The famous Argentinian producer Cris Morena presented her new project Floricienta in 2004, the show became one of her biggest international hits alongside Rebelde Way.
The title, Floricienta, is a mix of Flor (the main character, Florencia, nickname) with Cenicienta (Cinderella). Floricienta was a modern re-telling of Cinderella and The Sound of Music. The story was especially developed by Morena as a starring-vehicle for Florencia Bertotti which was cherry-picked by the producer.[1]
There are a few similarities between the show and another Cinderella modern re-telling, the movie A Cinderella Story such as the Converse sneakers instead of the glass slipper, but the movie and the show were in production at the same time. (Floricienta premiered on El Trece in March 2004, while the movie debuted in the United States in July).
Floricienta was critically acclaimed for its fun storyline, dialogue, creative editing, post-production and the charisma of the main actress, Florencia Bertotti. It became the biggest licensing brand in Argentina in 2004 and 2005. Over 300 licensed products were available during the shows two-years run and even Floricienta branded apples were put on market.[2]
Floricienta started with 14 points in its first episode. The show achieved ratings of over 30 points with the death of Federico at the end of the first season, being one of the most watched Morena's hits in history. The first season was the highest-rated afternoon-slot show in El Trece history.[3]
After the huge twist in the end of the first season, many fans of Federico did not like how the story turned out after his death and drifted away from the show. The ratings for the second season suffered because of that, but the show continued to be huge and won its time-slot. The TV show ended with Florencia's marriage in front of a huge live audience and the finale was also a hit, with 25 points.
Floricienta, like most of Morena's productions, had a huge Broadway theatre style live musical in Teatro Gran Rex during the Winter vacations. Demand for tickets were extremely high with some concerts selling out in less than five minutes. In 2004, to satisfy the demand, the cast played two concerts at José Amalfitani Stadium with over 80,000 people attending.
In 2005, another musical was done and it was also a huge success with tickets selling out in minutes. Because of this, eight extra shows were played in Estadio Luna Park stadium in Buenos Aires. After the show ended, the complete cast (with the exception of Fabio Di Tomaso who pulled out after disagreements with the production company) waved goodbye in front of 40,000 people at another sold-out concert at José Amalfitani Stadium. The musical was also presented in Rosario, Santa Fe, La Plata and Mar del Plata.
The two Floricienta albums were also very successful, with the first album being the third best-selling album in 2004 and the 10th best-selling album in 2005 and with the album from the second season being the biggest seller in 2005 according to Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers.
Floricienta was also a huge success in most of Latin-America, where it was aired by many local channels and at the Disney Channel.
The cast made a series of successful shows all over Latin America. The show cast also made sold-out concerts in Tel Aviv, Israel where they performed in front of thousands of fans. Over 1 million people attended Floricienta tour in Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Israel, Guatemala, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Bolivia among many other territories.[4]
In 2004, a Brazilian version was produced, named Floribella. It doubled the ratings of Rede Bandeirantes at its timeslot, over 40 products were released and the two CDs achieved platinum certifications. In 2006, a Portuguese version was also aired at SIC and was a massive hit. The first CD was one of the most CDs sold on the Portugal's story and over 150 products were released in the country. Because of the massive success of the show, SIC bought the rights to 3 other Cris Morena shows: Alma Pirata, Rebelde Way and Chiquititas (aired in 2007).
A version from Chile (also called Floribella) was also produced with great acceptance and the Mexican version (Lola: Once Upon a Time) also did well. There was also a Colombian version, the rights were bought for Greece and Russia, among other countries.
In an interview with Radio 10 in February 2009, Morena revealed Disney Channel had bought the rights for an American remake.[5]
Background
Floricienta is loosely adapted from the story of Cinderella (Cenicienta, in Spanish-speaking countries) and also presents some comparisons to the film The Sound of Music. The plot revolves around Florencia (Flor), a poor dreamer. She is also a rash, vivacious, cheerful and happy Italian Argentine girl whose life changes when she meets Federico Fritzenwalden, the older son of a very rich German Argentine family whose parents died in an accident. Federico is the older brother and head of the family and has 5 younger siblings (Nico, Franco, Maia, Martín, Tomás) living under his responsibility in a big house with him. Fede has a bitter, cold, strict, rigid and lonely personality until he falls in love with Flor. But Fede has a girlfriend, Delfina, who wants Federico's money. Federico's brothers hate Delfina, but when Flor comes to the Fritzenwaldens' residence, hired by Fede as the nanny, everybody loves her.
Floricienta was influenced by the original Cinderella story in many ways:
Fede is referred to as "Flor's Prince Charming."
Flor's trademark is her shoes (in the pilot, she loses one of her shoes at Fede's house when she is initially hired as a singer for a party and Fede searches for her).
Flor is helped by her godmother, Titina, throughout the series.
One plot twist is that the villain, Malala, is revealed to be Flor's stepmother, making her rival, Delfina, her half-sister, and Sofía her other half-sister.
Flor claims to see fairies throughout the series.
The fact that Flor is a maid, who marries into wealth and nobility.
