Hello out there in TV and Flamenco Land!

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all. It's over, thank heaven!
But there are still a lot of left overs in the fridge. I celebrated my 72 birthday this Thanksgiving! 72!!!! Luckily, I don't look or act that age. In a way that's good, but it works against you when you audition for character roles calling for your age range. One casting director just looked at me and said "Seriously??". He thought I was in my fifties. Oleee! Nice, but I didn't get the call back. My agent said they called her and said I just didn't look 68! So, There are good things about Not looking your age, and bad things about it too.

I get a kick out of the younger people I see on the buses these days. Little girls trying so hard to look older, sexier, and "with it". That's all well and good until they say something. Then it's gone! They don't know how to converse. The guys are the same also. Yeah, lookin' good in that jacket but the minute the mouth opens, it's a shattered illusion! If you kids want to be really cool, stop texting, put the phones down and converse! Be polite! Show you have manners! Make intelligent conversation.
Yeah, and uh huh don't make it anymore.

So, still "flamencoing" at Cafe Sevilla in Long Beach on Saturdays, WHEN they have a show. Did one two weeks ago, and was scheduled for tonite, but it got canceled Weds. afternoon! I had received a call from the San Diego Sevilla to do THIS Saturday there, but turned it down because I had booked Long Beach. Pos me quede sin nada!!! No more, no More! Next Time Cafe Sevilla San Diego calls, I'll be there!! Hell or High Water. They don't cancel. They're packed all the time. The Cafe Sevilla in Long Beach doesn't advertise their flamenco shows at all. Just a bi-line on their page. You have to look very hard to see it. What do they expect? I told the guy that books us that I was going to have to return the turkey I bought for Thanksgiving dinner. But it was now stuffed. He didn't make a comment! Flamenco is a hard sell item. You gotta advertise it like crazy to get a decent house. But the managers know more than the dancers, right???

Our Student recital/Flamenco Bravo Performance is set for Sunday, August 26Th, 2012 from 2:00-6:00 PM. It looks like we're going to end up doing it here at the house in my back yard. It's got a lot of room. Enough room for a tent, tables and chairs to sit 160 people, a portable raised stage 16X24 feet, A Sangria and food bar.
I have been contacting various Spanish Caterers to do a couple of outdoor Paellas, with the huge paelleras, tapas, and salads for those who want to eat. The price for the two 40 minute shows will be $30.00, shows only! . We haven't set the price for the dinner, or tapas yet. Still looking at different caterers. Surprisingly enough, some of them don't respond to the phone calls or emails. At least a "no thanks, we don't cater" message would be nice.

FLAMENCO NEWSFLASH!!!

The Flamenco Artists in the Professional part of the August 26th show will be Flamenco Dancers Rina Orellana, Mizuho Sato, Juan Talavera and Ryan Zermeno. Guitarist will be Jose Tanaka, and Flamenco Singer Jesus Montoya, if he's in town. That Flamenco Lineup should prove to be a knock out, drag out Flamenco Show! For the Student part of the the show,
Santiago Prechtel will be the guitarist, along with Ana Quintero singing. Some of my Palm Desert Students will also be joining us to do the show.. Fun!!!

We did this show at the Laguna Hotel a few weeks ago as part of the Irvine Flamenco Festival. The caterers, servers and chefs there said that our show was the best organized, and the strongest they saw. THEY saw all the different shows!

I had never worked with Rina Orellana until that time, and it was great. Mizuho is of course a joy to work with. We know that!!!
Jesus Montoya outdid himself of course. So I thought ok, let's do this show for the Professional part of the Recital. With the addition of Guitarist Jose Tanaka, and the dancing and cajon playing of Ryan Xermeno, we got it down, folks!

I'll start taking ticket reservations after the first of the year. Let's get through Christmas. Remember $30. for the shows only.
Paella Dinner, Tapas and My Sangria which kills will be additional. Seating will be very limited. 160 People only can be seated.
for the dinners.

I plan to have the student show first, then an intermission so the guests can eat drink and shosh. The Flamenco Bravo Show! after that, and then we can all sit around, eat paella, tapas and drink Sangria and have a little juerga?? Interested??? Let me know.

You should know I auditioned for the part of a (ahem!) older vampire, a la Vincent Price (Remember Him?) for a national TV commercial. Yep!!! Vampires are now doing commercials. The breakdown said to go "all Out" for this. Teeth, Cape, snarls,hair, etc.,
Well I did vampire makeup! Made myself look very pale, did my eyelids in red, darkened the eyebrows, and sunk in my cheeks.
apparently vampires are anemic looking because they don't eat food. Go figure. It was great fun, but as it turned out, I was the only one that went "all out!" some guys slicked their hair, one wore a cape, and one, a black guy I auditioned with had the teeth. I didn't have time to get the teeth or cape, so I figured I'd do the make up instead. Got good compliments from the guys that filmed the auditions, so I'm sitting here waiting to hear if I made the call backs. They're next week. Here's hoping. Actually, I wouldn't mind ending up in one of the two vampire shows on tv. First Blood and The Vampire Diaries are very cool and popular!!!!

We had a familia type belated thanksgiving dinner at my son's Luis's house. It was such a great pleasure to see all the grand kids (6 1/2 of them!) in one room interacting with the adults now. They're all grown up and contribute to the conversations! they're a crazy bunch! but they're polite, well mannered, and can converse. Their parents have seen to it!! It shows. But yet, they're still teen agers. Ole!

So, I'll close for now. Please keep Sunday, August 26th 2012 in mind for the Recital/Show I'm planning. Help me spread the word. For Reservations, call 562-699-7595 and leave a CLEAR message with a complete phone number and area code. The shows will be advertised on Face book, and on Beth Nesta's Flamenco Pages also. Remember, only 160 seats available. We'll try for more, but I have to watch the Fire Department restrictions!

Take Care out there. Un Abrazote!

Juan, The aging Vamp!