Summary

In her letter to her daughter, Clara, María describes Uncle Pio as disreputable and moth-eaten but speaking the most delightful Spanish, which he learned on the stage.

In an editorial summation, Uncle Pio is described as the Perichole’s maid, singing master, coiffeur, masseur, reader, errand boy, banker, and father figure. Since the actress could not read she had to memorize her part in two to three new plays a week, and few of the plays were repeated more than four times in a season.

Uncle Pio, in the modern sense, “discovered” Micaela Villegas, a 12-year-old girl singing awkwardly in cafés under the name Camila Perichole. During her teen years he taught her all he could. Initially they were always on the road; she performed where she could and they both accepted what manual labor could be found to support themselves. But Camila Perichole...