At the end of the first season, the show has a big twist.
Federico, after realizing that his fiancée Delfina was lying to him all the time, leaves her at the church during their wedding and goes to Flor. He then dies in an accident while saving Máximo Calderón de la Hoya, who then body swap to Federico's soul. In the second season, Flor falls in love with Máximo and they get married in the end. They have three children and a very strong love that came from the part of Fede inside Max.
Plot
Season 1
Florencia Fazzarino (Florencia Bertotti) is an orphan girl who tries to survive and works in a grocery store, dedicating her free time to her friends in a music band. When the singer leaves, Florencia takes her place in the group and they get a performance at the party organized by the brothers Nicolás (Nicolás Maiques) and Maia Fritzenwalden (Paola Sallustro) at her mansion. It is there where her destiny will forever be linked to that of this family.
For his part, Federico Fritzenwalden (Juan Gil Navarro), the eldest brother of the family, has to return from Germany, where he works, to take charge, in addition to the family business, of his five siblings who have been orphaned of their father and mother. His arrival coincides with the party that her brothers have organized without her consent and it is there where he meets Florencia in the foam and without being able to recognize her. Soon clashes will begin between Federico, of a strict German upbringing, serious and responsible, with his little brothers. And after the escape of her youngest, Tomás (Stéfano De Gregorio), who takes refuge in Florencia's house, there will be a series of misunderstandings that will end up taking Florencia to the mansion to work as a nanny. That is where he will win the affection of everyone: children, young people, service personnel, family friends and the love of Federico, but he will also have against Malala (Graciela Stéfani) and her daughter Delfina (Isabel Macedo), godmother and girlfriend respectively of Federico, who will settle in the house and make life impossible for Florencia, hiding an important secret from her: Florencia is not really the daughter of Fazzarino, but of Alberto Santillán, Malala's dead husband and father of Delfina and her sister Sofía (Ángeles Balbiani). As time goes by, she learns her true identity, but Delfina pretends to have never known it and Malala makes several excuses, to prevent her from claiming her inheritance and them from losing part of her inheritance. Florencia falls madly in love with Federico. Upon being reciprocated by him, they begin a very beautiful and secret love, which becomes impossible when the evil Delfina makes Federico believe that she is pregnant, and then dying due to a very serious illness, under a lie endorsed by a former teammate. Federico's school, the gynecologist Claudio Bonilla (Gerardo Chendo), and by Delfina's real husband, Lorenzo Mónaco (Esteban Prol), who pretends to be a Chinese doctor so that they believe that Delfina is sick.
Florencia convinces Federico to marry Delfina so that he can live as happily as possible before his death. They get married in a civil ceremony, but at the altar, Federico, who had previously discovered all of Delfina's lies, humiliates her in front of everyone by refusing to marry her, calling her a "twisted evil witch" and announcing that he loves Flor. They plan to go on a trip together but their love takes a tragic turn after Federico's heroic death in an accident in which he intervened to save the life of Count Máximo Augusto Calderón de la Hoya (Fabio Di Tomaso). In any case, Federico will have a brief time inside Máximo's body, to say goodbye to his great, unique and painful love, and to leave his brothers in charge of the Count, instead of Delfina. Thus the season ends with the meeting in the foam of Florence and the Count, just as it happened when she and Federico met. Finally this happens when Federico leaves Máximo's body to go permanently to heaven.
Season 2
After the death of Federico (Juan Gil Navarro), Florencia (Florencia Bertotti) meets the Count in the foam, who is to blame for Federico's death since the latter saved his life so that he would not be hit by a car. There is a video that Federico had recorded deceased inside the Count's body, saying that he was in Máximo (Fabio Di Tomaso) and that Flor had to wake up her sleeping heart. Máximo feels that something strange is happening to him because of the irremediable love he has for Flor as if he knew her from another life. Added to this are the ability to handle helicopters, good handling of the foil and love for the Fritzenwalden family.
Florencia and Máximo will have to overcome obstacles to live their love story; starting with her refusal to accept a new man in her heart after having lost Federico, the love of her life. On the other hand, Delfina (Isabel Macedo) wants to win over Máximo to keep his fortune and be Countess of Krikoragán, so Flor and Max will have to face situations such as the supposed bone marrow donation made by Delfina to Ana (Claudia Lapacó), Máximo's mother and the supposed illness she is left with after this donation, among other things.
But Máximo falls in love with Florencia and Delfina will put a series of obstacles in place to prevent her happiness and Florencia from collecting Santillán's inheritance. She will also confuse Florencia with these obstacles, making her feel guilty about her relationship with Máximo. But the force of destiny, fairies and the magic of Florence will be with them. In the end, Flor collects the inheritance and Malala (Graciela Stéfani), Delfina and Bonilla (Gerardo Chendo), end up in jail for hiding the truth, for falsifying a DNA test and for the attempted murder of Flor when they went to a day camping. Florencia becomes pregnant by the Count and triplets named Federico, Andrés and Margarita are born. Delfina kidnaps Margarita and realizes that that baby could have been hers if she hadn't been so bad and she didn't hate her husband. She returns Margarita by ending her great evil and becoming good. At the babies' baptism she asks for forgiveness for her wrongdoing. Franco (Benjamín Rojas), upon discovering that he is adopted, returns to Olivia (Brenda Gandini) and they go on a tennis tournament tour abroad. But after fighting with Olivia he returns home. Finally they reconcile. Finally, Florencia and Máximo (who renounces his title of Count in order to marry Flor) marry in a beautiful and luxurious wedding, filmed live at the San Isidro Racecourse.
