Upamanyu Biswas
Created by Chris Brancato, the MGM+ show ‘Hotel Cocaine’ delves into the exploits of Mutiny Hotel and its nightclub amidst the peak of cocaine use in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The show follows the hotel’s general manager, Roman Compte, a Cuban expatriate who is embroiled in the machinations of drug dealers, celebrities, and law enforcement. Roman’s life takes a dangerous turn when he must protect his loved ones while running one of Miami’s biggest nightlife hotspots. As he forges down his path, he must navigate treacherous waters of ambition and power while maintaining his sanity.
While the story centers upon the infamous Mutiny Hotel, the show also looks into the chaotic forces during an era of flowing drug trade and swirling fortunes. Roman’s efforts at managing the club’s activities are made doubly difficult by his interactions with a diverse cast of characters, their agendas, and an intertwined objective. As it takes a trip down memory lane to an alluring period in Miami’s evolution, nostalgia seems to permeate the nightly events shrouded in nefarious acts. The thriller narrative places attention at the center of all action, prompting inquiry into the reality on display and whether it is based on a true story.
Hotel Cocaine Uncovers the Real Manager Behind The Mutiny Nightclub
‘Hotel Cocaine’ is based on real events surrounding Miami’s most notorious nightclub, The Mutiny, which no longer exists. Creator and showrunner Chris Brancato, alongside co-writers Alfredo Barrios Jr. and Kyle Hamilton, scripted their story on Roman Compte, the real manager of The Mutiny in the 70s. Roman’s son, Maurice Compte, was aware of his father’s influential post at the Miami nightclub and his exploits and, thus, brought those experiences to the creator. Brancato took those same elements through the prism of a dramatic retelling with fictionalized elements attached to heighten the stakes and elevate the story further.
Roman Compte was the manager of The Mutiny from 1976 into the 1980s. During that time, he forged a reputation as a fixer of problems. His post at the higher echelons of society meant he came across various influential figures in the narcotic, celebrity, and model business. Maurice, his son, also came in contact with such people and found it a fascinating experience worth telling. On a social media post, he said, “My father was an original Cocaine Cowboy and fixer of all things in that world. I grew up alongside all the icons of the era, Willie, Sal, the Tabraue brothers, and the more prominent leaders of the community – Maurice Ferrer, Ray Corona Jr, The Leon’s.. it was a crazy time.”
The show’s narrative was based on Roman Compte’s life as a manager at the nightclub. However, in the story, he is embroiled in a vicious problem where he must protect his daughter by giving up his brother. This forces him into a corner while also attempting to maintain his power and ambition. Brancato said, “This show has become about many things. It’s about immigration to this country and trying to achieve the American dream. It’s also about a man caught in a perilous moral quandary of trying to save his daughter at the risk of betraying his brother from whom he’s estranged.”
To ensure his portrayal was authentic, actor Danny Pino, who plays Roman, made inquiries about him with his son to get a good grasp of what he was like. “For me, it’s not interesting to do these crime shows unless you can find some interesting new angles,” he said. “So, for example, ‘Godfather of Harlem’ is the collision of organized crime and civil rights, two things that actually don’t really belong in the same sense.” Being at the center of the confluence of a number of high-profile people and businesses, Roman Compte was at the forefront of witnessing everything that happened under the curtains, which makes him a great viewing lens.
How Hotel Cocaine Brings the 70s Drug-Laced Euphoria to Life
‘Hotel Cocaine’ embodies the chaos of the nightlife in Miami in the 1970s, specifically seen through the eyes of The Mutiny nightclub. Creator Chris Brancato has called the show “‘Casablanca’ on cocaine.” The real Mutiny was closed down in 1985 and was also an inspiration in the movie ‘Scarface.’ As such, it becomes a pivotal way to tap into a narrative where the rich and the lawless have come together in a mix of varying agendas. While pleasure is being sold in the market through the beats of loud music and an abundant cocaine supply, it is underneath these practices where the real nefarious practices take root. Everything is layered through a battle between law enforcement and those operating in the shadows.
While sitting down with Series Mania, creator Chris Brancato said, “I was fascinated by that moment in history when you had the counter-culture revolution going on, and what we’re watching is two things; on the one side the pleasure going on at the Mutiny, and at the same time the war that goes on to deliver those [drugs]. Hotel Cocaine might be viewed as the combination of the ‘Me Decade’ with the violence of the drug war going on in Miami.” This proliferation of drugs and the war against it forms a central point of contention between law enforcement and Compte’s managerial life.
The constant disguise of vibrant nightlife and over-the-top shows covers the real things happening in the dark. “The hedonism and the party and the disco and the choreography and the dancing may seem frivolous, but there’s a life and death struggle happening underneath,” said Danny Pino. Yul Vazquez, who plays Nestor Cabal, has a connection to the Mutiny through his sister, who partied there in her youth. He added, “You not only had the cocaine trade flowing through the Mutiny. But you had lawyers, money launderers and intelligence officers. All those roads converged in that little place.”
As a landing net, while there is a heightened sense to the narrative and the comedy at play, ‘Hotel Cocaine’ also taps into issues plaguing society at the moment. It reaches into its thriller, drug conspiracy, to pull at threads that are relevant in the contemporary world. Pino summed it all up: “It sets up I think a lot of what we hope this show is going to be in terms of understanding maybe what we’re going through today as Americans — through the microscope of being able to analyze what happened in the ‘70s and ’80s.”
Read more: Hotel Cocaine: All Locations Where the Show is Filmed
