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Parisien, Hotel Nacional, T 333564/7. Fri-Wed 2100-0230. US$30. Reservations advised. An excellent show that lasts longer than Tropicana and is of an equivalent standard. Salón Rojo, Hotel Caprí, 21 y N, T 333747. US$10. This is a Tropicana-style show with a disco afterwards until 0400; all drinks are included in the admission. Synonymous with 1950s Mafia wheeling and dealing, the Caprí was Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano's turf and in the realms of fiction it was the stomping ground of the mother of all mobsters, Don Corleone. Scenes from the Godfather II were shot in the Caprí, which is closed until the end of 2003 for renovation work. Turquino, 25th floor of the Hotel Habana Libre, T 8334011. 2230-0400, cabarets start at 2300 and 0100. US$15-20. Great setting with amazing views from the 25th floor. The roof opens and you can dance under the stars. The very sleek NY-style bar serves expensive drinks at US$6. Live bands often play to a rather apathetic group of nouveaux riches Cubans and tourists. Unaccompanied males are likely to be fleeced as soon as they walk through the door. Tropicana, Calle 72 No 4504 entre 43 y 45, Marianao, reservations T 270110/279147 between 1000-1600. 2100-0200, closed Mon. US$70 for show and a 3-course meal, or US$60 for the show and a quarter bottle of rum and coke. Since it opened in 1939, the world-renowned Tropicana has become a shrine to tropical sexuality. Surviving the post-revolutionary culling of US neocolonialist symbols of sin, it is now a big tourist attraction. Two hundred dancing queens shake their tassles, ruffle their feathers and let it all well and truly hang out in this fleshy feast. The heavily choreographed routine is performed to tunes that run the gamut of Cuban musical genres. With an open-air setting, known as Paradise Under the Stars, you get your money back if it rains. There is a disco until the wee small hours. It is best to take a tour, which includes transport, as a taxi from La Habana Vieja costs US$12.
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