A Greek restaurant in the small town of Druten in The Netherlands has been displaying a portrait of actress Cherie Gil for two years now to which the owner thought was the American-born Greek Soprano Maria Callas.
Noemi Katuin, a Filipina tourist in Platia, shared her story on Facebook late Saturday. According to her, she asked the waiter why the face of a Filipina actress appeared to be the centerpiece of Platia’s fancy interiors when she recognized the portrait of Cherie Gil hanging on the wall.
“No, that is Maria Callas, the famous opera singer,” the waiter told her.
“I then showed him the exact photo of Cherie from the internet,” Katuin shared on Facebook late Saturday.
Apparently, the restaurant had commissioned the portrait of the American-born Greek soprano to celebrate her Greek heritage. However, the artist they had hired mistakenly copied a publicity photo of Gil in character as Callas in a 2010 Philippine production of the Terrence McNally play “Master Class”.
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| Publicity photo of Platia’s interiors with the Gil-Callas portrait displayed prominently in the background. |
“They were so stupefied to learn they commissioned for the wrong portrait and it’s been hanging here for 2 years! Now they want their money back from the artist who did it! Hahaha!” added Katuin, who posted a photo of herself posing beside the portrait.
