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

by Rosa Lowinger

Rather than sell Tropicana, Martín and his brother Pedro came up with another plan to make the cabaret the premier tourist attraction in Cuba. “On January 15, Tropicana inaugurates its special service with Cubana de Aviación,” reported Show in its January 1956 issue. The flight, known as the Tropicana Special, was a weekly charter aboard a forty-six-seat Lockheed Constellation. It was part of a package deal offering the flight, dinner, and drinks at Tropicana, a room at the Hotel Nacional, and breakfast, all for $68.80 (around $500 today). The best part was the flight itself. The plane was outfitted with a tiny six-foot stage beneath an Arcos de Cristal-style proscenium arch at the front, and the seat covers bore the Tropicana name and ballerina emblem. It was a miniature version of the cabaret, a cabaret-in-the-sky, with all the elements of Tropicana’s entertainment except gambling. As soon as they were airborne, the passengers were served frozen pink daiquiris. A row of lights came up from underneath the arch and a gold lamé curtain opened to reveal a quintet of musicians in ruffled-sleeved shirts. The pilot throttled back to lower the noise of the engines as the conjunto launched into a blazing cha-cha-cha on trumpet, drums, guitar, maracas, and a sixty-six-key piano specially designed to fit in the confines of the cabin.