NIGHT CLUB IN THE SKY
Cubana Airlines' Tropicana Special 1957
[REF: CABARET MAGAZINE JANUARY 1957 pp 32-36, 45]
NIGHT CLUB IN THE SKY
Patrons of novel high-flying bistro enjoy the show and
drinks while 10,000 feet above ocean on way to Cuba.
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] MAMBO LINE is
joined by customers as performers snake up and down the aisle in the
plane, when party gets warmed up later.
PHOTO [caption] PASSING OUT SONG CARDS, dancers Gloria and Rolando invite customers to join singing and dancing during flight.
By Henry Durling
THE DREAM of every night club operator is to create an atmosphere that
will hold his customers, keep them from drifting out after a while and
into the spot down the street, and nearly every trick from door prizes
to knockout drops has been tried to accomplish this end through the
years. The most effective method to date, however, has been
adopted in Miami, where people are all up in the air about a new kind
of cabaret that literally sets a new high in atmosphere by whisking its
patrons 10,000 feet into the rarified regions where only birds usually
go.
The fledgling nitery is Cubana Airlines' Tropicana Special, an
innovation in cabaret enterprise that has eliminated all the problems
of drifting patrons.
Jaded night club fans in the famed resort are finding that boredom
banishes and drinks and entertainment have a new zest when enjoyed in
cloudland. As a result, the new nitery in the sky is enjoying a
booming business that is the envy of all its earthbound competitors.
The Special is designed primarily for bon vivants desirous of sampling
the night life of nearby Cuba. It takes off every Thursday from
Miami's international airport. An hour later it sets its happier
patrons down in the balmy air of the land of daiquiris and sex at
Havana's Aeropuerto Jose Marti. In between the bibblers are
treated to excellent drinks, top-notch Latin music, and a floor show
that fills the plane with song and laughter.
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE][caption] DANCING DOWN THE AISLE, vivacious Gloria carries show
full length of cabin, making each patron feel he has a ringside seat as
the plane wings across water to Cuba. Special decor designed for
flight includes seat cloths bearing name and symbol of Tropicana night
club.
page 34
Brainchild of Antonio Montero, stocky, dynamic promotion manager of the
burgeoning Cuban airline, the flying saloon took two months of
preparation before it was unveiled last year. It is currently
being operated in a package deal with Havana's fabulous Tropicana night
club, from which it takes its name.
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] MINIATURE STAGE installed at front of cabin has arch
like that at Tropicana night club, collapsible for easy removal from
plane between special flights to Cuban capital.
Revelers who want to try the thrills of a night spot in the air pay
$68.80 for a ticket which includes the night club flight, an evening
with dinner and drinks at the Tropicana itself, an over-night stay in a
Havana hotel, breakfast, and return flight.
Boarding the special, patrons find each of the 46 seats decked out in a
specially-designed seat-cloth bearing the special's name and
emblem. Up ahead, a gold curtain obscures the front of the cabin,
which has been converted into a miniature stage, set off by a
proscenium arch glowing with concealed lights.
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] OPENING SHOW, Gloria nd Rolando display form which
makes them top attraction in Tropicana floor show, where patrons see
them in adagio and ballroom numbers.
First come the drinks–frozen daiquiris made by a special Cuban recipe
that includes a dash of grenadine, for a festive pink color. You
can't drink too many of these man-sized potions, but you can have as
many as you can drink.
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] MUSIC AND DANCE take up most of show, with aerobatics
of Gloria and Rolando backed up by comic antics and lively music of
Cuban band for package night club trip to Caribbean.
Then as the cabin lights dim, Cruz gives a bilingual introduction to
the show, welcoming the patrons aboard first in Spanish, then in
English. Suddenly, the plane is filled with an infectious,
rhythmic Latin tune.
page 35
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] DANCING DOWN AISLE, Gloria leads band in riotous Conga
line which is climax to show, draws patrons out of seats to join dance,
leaves everyone exhausted. Tight-fitting costumes were selected
to avoid catching seats, brushing patrons during hectic dancing.
[caption] RETURNING TO STAGE, dancers are able to keep footing
because special flight plan followed by plane crew minimizes lurching
of plane, also reduces engine noise so music can be heard. The
band includes specially cut-down piano hidden behind the stage.
The gold curtains whisk aside to reveal five musicians decked out in
fiesta costumes, with trumpet, drums, guitar, maracas and piano.
As the torrid Cuban music pours over them, the audience loses
consciousness of the drone of the plane's four huge engines.
Up ahead, Captain Jesus Lopez Guerrero and his crew are following
special operations plans for the flight –throttling back a little,
bleeding air from the pressurized cabin to reduce engine noise.
As the bright lights and music vibrate aft, they look out over the
dark-blue gulf, scattered woolly clouds and the diamond chain of lights
that are the Florida Keys moving slowly behind.
