(lighthearted music) - Will you consider this?

It looks like I have three guests here, but this is the guy who's responsible for these two other little guys.

This is Rick Dienzo Blanco from CasaBlanco Creations.

- Correct.

- And this is a new thing, it's a new gig.

So just fill us in a little bit on what you were doing before the last time you were my guest.

- That's true.

That was a couple years ago, right?

- It was.

- So I was working for Xbox on their consumer products division, and I was the creative director for them and worked on a bunch of different games, including Halo and Gears of War and other things.

(Christine chuckles) And I'd been there for about nine years.

And my contract expired in June, and I decided not to renew and launch CasaBlanco Creative and get into experiences and build- - And nothing like Peoria has really ever seen before.

- No, no.

- Okay.

- So I am leveraging my experience with Disney Imagineering.

At Xbox, we also did some location-based entertainment things with Halo.

And I have notoriously done some Halloween parties here in town- - [Christine] Yes, you have.

- That just kept growing and growing and- - In numbers of guests.

- In numbers of guests.

- Not a... So he has this big, old beautiful house, and he just decorated it to the hilt.

Every detail was perfect.

But for one night for- - Right.

- You know, a couple hundred people, but still.

- So I would spend about two, three months building everything for a party that lasted about five hours.

- Right.

- This is my passion, this is what I love to do.

So, as I kept growing, and every year was a different theme, and I always kept the theme a surprise until people showed up, I decided last year that I actually wanted to take it out of the house and do something bigger, so I was looking for a venue.

Unfortunately, the timing didn't work 'cause I kind of approached it a little later.

So I decided to go dark last year.

And a lot of my friends were upset because there was- - Very sad, yeah.

- No Halloween parties.

- It gave us a reason to dress up.

- Right, right.

- Right.

- We have to create that need and demand for it, right?

- Mm-hmm.

- So, this year, I came at it January 1st and I started looking for a venue.

And I was still unsure if I wanted to buy a place or partner with them or rent it or whatever.

- Oh, this is Halloween.

Now, we never really mentioned it's Halloween, but I guess you could tell- - It is.

- By it, okay.

- Yes, it is a Halloween experience.

- All right, go ahead.

- Yes.

- All right.

- So I was fortunate to be connected with the owners of Obed & Isaac's Microbrewery here in Peoria.

And luckily that venue used to be a church.

- [Christine] It did.

- So it was built in 1889, I believe.

- And it's beautiful.

Big, old stone.

- It's a gorgeous, gorgeous stone exterior, wooden rafters.

And I was like, "Well, this is perfect."

- (chuckles) This is it.

- There's not a lot I have to build in terms of set design.

It's really just kind of decoration and lighting.

And so we came to an agreement, and this will be the first foray of CasaBlanco Creative, and we're calling it the Blood Moon.

The Blood Moon- - The Blood Moon.

- At Obed & Isaac's.

- And so, it's three weekends?

- Correct.

- Starting October 15th, I think it's Thursday, Friday, Saturday- - Yes, yes.

- Each weekend leading into Halloween.

- Exactly.

- And it is kind of a different theme for each of those nights.

So Thursday will be something, Friday and Saturday.

- Right.

- So explain to our audience what that means.

- So, Thursdays is a curated wine and coursed dinner experience.

It is inspired by a number of different vampire movies from "Dracula" and "Nosferatu" and "Blade" and, you know, all kinds of things- - [Christine] Mm-hmm.

- Which have sort of worked their way into the actual wine choices and the food choices and the decor.

So that is being put together through Palate Tasting Room, which is a local business here in Peoria.

And it's going to be awesome.

In fact, we're sold out of the first, or the second and third Thursdays- - Thursdays?

- Have already sold out.

- Already?

Oh.

- So we still have some seating available for- - For the first one.

- For the first one on the 15th.

- All right.

- And then Fridays is Crimson Spirits, which is going to be a haunted cabaret.

So, I get kind of excited for this because- - Are you gonna dance?

- (sighs) I won't be dancing, (both laughing) which is probably a good thing.

But it is going to feature live performances of music.

We have dancers, we have tarot reading, we have actors walking around, all in this beautiful sort of highly decorated and speckled venue.

- All right.

- Yeah.

So there's also a little, and I wanna just layer this before I get to the last night, is that there's a little bit of a narrative.

So, the term "immersive experiences" gets thrown around a lot, and it can mean different things to different people.

But in my experience working in location-based entertainment, when we do these sorts of things, it's really an attempt to get you immersed into something, not just the physical space, but the mindset.

- And you're part of it.

- Yes.

- You own some of it.

- Exactly.

- You got a piece.

- So we've woven a bit of a narrative throughout.

There are Easter eggs hidden in the venue, in some of the marketing materials, a story.

And the notion of it is that the blood moon was witnessed for the first time by an ancient vampire named Vorian.

- All right.

- And so Vorian- - About what year was that?

Okay.

- Honestly, I don't know.

- That you don't know.

- The records don't indicate.

- All right.

(both laughing) Didn't have good scribes back then.

- Right.

- Okay, go ahead.

- So Vorian was the first witness, and it's a supernatural time that sort of pierces the veil between the vampire and the human realm.

