Touring the Balkans and Asia

De gira por los Balcanes y Asia

Once again, internationally famous Puerto Rican actor Osvaldo Rios has attracted new viewers with Kassandra and La viuda de Blanco, telenovelas that have been seen in more than 150 countries worldwide. A chord was touched most effectively among audiences in Slovenia, Bosnia, Greece, Romania, and other countries in the Balkan region as well as in Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and other countries in Asia.

By invitation of Coral Productions, a production company headquartered in Venezuela, Puerto Rican actor Rios was informed by Guadalupe D’Agostino, vice-president of international sales at that company, that he would be undertaking an international promotional tour that would kick off in Greece at the end of next month and make stops in Cyprus, Slovenia, and Malaysia. Rios also plans to make a return trip to a number of countries on the Balkan Peninsula, a decision that was reached as a result of the overwhelming success he achieved last year in Bulgaria, as covered by Escenario.

Success in Greece

“For this purpose, she summoned us and was required to coordinate tours of all of these countries by the end of March. The country that was surprised the most was Greece; for them, it was doubly shocking. It was the first time that a television drama was deliberately dubbed into Greek. Kassandra had always been subject to a “voice-over” process. La viuda de Blanco was already a commercial success, and Kassandra was a success in Greece. For this reason, the televising of episodes will begin in July. I’ll be touring four countries in a span of two and a half weeks in hopes of contributing to the promotion of Puerto Rican talent.” Rios spoke in a loud voice and could hardly contain his excitement.

According to the coverage of Rios’ Bulgarian tour, Bulgarian television stations are in fact the most international among European broadcasters. Programs are televised in French, Spanish, Hebrew, and Arabic, and programming from Brazil and other Latin American countries, Germany, Russia, the United States, and elsewhere are shown. These programs are not dubbed but are instead translated simply as if they were subject to a process of simultaneous interpretation. Regardless, a forceful drama if presented will spread and become popular.


Nevertheless, Rios’ schedule is crammed with frequent transcontinental trips that have recently involved stops in Cannes, Madrid, and Venezuela as well as a flood of appearances and invitations this month. For example, he has appeared in Furor, a prime-time show broadcast by TV-E1, a state-run network in Spain. In addition, the fact that his Internet website (www.osvaldorios.com) has an e-mail contact address is well known, and this arrangement allows him to communicate with his avid fans from many countries.

However, as his official home is situated in Puerto Rico, Rios?who is an actor as well as a singer?is working on the filming of Despues del adios (After Goodbye) under the direction of actress Elia Enid Cadilla. This production features an all-star cast consisting of such notable actors and actresses as Alba Nydia Diaz, Sully Diaz, Norma Candal, Cesar Evora, child actress Daniela Lujan, Carlos Matta, Pablo Alarcon, and Idalia Perez Garay and weaves together five interdependent stories.
In this production, Rios plays the role of Nino del Valle, a famous designer of fashions comparable to the likes of Klein, Gucci, and David Antonio. His character heads a business empire together with his wife Mirella Riollanos, played by the actress Alba Nydia Diaz.

“Nino and Mirella are pivotal characters who desire and love each other but neither has the courage to confront the other about his or her true feelings. My character is affected by a significant personal conflict. He is bisexual, and the first woman whom he has ever felt could be the object of his love is this woman of destiny. While she is passionately in love with him, her many past experiences of being forsaken by others leads her to believe that she could lose everything by opening up to him. This role has presented me with psychological challenges of various sorts because it is not one that involves a classical depiction of a stereotypical homosexual man.
Nino is very much a man and is very sure of himself. He is full of self-confidence and possesses the ability to love both men and women. He also accepts the responsibility that comes with such traits,” relates the actor.
On February 21, Rios will also appear in Hijos de nadie (Nobody’s Children), a Telemundo program produced by Alfredo Herger in which he will play Rafael Garcia, a clinical psychologist working in a psychiatric hospital. The story starts out with a group therapy session taking place on a typical day when this doctor finds out that his wife is dying of AIDS.
“This story is terribly complex and rich in emotions and shades of meaning where the doctor is shown going beyond the domain of therapeutic activities. It is not presented as an all-too-common story of a clinician. The psychologist himself is healed, attains self-realization, and achieves catharsis through his professional activities.
I was especially delighted and surprised to be given the opportunity to work with young actors like Navarrese Jimmy, Jorge Dieppa, Magdaly Cross, Gustavo Rodriguez, and Michelle Deliz and with scriptwriter and producer Alfredo Herger.” Rios, who starred last year in Asesinato en primer grado with Johanna Rosaly on Televicentro, concluded on this note.