In the cabin, dancers Gloria and Rolando, an acrobatic dance team from
the Tropicana floor show, have made their entrance. A diminutive,
air-size performer, Gloria opens with a lively cha-cha dance. She
bounces up and down the aisle, carrying the show the length of the
plane, making each patron feel he has a floor side seat.
Some of the lucky males find their hair mussed, their cheek patted as
she passes, and some return the favor. A few find her in their
laps, smiling impishly and bounding out again before they regain their
wits. One or two are invited to dance, and become part of the act
on the tiny six-foot square stage, then return to their seats
red-faced, flustered but immensely pleased.
Women, too, are drawn into the act in this intimate revue as Rolando escorts them forward to dance.
page 36
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] WAITING FOR TAKEOFF, Gloria relaxes in tiny backstage
space just aft of crew compartment in specially-converted plane.
Gloria varies the fares with a sweet-voiced rendition of "Siboney" and
the whole band joins in roaring "El Rancho Grande." The patrons
follow the Spanish songs on little cards distributed for their use,
occasionally are urged to join in a community song.
Other numbers include a series of burlesque bits by a band member who
mimics Maurice Chevalier with a battered straw hat and "Je Ne Sais Pas
Why I Love You Like I Do."
While the show goes on, the plane approaches the Cuban shore, and in
another ten minutes the entertainment reaches its climax. Gloria
leads the whole crew along the aisle, singing and playing, and then
Gloria and Rolando do flashy acrobatic bits as they range the length of
the sky nitery alone. The curtain closes in a crescendo of music,
the cabin lights come up, and another round of drinks is passed before
landing.
Shortly, the voyagers have been ushered through customs and are on
their way by special car to the Tropicana and a continuation of their
fun.
The enthusiastic response of patrons was summed up by a Detroit machine
shop operator who said: "It's like nothing that ever was before.
Think of it–way up there, with a floor show and everything. The
time went so fast you hardly knew you were flying."
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] TOASTING NOVEL ENTERPRISE, aerial night club patrons
enjoy specially-concocted daquiri [daiquiri] cocktails served liberally.
Successful as the novel bistro is, it wasn't born without considerable
in the way of labor pangs. "There were quite a few problems to
work out," says Cruz, who manages the flight as well as emceeing
it. Among the problems faced in launching the special was the
primary one of converting the interior of a Lockheed Constellation to a
night club atmosphere without losing too much payload.
"We had to put in a stage without losing too many seats," explains
Cruz. "We did it by taking out only eight–two seats on each side
of the aisle–and combining that area with part of the service section
just behind the pilot's cabin."
All of the appointments had to be removable so that the plane could be returned to regular service until the next weekly flight.
"We had a collapsible proscenium arch built to hold the curtain and the
lights," says Cruz. "It just folds up and is taken out."
Lighting offered a problem because conventional spotlights would not
adapt to the short throw and cramped quarters on the flight. The
solution was found in fabrication of four units custom-designed for the
job. A special high-fidelity sound system was installed to bring
the music and singing of the performers up front with stage side
fidelity to the rear-seat passengers.
And last but from least was the problem of installing a piano in the
ship. "We had to take a baby upright and cut it down by
one-fourth–from 88 to 66 keys–to make it fit," says Cruz. The
piano is bolted to the plane floor to prevent injury to any of the
performers or six-man special crew during rough weather.
"After we had all the technical details worked out, we had to put
together a show that would fit the conditions of the flight," says
Cruz. "Then it took two weeks of solid rehearsals, flying over
Miami and Havana to accustom the performers to the feel of performing
in flight."
Cruz is ready to admit that all flights are not the satin-smooth rides
of theory, though rough weather is encountered in over-water flights
less often than on cross-country ones. Nevertheless, there is
occasional turbulence.
"Sometimes the plane itself does the mambo, but the show must and does
go on," he says. "And we have never had a dissatisfied customer."
Cruz attributes much of the nitery's success to the fact that, in spite
of its odd shape, it is far more comfortable than most night
clubs. "The seats are more comfortable, and there is room to
stretch your legs. If you get bored with the show, you can put
your seat back and doze off. No one will mind. If you don't
the show is routined so that you see much more of the performers, close
up, than you would in the ordinary night club."
Contemplating the success of its first venture, Cubana is now thinking
of making the Tropicana special a nightly affair, and putting shows on
some of its longer hauls, too, to Mexico, Spain, Haiti and the
Dominican Republic.
The possibility of a night club flight direct from New York is under
consideration also, using three new Viking Viscounts, turbojet liners
recently purchased by the airline.
"It's a new idea that's catching on," says Cruz. "Why not carry it further, onward and upward?"
End of Page
Copyright 1998-2006
Cuban Information Archives. All Rights Reserved.
