Soap operas in Latinamerica are huge. I remember growing up watching all sorts of soap operas, from the funny Brazilian ones (sexy but at the same time with a naive sense of humor) to the more aggresive Mexican or the frankly confusing ( and loooooonnnnnggggg) Venezuelan productions. Some of them where so popular, that literally Panama would stop to watch them. That was the case of Cristal, La Dama de Rosa, and more recently, Betty La Fea which was a Colombian soap opera, now made into Betty The Ugly, a succesful soap opera produced by Salma Hayek.
Well, Panama did not wanted to be left out and started producing its own soap operas, so it has joined hands with the mega production company Venevision. An incredible step for a country with a very small group of actors, most of them without tv experience at all. I get the sense that this will really be like the High School Musical, Panama version, but on the other hand it will incentive more acting students to get into the profession and take it seriously.
Now… for the best part…. their music video “Amor Urbano” (Urban Love) was shot in Casco Antiguo, along with five of the sixty episodes. Making his debut on the small screen is Roberto Blades, brother of the famous salsa musician and actor Ruben Blades. Some of the episodes will include other Panamanian music icons such as Nando Boom, El General and Renato, better known as the predecesors or reggaeton.