CUBAN INFORMATION ARCHIVES




DOCUMENT  0196


[ Main Site Menu ] [ Back to Entertainment Menu ] [ Back to Tourism Menu ] [ Index to Site Documents ]

MIAMI - MIAMI BEACH
NIGHT LIFE GUIDE

1956

[REF: CABARET magazine Dec 1956 page 51]

NIGHT LIFE GUIDE


MIAMI

HOTEL HOT SPOTS


CARNIVAL ROOM (Americana Hotel).  Oceanfront at Bal Harbour.  Opened in November of this year, this is the most fabulous night club this side of the Tropicana in Havana.  It's built on tiers to insure perfect viewing from any of its 500 seats.  The elaborate stage disappears into the wall when not in use.  Big-name performers booked for the winter season by Stanley Melba of the Hotel Pierre's Cotillion Room, who is entertainment director of this $17,000,000 hotel.

LA RONDE (Hotel Fontainebleau), 4441 Collins, Miami Beach (JE 8-8811).  Oval-shaped and gorgeous.  Also expensive (7.50 food and beverage minimum during winter season).  Tony Martin, and performers of similar calibre, booked for the winter months.  New show every week, with performances at 9:30 pm and midnight.  Also two orchestras: one for the Latin tempos; other for the fox-trotting crowd.  Food and service is deluxe.

POMPEII CAFÉ (Eden Roc Hotel), Collins at 45th, Miami Beach (JE 2-2561).  Harry Belafonte, who opened this room a year ago, will be back again this month for another time around.  Similar name performers booked all year.  Room is huge, with a modern-Grecian motif throughout.  Like its counterparts above, the Pompeii's a deluxe spot.  Two shows nightly, at 9:30 and 11:30.  Also, two orchestras.  On the hotel grounds is a popular and less expensive drink and dance spot called Harry's American Bar.

ALADDIN ROOM (Algiers Hotel).  2555 Collins, Miami Beach (JE 1-6061).  New show every night.  Room is dark and intimate, overflowing with Arabian decor.  One show nightly at 11.  Dancing, drinking, but no food.

BLUE SAILS (Sans Souci).  3101 Collins, Miami Beach (JE 8-6861).  Here's one of the prettiest night club rooms on the beach.  It's on the smallish side, quite dark, and very popular.  Small beverage minimum (never more than $3), and specializing in comedians (Phil Foster, Myron Cohen, Lenny Kent).  Two shows nightly, at 9:30 and 11:30.  Latin music for dancing.

PAGODA (Saxony Hotel), 3201 Collins, Miami Beach (JE 8-6811).  Last-minute bookings bring unusual entertainment here.  One month it can be an ice show; the next, a name band.  But the policy of two shows a night, at 9:30 and 11:30, prevails, along with food and beverage minimums for deluxe service in a lavishly-decorated room.

BAMBOO ROOM (Hotel Roney Plaza), 23rd and Collins, Miami Beach (JE 1-6011).  Pleasant lounge on the ground floor of a famed hotel.  Long a favorite hangout of Miami visitors.  Music for dancing.

TOP O' THE COLUMBUS (Columbus Hotel), 312 N.E. 1st , Miami (3-2671).  Patterned after Top O' The Mark in San Francisco, the 16th floor of this downtown hostelry affords an exciting view of Miami, Miami Beach, and environs.  Good food, pleasant guzzling atmosphere in the bar, dancing from 9 pm to midnight.

JAZZOPHILE HEAVEN

ROCKIN' M.B. LOUNGE, 21st and Collins, Miami Beach (JE 1-3733).  Two bands take turns blowing away for the edification of the younger set (but still over 21, because this is still basically a saloon).  Never a cover or minimum.  Open from 9 pm to 5 am.

DREAM LOUNGE (Johnina Hotel), Collins and 71st, Miami Beach (UN 6-6821).  Semi-name outfits make with the jazz, and dance music, in highly-modern, dark club.  Gander the waitresses here (they wear sheer, sheer negligee-type gowns).  Open from 9 pm to 5 am.

