Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub [Hardcover]

Rosa Lowinger (Author), Ofelia Fox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 2005

It was to Havana what the Moulin Rouge was to Paris or the Blue Note to New York. The brightest jewel in 1950s Cuban nightlife, Tropicana was a "paradise under the stars" where you could gamble, hear the finest mambo and jazz musicians, and ogle the extravagantly risqué floorshows. Nat "King" Cole played Tropicana; so did Josephine Baker. Americans-celebrities and suburbanites both-were drawn to its kinetic sensuality and tropical setting. And Tropicana remained a uniquely Cuban institution; unlike most Havana nightclubs, it operated free from the American mob's control.

Journalist Rosa Lowinger and Ofelia Fox, widow of Tropicana's last owner, vividly portray the cultural richness and roiling social problems of pre-Revolutionary Cuba and take the reader on an intimate insider's tour of one of the world's most glamorous venues at its most brilliant moment.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tropicana opened in 1939 at Villa Mina, a six-acre suburban Havana estate with lush tropical gardens. It's still going strong, after a number of setbacks, not the least of which was Fidel Castro's squelching of nightlife and other social outlets. After Martin Fox took over in 1950, choreographer Roderico "Rodney" Neyra staged spectacular shows in the club's newly constructed Arcos de Cristal, parabolic concrete arches and glass walls soaring over an indoor stage. Headliners included Josephine Baker, Nat King Cole, Celia Cruz, Xavier Cugat and Carmen Miranda; and celebrity visitors ranged from Brando and Durante to Hemingway and Piaf. Tracing the evolution of this "paradise under the stars" against the backdrop of Cuban culture, politics in pre-Castro Cuba and mob connections, journalist Lowinger (Latina) interweaves the personal stories of Fox and his widow, playwright-teacher Ofelia Fox, who recalls, "It was a life set to music. What could be better?" The superb talents of Cuban music's Golden Age were resurrected in the Oscar-nominated film Buena Vista Social Club (1998), but Lowinger's scintillating chronicle offers an overview—not found in that film—of the florid, splashy era when "Cuba was an endless party, and Tropicana was its epicenter." Photos.
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From Booklist

Lowinger and Fox tell the story of Havana's notorious Tropicana nightclub, the template from which Las Vegas was made after the corrupt Batista regime collapsed, and the Tropicana was closed. In its day the Tropicana was a prime site for gambling, elegance, seeing and being seen--a resort of choice for international gangsters and jet-setters. Readers who enjoyed Anthony Haden-Guest's "biography" of Studio 54, The Last Party (1997), will enjoy comparing the differing modes of showmanship, decadence, and ostentation current in the Tropicana's 1950s heyday to those of 1970s New York's debauched disco scene. Fox married Tropicana owner Martin Fox in 1952 and helped him run it until 1962, when they decamped to Miami. She and Lowinger take pains to establish that the Tropicana was hardly a sleazy Mob hangout but rather a world-class entertainment venue that discriminating gangsters happened to enjoy frequenting. An excellent resource on Cuban popular culture, lavish entertainment, and everyday life just before and just after Castro, this is also an exciting and rewarding read. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (October 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151012245
• ISBN-13: 978-0151012244
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #550,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A page-turning read...., October 6, 2005

By 

Carolina A. Miranda (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub (Hardcover)

You think you've read everything there is to read about Cuba, but you haven't--until you've picked up Tropicana Nights by Rosa Lowinger. This adeptly-written book chronicles the rise and eventual fall of Havana's most glamorous night club. The book follows the lives of its owners, Martin and Ofelia Fox, as they build their "paradise under the stars," with cameos by a veritable who's who of iconic entertainers: Carmen Miranda, Nat King Cole, Josephine Baker and Steve Allen. Woven into the story are sidebars on Cuban music, modernist architecture and regional politics, that, together, come to form a complete picture of Cuban culture in the 1950s. The book also follows Ofelia as she rebuilds her life from scratch in the United States following the Cuban revolution and Martin's death. It's an entertaining, page-turning read with a gripping, personal narrative. And it offers the most striking portrait yet of what it has meant to be Cuban in the twentieth century.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inside the Legend of the World's Greatest Nightclub, November 30, 2005

By 

Three Guys from Miami "Authors of Three Guys... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub (Hardcover)

This fascinating book provides a never-before-seen insiders look at the creation and transformation of Cuba's legendary club, the Tropicana. The Tropicana wasn't just a nightclub and casino, it was a showcase for Cuban music and dance that helped spread Cuban culture internationally.

Anyone who has seen a big Las Vegas "spectacular" production should know that many of the elements we consider "Vegas style" were actually created at the Tropicana in the 1950s by the Tropicana's shrewd owner and the club's choreographer, Roderico "Rodney" Neyra.

The book is written by journalist Rosa Lowinger and Ofelia Fox, the widow of the club's last owner, Martín Fox. The book quite naturally revolves around Fox, a shrewd businessman who navigated the minefield of Cuban politics to create a fantastic entertainment venue that attracted visitors from all over the world.

So many books of this type are as about as engaging as an encyclopedia entry, but this one reads more like a novel. There's plenty of suspense, intrigue, romance, and a cast of characters -- some famous and some infamous -- that come to life in the author's detailed and poetic text.

The book includes a nice section of period photos, and is a compelling read. If you want to know more about Cuban culture in the '50's, this is a book that can't be missed.

Highly recommended.

Also recommended: Waiting for Snow in Havana, Three Guys From Miami Cook Cuban

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indescribably readable and informative, November 2, 2005

By 

Felix Peresechensky "El Cubanazo" (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub (Hardcover)

An amazing story that transports you to Cuba of the 50s. It is informative and extremely entertaining. The descriptions of the shows, the dancers, the empresarios and most importantly the night club itself make you feel a part of it. Absolutely the next best thing to being there. Reads like a novel that you just can't put down.