Manolo Álvarez Mera

Manolo Álvarez Mera (né Manuel Ernesto Álvarez-Mera 7 November 1923 Havana, Cuba – 16 October 1986 New York City) was a Cuban-born tenor who flourished as a bel canto during the latter 1940s and full 1950s. Despite having an operatic caliber voice, he gained popularity signing in operettas, musical reviews, radio, television, vaudeville, and major night clubs of Cuba, New York, and Latin America. He became a Cuban exile in 1960 after the Cuban Revolution.

Álvarez was born November 7, 1923, to the marriage of Manuel Alvarez and Beniana Mera (maiden), in the Luyanó neighborhood of Diez de Octubre, Havana, Cuba. After formally studying voice in Havana, Álvarez debuted in 1943 at the Teatro Principal de la Comedia (Main Theater of Comedy) in Havana, singing the role of Niño Fernando in María O , a one act zarzuela, lyrics by Gustavo Sánchez Galarraga (1893–1934), music by Ernesto Lecuona. Maruja González (1904–1999) sang the soprano role of Mary O. He went on in 1944 to perform at the Teatro Lírico Cubano (Lyric Theater of Cuba), singing in La Plaza de la Catedral (The Cathedral Square), a zarzuela by Lecuona. He sang the same work for radio stations RHC-Cadena Azul and CMQ.

He then went on to perform in several zarzuelas (musicals), including Luisa Fernanda, Los gavilanes , La leyenda del beso , La dolorosa, and Cecilia Valdés, which included singers Maruja Montes (1930–1993), Rosita Fornés (born 1943), Zoraida Marrero (1911–2004), Esther Borja (1913–2013), Sarita Escarpentier (born 1925), Dorini de Diso (1901–1948), Miguel de Grandy, Antonio Palacios, Jesús Freyre, and Gregorio Barrios (1911–1978).

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