Supper Clubs and the Singing Waiters
Early exiles also founded nightclubs that tried to reproduce 1950s Havana nightlife such as Les Violins Supper Club and Flamenco Club.
Les Violins Supper Club
The space for Les Violins Supper Club was bought and remodeled by Lalito Castro, Manolo Godinez, and Gustavo Chachaldora in the early 1960s.
During this decade, the restaurant hired many Cuban stars whose first job in exile was as singing waiter or waitress in this "let-it-all-hang-out Las Vegas-style review from Havana in the old days".FN
Nestor Cabell remembers in this interview (42:38 - 43:50) the beginning of this Supper Club, the artists who worked there in the 60s, and the surprise of Anglo-Americans at the shows presented there.
Les violins was bombed by a tear gas canister on May 26, 1968 by Cuban Power, an anti-Castro terrorist group also known as El Poder Cubano which was led by Dr. Orlando Bosch. This is the earliest attack recorded against a cultural organization in Miami because of its supposed links with Cuba.
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