Cast
Florencia Bertotti as Florencia Fazzarino Valente/Florencia Santillán Valente
Ven a Mi by Franco and Flor, it has an acoustic version too
Mi Vestido Azul by Flor, it has an acoustic version too
Kikiriki by Facha and Flor
Por Qué by Flor, it has an acoustic version too
Quereme Sólo a Mí by Delfina and Flor
Y Así Será by Flor and Federico
Floricienta by the cast of Floricienta, opening song
Y La Vida by Flor and Federico
Tic-Tac by Flor
Los Niños No Mueren by Flor
2ª temporada (Second season)
Corazones al Viento (by Flor) (Opening song)
Cosas que Odio de Vos (By Flor and Maximo)
Flores Amarillas (By Flor)
Que Esconde el Conde (By Flor)
Desde Que Te Vi (By Franco)
Ding Dong (By Flor)
Un Enorme Dragón (By Flor)
Caprichos (By Delfina)
Vos Podés (By Flor)
Te Siento (By Flor)
A Bailar (Cast Floricienta)
Hay un Cuento (By Flor)
Also performed in the series' episodes but instead found in the Theater 2005 CD are:
Algo de Tí (by Lorenzo)
Contigo amigo (by Tasos)
Tú (by Flor and Maximo)
Close cover (by Wim Mertens)
Theater 2004
Solo mio (By Delfina)
Laberinto (By Franco, Fede and Flor)
Theater 2005
Yo creo en milagros (By Flor) (Same music of "Los niños no mueren")
Miau miau (By Franco) (Same music of "Kikiriki")
Princesa de la terraza (By Lorenzo)
Products and live shows
The producers, CMG/RGB Entertainment, have launched CDs, DVDs, and a huge range of products trademark, and licensed merchandise. They also produced live shows presenting the main actors of the TV show in a musical-play related to the program's plot. Floricienta, the live show got a high rate of acceptance and massive audience going to each live show in tour in Argentina, all of them got sold-out in minutes, and moreover, due to the high rates of audience at international levels, they launched the tour by visiting other countries overseas as well.
Tour
Floricienta and her music band transcended TV screens and offered live performances in theater play- format (in Argentina) and concerts-musicals format including almost all the cast in many Latin American countries and in Israel. During these successful tours, actors could meet their fans face to face, gave interviews, TV and radio reports, press conferences, awards for records delivering, etc.
2004-2005
During these years Floricienta presented successful live shows in Argentina.
2005
Floricienta was successful in Israel in 2005.
2006
The Tour of Dreams 2006 visited many countries with sold out records in the most important cities of these countries:
Guatemala: Guatemala City
El Salvador: San Salvador
Dominican Republic: Santo Domingo
Panama: Panama City
Peru: Lima
Venezuela: Maracaibo, Valencia, Caracas
Ecuador: Quito, Guayaquil
2007
Two and a half years after this soap opera ended, Floricienta:The Tour of Dreams 2007 visited Mexico for the first time. Even though the time distance, it had such a great success and acceptation of the Mexican audience, Floricienta: The tour of Dreams in Mexico, was absolutely profitable to stir up Floricienta's feelings fans. This tour was presented in these important Mexican cities:
Guadalajara
México D.F.
Monterrey
Puebla
Querétaro
San Luis Potosí
Veracruz
CDs
Floricienta has so far 7 CDs. These are:
Floricienta y su banda [2004]
Floricienta y su banda karaoke [2004]
Floricienta [2005]
Floricienta karaoke [2005]
Floricienta especial navidad - Christmas special edition [2007]
Floricienta princesa de la terraza - The balcony princess [2006]
Flori 100 ta: (especial 100 programas primera temporada) - Special celebrating 100 episodes.
Especial 300 programas (especial 300 programas de la segunda temporada) - Special celebrating 300 episodes (Second season).
Floricienta & The Count's wedding:Thousands of Floricienta's fans attended to this fiction wedding show, where they could see their favorite actors for real in the same place and time. The "ceremony" seems so real due to the fact it was the first time a soap opera included fans on a wedding ceremony as audience in a real set, which was a famous stadium located in Buenos Aires City. Thousands of excited fans witnessed the famous happy ending fairy tale's style final episode shoot in a super production with a crowded live show including all Floricienta's cast, lively recorded and broadcast in the final episode.
The kisses corner: TV program regarding Floricienta. It was weekly broadcast in Venezuela. The program presented reports and other items regarding the plot in its first season, characters, actors biographies, contests, etc. "The kisses corner" was attended by Floricienta's fans, making this show an interactive program.