STRIPORAMA

FIVE O'CLOCK CLUB, 2002 Collins, Miami Beach (JE 8-1004).  Once this was Martha Raye's private domain, but now that it specializes in striptease there's from 10 to 15 performers in the "take-it-off" lineup.  Burlesque blackouts, too.  Open from 10 pm to 5 am with a continuous show, and a $3 minimum.

GAIETY CLUB, 7800 Biscayne Blvd., Miami (84-3196).  Featuring Zorita and snake dance, one of the most unusual acts in show business.  Plus, of course, a half-dozen additional "exotics."  No cover, no minimum.  Open from 10 pm to 5 am.

JUNGLE CLUB, 3690 N.W. 36th, Miami (64-9151).  Helene Polka has gained national recognition for her off-the-beaten-track peelorium, which features a long list of girls and canned music.  No cover, no minimum.  Open from 10 pm to 5 am.

LIFE BAR, 134 5th, Miami Beach (JE 1-9655).  Oldest peel palace in town.  Striptease and burlesque blackouts.  In-expensive drinks.  Three shows: 10 pm, 12:30 am and 2:30 am.

HAREM CLUB, 636 Collins, Miami Beach (JE 8-9585).  In addition to strips, the Harem offers comedian Lenny Ross as emcee.  He's advertised as "the most shocking act in show business," which may not be entirely true, but he tries very hard.  Open from 10 pm to 5 am.

PIGALLE, 215 22ND, Miami Beach (JE 8-4556).  Home of Dixie Evans, a Marilyn Monroe look-alike, and a flock of attractive strippers.  Newest peel palace in Miami.  Open from 10 pm to 5 am.  No cover, no minimum.

BARFLIES, INC.

BAR OF MUSIC, 427 22ND, Miami Beach (JE 1-0439).  Bald-pated Bill Jordan has operated this place singlehandedly for nearly two decades.  It's a small and interesting spot, off the beaten track, and features serious piano music by Jordan as a solo, and in tandem with Fred Thompson.  Two or three additional acts usually on the bill.  In rear of main room is tiny Key Club for all-night carousing.  Open from 9 pm to 5 am.

BONFIRE, 1700 79th St. Causeway (84-4451).  Western decor, with initials of show business personalities designed into cattle "brands" all over the place.  Very popular, late at night.  It's the last spot to hit on an all-night caravan.

BLACK MAGIC ROOM, 1335 79TH St.  Causeway (PL 4-8897).  Probably the smallest and darkest plush saloon in town.  Nude paintings on the walls, torch songs by Lucy Reed, and plaintive guitar strumming by Michael Strange.  Go late.  Open from 10 pm to 7 am.

MALAYAN LOUNGE, 1810 79th St.  Causeway (89-2173).  Entertainment with a Caribbean flavor.  Shimmies by Bahama Mama from Nassau; Calypsoes by King Richard of Trinidad; and Latin bongo-bongoes by a new group every month.  Wide selection of exotic drinks.  Front of the house is an Italian restaurant.

MURRAY FRANKLIN'S, 23rd at the Ocean, Miami Beach (JE 8-7201).  Wacky wonderland of Miami Beach.  Franklin himself is a very funny guy and runs a little madhouse here, with unpredictable and impromptu entertainment.  This is where Roberta Sherwood was re-discovered last year.  Don't take your maiden aunt.  Open from 9 pm to 6 am but the joint doesn't start jumping until 2 am.

BLACK ORCHID, 1601 79th St. Causeway (PL 8-5247).  Small and intimate, the Orchid is a good late-hour spot to snuggle with a chick you'd rather not be seen in public with.  The view of Biscayne Bay provides conversation material in case you have nothing better to talk about.

End of Page

Copyright 1998-2014 Cuban Information Archives. All Rights Reserved.