Tropicana is to Cuba what the Bolshoi is to Russia, the Moulin Rouge to Paris, or the Blue Note to New York—an enduring cultural mecca.

This definitive biography of the place that was known as Paradise Under the Stars, vividly describes the 1950s nightclub that was part casino, part cabaret and was the only club owned and run by Cubans rather than the American mob. Nat “King” Cole, Liberace, and Carmen Miranda performed there before audiences that included Joan Crawford, Marlon Brando, and Ernest Hemingway. The book portrays the cultural richness and roiling social problems of pre-Revolutionary Cuba and takes the reader on a tour of one of the world’s most glamorous venues at its most brilliant moment.

Rosa Lowinger is a Cuba travel specialist and art conservator known for her knowledge of mid-century modernism, contemporary art, and Cuban culture. She is the curator for the Concrete Paradise exhibit at the Coral Gables Museum and the cocurator for the Promising Paradise exhibit at the Wolfsonian. She has written for ArtNews and Preservation on Cuban art and architecture. 

Ofelia Fox is teacher and playwright who has been twice awarded the Carlos Felipe Award. They both live in Los Angeles, California.