Well done, Rose! Bravo!

The family had thought of her as an office professional. She had more than enough conditions: she was studious, intelligent, with very good spelling, beautiful and elegant handwriting. She had also always been orderly, very demanding with details, polite, disciplined, persevering... To all this we had to add beautiful green eyes, a beautiful smile and an impressive figure, enhanced by the good taste in dressing and combing her thick hair. The idea, then, was that as soon as he finished High School—now Basic Secondary School—he would begin secretarial studies.

But, in practice, the way was different.

Apparently the family of little Rosalía Palet Bonavía had not noticed her love of art. She was always a lonely girl who enjoyed, on the radio or on the domestic record player, the voices of important singing figures of her time. Through the maternal line there was a certain relationship with the stage: a brother of the grandmother had been a dramatic actor; a cousin, an opera singer; and the maternal grandfather, theatrical entrepreneur.

Nor had they taken into account that, when she played with her friends, the girl did not occupy the role of mother or aunt, seamstress or teacher. No, she was always the one artist.

As if it were a gift of 15, the young woman asked her family to authorize her to appear as a contestant in The supreme court of art, one of the most listened to spaces on Cuban radio at the end of the 1930s, dedicated to the search for new talent. Today it is considered that that "court" was the most famous contest on Spanish-speaking radio at the time, in which figures emerged who would later be great artists not only in Cuba.

When he signed up to participate in the famous talent show, decided that her given names and surnames were not the most appropriate for an artist. Then she turned Rosalía into Rosita and assumed the surname of the man who had raised her from a very young age, and who had been like a biological father to her: Fornés.. That was how on September 13, 1938, when it was announced in the supreme court of art, For the first time, one of the names that have been mentioned the most in cinema, radio, television, cabaret, musical and dramatic theater reached the Cuban public for the first time... at home, at work, on a bus, on a wedding, in a queue or in the waiting room of a medical consultation, throughout Cuba for more than 80 years: Rosita Fornés.

The first steps

He was born in 1923, in New York. She was only three years old when her mother, Guadalupe Bonavía from Madrid —already divorced from Santiago Palet—, brought her to Cuba, where, once settled, she married the Valencian José Fornés for a second time. With them little Rosalía traveled to Spain in 1933, to try to settle down. But the start of the Civil War precipitated her return to the island. During the voyage, the daughter of the Fornés-Bonavías would make her first public appearance, aboard the transatlantic Manuel Arnus, where he sang the tango for the other passengers silence in the night. The year was 1936. No one imagined that just two years later the long and successful career of that girl would begin.

Rosita Fornés' career began with an intensity that would always be a sign of her passing through theatrical stages, nightclub tracks, television and film sets, and radio studios.

Between 1940 and 1943 he acted in some 20 productions of zarzuelas, operettas and dramatic theater. To this must be added his participation in skits and magazines. Less than a year after his debut on the scene, he the merry widow, the operetta that consecrated her throughout her long artistic life and that, from her first performance, showed that, more than an actress or a singer, she was a true showgirl.

He arrived at the cinema in 1939 with a dangerous adventure, directed by nothing more and nothing less than Ramón Peón, one of the most outstanding founders of Cuban cinematography. In 1942 he repeated the experience, this time with the help of another of the great founders of the seventh art in Cuba, Ernesto Caparrós, in the film music romance.

In those years he was seen in Doll's House, from Ibsen; Our Natasha, by Alejandro Casona, and two other titles that were considered litmus tests for actresses and stage actors for a long time: The Lady of the Camellias, of Alexandre Dumas (son) and Don Juan Tenorio, from Zorrilla. He also did vaudeville, high comedy, cabaret and musical comedies.

Following the prevailing tradition at the time, the beginner —who as a “rising star” of The supreme court of art received basic musical knowledge from Zenaida Romeu, Nena Uriarte or Zoila Gálvez; performance by Enriqueta Sierra and dance by Ernestina Lecuona—had to perfect her skills in the heat of professional work. With these weapons, and the additional ones of singing that she acquired with Mariano Meléndez, the young artist became empowered in the world of the profession she had chosen. And he did it in the heat of work and the strictest discipline.

