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The Tropicana Club – Havana, Cuba

This venerable institution (started in 1939) still puts on a great show even if it’s no longer in its hey-day.  If dancing in fancy headdresses, sequins, tiaras, and boas are your thing, this is the place to be.

The Tropicana used to have a casino and was the place for jet-setters in the 1940s and 1950s to see and be seen.  It’s more of a tourist attraction these days, and the style of the show here can now be seen in Vegas, but this is the original and well worth the visit.

If you go, try to pick a night that it is unlikely to rain. I was unlucky enough to go on a day when it was rained out and the whole spectacle took place indoors.  It was cramped and hot and sticky and started very late.  If it is not raining, you will be outside, which has its own deficits, but you’ll have a bigger space and a better-decorated stage.

Our tickets came with dinner prior to the show which was in a nice setting but the food was dry, cold and bland, but the dining area was interesting, so I guess it was worth it.  Our package also included rum and a can of coke during the show, but there was far too little coke and we only got a few ice cubes and no amount of asking could get us more of anything.  Maybe bring your own coke and ice cubes if you can.  Someone took most of a bottle home.  I can hope that the service is better if you are outside, but I wouldn’t count on it.  Warm rum with a splash of coke just isn’t very satisfying in the heat.

The dancers were fabulous and the costumes outlandish  – just as one would think.  And that was why we were there.

So go to enjoy the dazzling show, and don’t expect much more 🙂

If you want to learn more about the Tropicana Club, this is a book about it: