Tropicana: The Paradise Under the Stars That Dazzled the World

In the neighborhood of Marianao, on the outskirts of Havana, there exists a place where Cuban nightlife reached its highest artistic expression. The Tropicana, known as “Paradise Under the Stars,” has been for over eight decades the most iconic stage for Cuban entertainment — a place where modernist architecture merges with music, dance, and tropical exuberance.

The Origins: From Edén Concert to Tropicana

The story begins with Víctor de Correa, a Cuban impresario who operated a nightclub called Edén Concert in the late 1930s. In December 1939, de Correa moved his company of singers, dancers, and musicians into a converted mansion within Villa Mina, a 36,000-square-meter estate owned by Guillermina Pérez Chaumont.

The natural setting of the tropical gardens was perfect for an outdoor cabaret. With a fanfare from the Alfredo Brito Orchestra, the venue — rechristened as Tropicana — opened its doors on December 30, 1939.

Martín Fox and the Transformation

The real leap came with Martín Fox, a gambling entrepreneur who rented table space in the Tropicana’s casino. By 1950, Fox had taken full control and had an ambitious vision: to turn it into the most spectacular cabaret in the world.

Fox hired architect Max Borges Jr., fresh from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, to design a revolutionary expansion. The result was Los Arcos de Cristal (The Crystal Arches), an indoor cabaret that opened on March 15, 1952, and forever changed entertainment architecture.

The Crystal Arches: A Modernist Masterpiece

The Arcos de Cristal consist of five parabolic arches of thin-shell reinforced concrete with glass walls that create a seamless integration between the indoor space and the tropical gardens. The furniture was designed by Charles and Ray Eames, the legendary American designers.

The structure won the Annual Prize from Cuba’s National College of Architects in 1953 and was included in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) exhibition Latin American Architecture since 1945 in 1954, as one of only six Cuban buildings selected. It can even be seen in the film Our Man in Havana (1959).

With a seating capacity of 1,700 between the indoor salon and outdoor areas, the Tropicana offered an unprecedented experience: shows featuring over 50 dancers performing among royal palms beneath a canopy of stars.

The Golden Age: Glamour, Music, and Celebrities

During the 1940s and 1950s, the Tropicana was the undisputed epicenter of Havana’s nightlife. In an era when Cuba was the favorite destination of Hollywood and the international elite, the Tropicana’s tables hosted Marlon Brando, Ernest Hemingway, Rita Hayworth, and Nat King Cole, among others.

The shows combined the best of Cuban music — son, mambo, rumba — with elaborate choreography, dazzling costumes designed by Juan Emilio Daudinot, and staging that used the tropical landscape as a natural backdrop.

The orchestras that played at the Tropicana read like a who’s who of Cuban music: from the Alfredo Brito Orchestra to legends like Benny Moré, Celia Cruz, and Arsenio Rodríguez.

The Revolution and Beyond

When the Cuban Revolution triumphed in 1959, the casinos were shut down, but the Tropicana survived as a state-run cultural institution. While other cabarets disappeared, the Tropicana continued operating, adapting to new circumstances while preserving its essence: Cuban entertainment at its finest.

In 1992, the American Academy of Restaurant Industry honored the Tropicana with the “Best of the Five Stars Diamond” award as the best cabaret in the Americas, validating more than half a century of artistic excellence.

The Tropicana Today

The current show, “Tambores en Concierto” (Concert Drums), choreographed by master Tomás Morales, is a visual ballad through Cuba’s most authentic rhythms: rumba, mambo, danzón, danzonete, and Latin jazz, celebrating the Spanish and African heritage that defines the island’s musical identity.

The Tropicana is also on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list, recognizing both its architectural value and its cultural importance as a living space for Cuban artistic tradition.

More Than a Cabaret

The Tropicana is not just an entertainment venue. It is a living monument to Cuba’s capacity for creating beauty, fusing traditions, and turning the night into art. From its humble origins as a bohemian club to its consecration as architectural and cultural heritage, the Tropicana embodies something essential about Cuba: the conviction that spectacle, music, and joy are as fundamental as bread itself.

More than 85 years after that first night under the stars of Marianao, the palms still sway to the rhythm of the drums. And Paradise remains open.

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Interested in the music that played at the Tropicana? Read about Cuban son, Benny Moré, and Cuban rumba.