Hardcover Book - In English only. Ex Library book that looks that it was never read. Clean as coming out of the print shop.
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 risque 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."
HardcoverPublisher:
Houghton
Publication Year:
2005
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780151012244
435 Pages , Size. 6 X 9
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., PRAISE FOR TROPICANA NIGHTS "An entertaining
and vividly written book rich with anecdotes and history, Tropicana
Nights is not only an homage to the glory days of Havana night-life in
pre-Castro Cuba and the wondrous people who made it possible, but
provides the reader with an exciting and detailed portrait of that most
famous of venues. It's a book that will please all readers interested in
the history of music and of Cuba itself."--Oscar Hijuelos, PRAISE
FORTROPICANA NIGHTS "An entertaining and vividly written book rich with
anecdotes and history,Tropicana Nightsis not only an homage to the glory
days of Havana night-life in pre-Castro Cuba and the wondrous people
who made it possible, but provides the reader with an exciting and
detailed portrait of that most famous of venues. It's a book that will
please all readers interested in the history of music and of Cuba
itself."--Oscar Hijuelos
Lccn
2005-002398
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