In 1945 he received a proposal from Mexico to film a film under the orders of Chano Urueta, one of the most famous directors, screenwriters and actors of Mexican cinema, from the golden age of that cinematography until the 70s. After completing the filming of The desire He returned to Cuba, where he would be the central figure of a lyrical art company headed by Mario Martínez Casado.

I was acting with that troupe, when Argentine businessman Roberto Ratti arrived in Havana, looking for talent for a show that he was trying to premiere in Mexico City and where he intended to bring together Argentine, Mexican and Cuban artists. Ratti, of course, was dazzled by the talent and beauty of the young artist and suggested that she travel to Mexico and fill the role of first showgirl of the Modern Magazines Company that he headed in the then called “city of palaces”.

If until now the career of Rosita Fornés was on the rise, with her debut in the magazine American rhythms and songs in the Mexican city there was a jump, an explosion that catapulted it to extraordinary levels of acceptance and recognition.

The showgirl Cuban woman became a goddess, an idol worshiped by multitudes of admirers. In 1947 she was proclaimed the First Vedette of Mexico by the Association of Journalists of that country and, two years later, the Associated Press of the United Mexican States awarded her the title of First Vedette of America. She married José Medel, a very popular and well-known actor and producer who had started his successful career with Mario Moreno. Cantinflas. From this union was born the first and only daughter of Fornés. The big screen welcomed her and she filmed one movie after another, but this did not stop her from being headliners in magazines and other variety shows. He made short tours to other countries in the area and, when everything seemed to be going smoothly, a serious problem arose.

The marriage of Rosita Fornés with José Medel made waters. Tensions of the most diverse nature were damaging that union that seemed so solid. The disagreement reached such a critical point that the showgirl spoiled from Mexico filed for divorce. But the famous Mexican comedian was reluctant to separate from her and, above all, from her daughter. Tensions were rising. So much so that Fornés was forced to leave Mexico in secret, accompanied by her daughter.

This was the darkest moment in Rosita Fornés' personal life, as it seriously affected her artistic career. The doors of her beloved Mexico seemed to have closed on her and shortly after arriving in Havana she met the actor and singer Armando Bianchi, with whom she began a love affair that lasted until his death. The relationship was manipulated by a part of the Mexican press. A tour of the Aztec country, accompanied by Bianchi, further deepened the differences that arose between Rosita and Medel. The conflict was acute and extensive.

However, over time, both Medel and Fornés turned the page on that incident and met again on more than one occasion as good friends. The renewed relationship between them ended when the actor died in 1997, at the age of 91. Mexico also turned a page, and when Fornés returned two decades after the incident, she was received with open arms. For her, the Aztec country and its people always had a very special place in her heart and she made it known. She was a mother there and she never forgot that.

home again

The activity of Rosita Fornés when she returned to Cuba in 1952 was, as always, vigorous and successful. The first thing she did was return to television as an actress and showgirl. In addition, she was part of the cast of a company of zarzuelas and operettas in which Miguel de Grandy and Antonio Palacios conducted their most notorious hits especially for her, while the masters Gonzalo Roig and Rodrigo Prats led the orchestra. Mario Martínez Casado motivated her to return to vaudeville with the company she led at Campoamor. He was also seen at the Tropicana cabaret with Bianchi in a Rodney production entitled The Merry Widows.

La Fornés revisited cinema, this time with four Cuban-Mexican co-productions, filmed in Havana. And he joined television again, where he appeared in great shows like Joy Casino and Partagas Thursday, the two giants CMQTV; in addition to Video-Magazine La Corona and The song tells her story on the same floor. He starred, along with Bianchi, my favorite husband, a space devised by Joaquín M. Condall, based on the American television comedy I love Lucy which achieved high ratings.

