Neon Havana

Nostalgia feeds on memories, and memories require light—the more dramatic the better. So believes Adolfo Nodal, the energetic returning emigrant helping to lead the effort to re-light Havana’s dormant neon signs. He told us that this idea informs his love for lucent landmarks that “relate to the old cars on the street—the cars that have become a part of Cuba’s national patrimony, that these signs should be too.” // The Mella theater is perched on one of stylish Vedado’s main boulevards, a few blocks from the sea. Opened in 1952 as the Rodi Cinema, the 1,700-seat theater was renamed after the revolution, in April 1961, for a martyred Cuban communist. To honor Julio Antonio Mella, Fidel Castro’s government also commissioned a neon sign whose bending form echoed both the lines of the Fords out front and the Gaudí-esque curves of the theater’s balcony inside. From that balcony over the years, I’ve caught performances by the greats of Cuban jazz and dance. But it wasn’t until late 2015 that I saw the Mella’s marquee lit up. Its spectacular new sign, restored by Nodal and Havana artist Kadir López, was afforded with the help of some musician friends from New Orleans—the storied Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who donated the funds to build it just before visiting Havana for the first time. // On the night the sign first buzzed alive, the band stood cheering on the sidewalk out front. Then they took the stage, with a troupe of Cuban musicians, and brought down the house.