''Kassandra'' is a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...

written by

Delia Fiallo Delia Fiallo (4 July 1924 – 29 June 2021) was a Cuban author and screenwriter who lived in Miami, Florida. She was one of the most distinguished representatives of the contemporary romance novel, dabbling in various genres which appeared in he ...

and produced by RCTV. The story revolves around a young woman, Kassandra who grows up in a traveling circus among many Romani people. She thinks she is connected to the ethic subgroup not knowing that she is in fact the granddaughter of a rich landowner whose stepson she falls desperately in love with. This love culminates in everyone around Kassandra discovering hidden secrets and her greatly suffering because of it. Kassandra lasted 150 episodes between October 1992 and May 1993, and it achieved a worldwide amount of success outside

. It was extremely successful in its later airings, especially in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, former Eastern Bloc nations,

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, as well as the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

and

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

. In 2008, the show was also remade in Russia as ''Принцесса цирка'' (''Princess of the Circus''). Coraima Torres,

Osvaldo Ríos Osvaldo Ríos Alonso (born October 25, 1960 in Carolina, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican actor, model, singer, and guitarist, who is best known for his roles in telenovelas. He has appeared in several soap operas, including '' Abrazame muy Fue ...

& Henry Soto starred as protagonists with Nury Flores, Alexander Milic, Loly Sánchez, Erika Madina and also Osvaldo Ríos as the antagonists.

Synopsis

The action begins 20 years prior to the actual plot, when a travelling circus sets up on the outskirts of Caracas. Andreina Arocha, the daughter of a wealthy landowner, is awestruck by the clowns, the wild animals, and a Gypsy fortuneteller who relates wonderful things the future has in store. Unbeknownst to Andreina, the fortuneteller actually sees a tragic destiny for her and something mysterious forewarns that their paths will meet again. One year later when the circus returns, Andreina has died of a terminal illness after giving birth to a baby girl. At the same time, Andreina's stepmother, Herminia, an unscrupulous and overly-ambitious woman, discovers that a Gypsy from the circus and her newborn have died during childbirth. Herminia, who has twin sons from a previous marriage and wants them to be sole heirs to the Arocha fortune, plots a devious plan and carries it out with the help of a hired hand. One dark night, he follows Herminia's orders to exchange the infants. In the crib, the lifeless body of the infant Gypsy replaces Andreina's healthy child who in turn is given to the Gypsies. The next day, the circus packs up and leaves town. Years go by. Finally, one day the circus returns and so does Kassandra, who has grown to be a beautiful young woman. According to Gypsy tradition, the woman who raised Kassandra, her supposed grandmother, promised her hand in matrimony when she was an infant to Randu, a rough young man who is now the leader of the tribe. During the first night of the Gypsies' arrival to town, while Randu dances with his future wife, Kassandra's eyes wander to another man. Their eyes meet and become locked in a strong mutual attraction. The man who stares is Luis David, one of Herminia's twin sons. Later the two talk below the starry sky, in the loneliness of the mountainside where they share a magical moment. The following day however, Luis David leaves town without a word. Not long after, his twin brother Ignacio discovers that Kassandra is the true heir to the Arocha fortune and he tricks her into marrying him. The first night of their fateful honeymoon, Ignacio is mysteriously killed by his ex-wife and maid Rosaura, but Kassandra thinks that he has left her. In an effort to discover his brother's assassin, Luis David returns and assumes Ignacio's identity. His suspicions fall on Kassandra, the beautiful young gypsy who knew her husband so briefly and who now believes that Luis David is her husband.

Cast

* Coraima Torres as Andreina Arocha de Rangel/Kassandra la gitana/Kassandra Rangel Arocha/Kassandra Rangel de Contreras *

as Ignacio Contreras/Luis David Contreras *

Henry Soto Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

as Randu * Raul Xiques as Alfonso Arocha * Carmencita Padron as Ofelia Alonso * Nury Flores as Herminia Arocha *

Esperanza Magaz Lidia Esperanza Magaz Jaime (February 24, 1922 – May 6, 2013) was a ''telenovela'' television actress. She played under the name of Esperanza Magaz. Born in Havana, Cuba, Magaz relocated to Caracas, Venezuela, in 1953. She ended up as a well-r ...

as Dorinda * Carlos Arreaza as Tomas * Alexander Milic as Matias Osorio * Hylene Rodriguez as Lilia Rosa Alonso * André Filipe as Transformista Barato * Ivan Tamayo as Hector Quintero * Loly Sanchez as Rosaura Osorio * Fernando Flores as Simon * Veronica Cortez as Yaritza * Juan Frankis as Marcelino * Erika Medina as Isabel * Rafael Romero as Glinka * Cecilia Villarreal as Gema Salazar *

Roberto Moll Roberto Moll Cárdenas (born 19 July 1948) is an actor who is best known for his work on telenovelas. He was born in Lima, Peru. Moll first starred with little roles in many telenovelas, but in 1985 he got a bigger role in the telenovela '' Cr ...

as Manrique Alonso * Mimi Sills as Elvira Alonso * Manuel Escolano as Roberto Alonso *

Miguel de León Miguel Angel de León Lopez (born February 23, 1962) is a Venezuelan actor. He is better known simply as Miguel de León. He has acted mainly in telenovelas, which garnered him international fame across Latin America, where the genre is popular, ...

as Ernesto Rangel * Saul Martinez as Doctor * Nelly Prigoryan as Verushka * Lupe Barrado * Ron Duarte * Pedro Duran as Calunga * Eduardo Gadea Perez as Judge * Margarita Hernandez as Norma De Castro *

Maria Hinojosa Maria de Lourdes Hinojosa Ojeda (born July 2, 1961) is a Mexican-American journalist. She is the anchor and executive producer of ''Latino USA'' on National Public Radio, a public radio show devoted to Latino issues. She is also the founder, pres ...

* Felix Landaeta as Lic. Carrion * Frank Moreno * Julio Mujica * Jose Oliva as Lic. Olivera * Carlos Omana

References

External links

*
Opening Credits
{{RCTV telenovelas 1992 telenovelas RCTV telenovelas Venezuelan telenovelas 1992 Venezuelan television series debuts 1993 Venezuelan television series endings Spanish-language telenovelas Television shows set in Venezuela