buried at the Venerable Third Order Nossa Senhora Carmo Cemetery, in Consolação, in a tomb that is often visited by fans.