Tropicana Club

Tropicana, also known as Tropicana Club, is a world-known cabaret and club in Havana, Cuba. It was launched in 1939 at Villa Mina, a six-acre (24,000 m²) suburban estate with lush tropical gardens in Havana's Marianao neighborhood.

The Tropicana had an impact in spreading Cuban culture internationally. New York's Tropicana was a Latin music club launched in 1945 by two Cuban restaurateurs, the brothers Manolo and Tony Alfaro, who made it the most glamorous nightclub in the Bronx. On the TV series I Love Lucy, the character Ricky Ricardo (played by Cuban-born Desi Arnaz) was a singer and bandleader at Manhattan's fictional Tropicana nightclub, now recreated in reality in Jamestown, New York at the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center's Tropicana Room. In 2004, the Atlantic City Tropicana opened The Quarter, which attempts to recreate the architecture, atmosphere and cuisine of Old Havana during the 1940s. In its September 1956 issue, Show magazine displayed a four-page spread on Tropicana (1957), a Mexican musical comedy filmed on location at the cabaret and featuring some of the Tropicana's performers.

The spectacular showplace that became The Tropicana evolved out of a Depression-era bohemian nightclub called Edén Concert, operated by Cuban impresario Victor de Correa. One day, two casino operators approached de Correa about opening a combination casino and cabaret on property on the outskirts of Havana rented from Guillermina Pérez Chaumont, known as Mina. The operators felt that the tropical gardens of her Villa Mina, would provide a lush natural setting for an outdoor cabaret. They cut a deal, and in December 1939, de Correa moved his company of singers, dancers and musicians into a converted mansion located on the estate. De Correa provided the food and entertainment, while Rafael Mascaro and Luis Bular operated the casino located in the chandeliered dining room of the estate's mansion. Originally known as El Beau Site, de Correa decided to rename the club Tropicana, because of its tropical atmosphere and "na" after the last syllable of the original owner, Mina. With a fanfare from the Alfredo Brito Orchestra, the Club Tropicana, opened on December 30, 1939. Its popularity with tourists grew steadily until the entry of the USA into World War II, which sharply curtailed tourism to Cuba.

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