All this great presence on television ensured her immense popularity and led her to obtain —along with Bianchi— the coveted title of miss and mister television 1953, barely a year after his return to Havana.

A season in Spain

In September 1957 Rosita Fornés and Armando Bianchi traveled to Spain. They made their debut in Barcelona, at the Teatro Calderón, where they shined in cute mystery, a musical with original pieces by Augusto Algueró. After other presentations they went to Madrid, where Rosita caused a sensation with The seven capital sins —also with music from Algueró—, a challenge for any artist, since he played seven characters. The stay in Spain lasted for two and a half years, and during that period he stepped on the stage of the Madrid, Calderón, and Alcázar theaters, until in February 1959 the couple returned to Cuba.

Twenty years is enough; twenty four, too much

After filming in 1960 the Spanish-Puerto Rican tape palmer is dead and staying on the Island —literally— trapped by political circumstances, Rosita Fornés did not return to the cinema until 1984, the year in which what can be considered —together with supporting roles, by Orlando Rojas— the best of his entire filmography: is swapped, by Juan Carlos Tabío.

He spent 24 years without filming due to political imperatives and a discriminatory position of a cultural nature — an attempt was made to promote a new latin american cinema from Havana and the showgirlsApparently they didn't fit in it. But she did not give up: she continued to be the most vivid expression of glamour, demode, feathers and sequins, despite the positions that cataloged all this as something too rooted in the past.

The absence of Fornés from movie theaters did not overshadow, however, her character as a national idol. Instead of shrinking from this absurd situation, the artist headed a great weekly show on television; She had a frequent presence in the selections of carnival stars in almost the entire Island and also appeared as a singer and actress in radio programs with high audiences such as tabletop joys. He was absent, yes, from the dramatized programming with the greatest presence and popularity on television. practically only space Theater he called her, and not as often as he might have. If we take into account that it is a period of about 40 years, the number of appearances is really and inexcusably poor.

a difficult relationship

Rosita Fornés's relationship with the Miami public was marked by disagreement. And that public was very relevant for her: it was made up of those in Cuba who had applauded her for years.

This disagreement with Miami and Florida, in general, was provoked by some political sectors of the Cuban exile, representatives —for the most part— of the tension that has been maintained on both shores for more than 70 years.

That distance ended when someone had the happy idea to invite her to a concert without previously announcing her. It was at the Miami Dade County Auditorium during the presentation of the show Great divas sing to the Diegos. That November 10, 2012, when Fornés's performance was suddenly announced, an ovation accompanied her appearance on stage. The public, standing up, received her with the same warmth that she always received in Cuba. That day it was shown that there were more who wanted to see their diva in the theaters of Florida than those who rejected her. And since then it has been claimed several times. His presentations were always an event.

The last public appearance of Fornés was on October 19, 2019 in tribute to Meme Solís for his 60 years of life in music. The composer, pianist, performer, repertorist and creator of unforgettable quartets took her to the Dade County Auditorium as a special guest. We saw a euphoric, vital Rosa Fornés, capable of stringing together memories with the honoree and singing, accompanied on the piano and supported vocally by him.

Some time later it was learned that Rosa Fornés had fallen ill. Her advanced age was already dulling the intense inner strength that had kept her going.

She had come out the winner in her last fight against adversity, by recovering her public from Florida who followed her from Cuba, where she stayed for more than 60 years giving everything to make life more beautiful for Cubans on the island, filling the spaces most diverse, adorning the small screen, reigning in theaters and coliseums.

owner and lady of the cuban At the age of 97, this woman who seemed inexhaustible has left us. All her audiences, wherever they are, will say goodbye to her now with a phrase that crowned all her presentations and that came from the hearts of her eternal admirers, with the mark that only pride and sincerity can leave.

Well done, Rose! Bravo!

But this time the curtain has not fallen. It will always stand tall, sustained by those magical words. As an eternal tribute to a woman who bravely defended the nobility of her sequins.