- Ah-ha.

- And so during this period, and incidentally, a real blood moon takes place tomorrow.

Now, a blood moon is a lunar eclipse- - Okay, yeah.

- And that creates, you know, a reddish glow around the moon.

- Right.

But we're taping this in August.

- Yes, yes, that's true.

- So this will have already been, all right.

- August 27th.

- So, but yeah.

- [Rick] So you should have seen it by then.

- Okay.

(both laughing) All right, if you're paying attention.

- But the actual narrative in this scenario is that Vorian is the first witness and these events bring all the houses of vampires together, and there's sort of a truce formed with the human realm during this period.

So, that is subtly in there.

So for those that really like a story, they can search for that and it's there, but it's not obtrusive in your face.

Like, "Hey, sit down and let us tell you a story."

- You have to figure this out or else you're not welcome.

- Yeah, yeah.

So it's a sort of choose-your-own-adventure type situation where you can decide to really get into it or just take in the scenery.

- That is fun, yeah.

Is this for all ages?

- No, this is actually 21 and over because it features alcohol.

But the last event is on Saturdays.

- On Saturdays, right.

- So we're calling that the Vampire Ball.

And for the first two Saturdays, you are required to dress as a particular vampire.

Any genre, any era.

You can, you know, there's plenty to choose from in pop culture.

- So I could come as Vampirina, the Disney's Vampirina?

- You could.

- Okay.

- You could indeed.

And then finally, the last Saturday (Christine giggles) is actually on Halloween, luckily for us, and that's open to all costumes.

So you can, if you wanna be SpongeBob or whatever, you can.

- [Christine] That's fun.

- And we will have prizes for costumes, which always is a great incentive for people to double down.

- Put some thought into it.

- Put some thought into it.

Yes.

- Right.

- So we're very excited about all of that.

- Wow.

So you worked with Obed & Isaac's, and you identified that facility as perfecto for CasoBlanco- - Yep.

- CasaBlanco.

So, what is your first anticipation?

I mean, obviously your second two Thursdays are already sold out.

- Correct.

- But you're getting some good feedback just from getting the word out- - The response has been- - On social media.

- Phenomenal.

Yeah, we just started, you know, doing some social media, little videos and snippets and teasers.

We're actually engaging a marketing company to help us.

So we're gonna be reaching out from Chicago to St.

Louis and all kinds of surrounding cities to come here and experience this.

We've done a strategic alliance with Four Points Sheraton.

So we have discounted rooms available.

So those who wanted to attend multiple nights, or if you're traveling from a long distance, we don't want you driving home late at night.

- [Christine] No.

- So we've secured a special rate for our guests so they can check in and do that.

And yeah, we just hope that people come.

Of course, everyone locally, this is something right in your own backyard, but we'd love to bring in people from other areas that, you know, maybe don't have access to some of this- - [Christine] Right.

- And give it to 'em right here in Peoria.

- So call your families and friends and have them come for one of those weekends or something.

- Exactly.

- So people could go to all three events- - Yes.

- In a weekend if they wanted to.

- Yes.

In fact, we have a special promotion.

We call it the Trinity Package, or Trilogy Package.

- Or Blood Moon, okay, all right.

- And that's if you purchase all tickets to any of the three nights, you know, as long as there's three, you get a discounted $50 off.

- Okay.

- Excuse me.

- Well, that's good.

Well, you have to think about these things.

And so we got this one going.

Now, tell us about these little gargoyles.

I mentioned that, you know, Bradley University has Kaboom!

and it's a gargoyle, so they're not gonna be up on the corners of the building, but they're gonna be up and around maybe the bar area at, I don't know.

- I don't wanna reveal too much.

- Okay, all right.

- We want people to go and experience it, but I thought it'd be interesting to share some of this and our process.

You know, as we talked about the last time I was here, I'm a fine artist as well.

- Mm-hmm.

- And I consider myself a creative in general, you know, exploring different techniques and mediums and different things.

- [Christine] Mm-hmm.

- So, (coughs), one of the things we've been doing is, you know, I work with everything from AI to traditional painting and media and sculpting.

I have a laser printer and engraver and I have a 3D printer.

And these are some examples of things that we're creating specifically for this event.

- [Christine] Mm-hmm.

- And it's a long process.

I mean, there's a very special featured item that we're creating for the show that has taken, off and on, about a year to produce.

- Wow.

- And that's 3D printed (coughs) and done in sections and assembled.

But we have something smaller here.

These are going to be some decorative elements.

But as you can see, when we print them, this is how they come out of the printer.

And these appendages are actually support trees.

- All right.

- So- (Rick coughs) - Okay.

Got it?

I don't know.

Have a little more water.

Here, you want me to hold it while you- - Yep.

- All right.

So, oh, it's really light.

I thought it would be so much heavier because, you know, I'm used to, I guess, made out of stone, but that's pretty nice.

- Yeah, so imagine as far as 3D printing, for those who aren't familiar, imagine a, like a glue gun that's going around and building up these little layers.

So you can see there's a- - Little striations.

- Striation there.

And that is the printer literally piling layer upon layer to create these.

- Mm-hmm.

- So when there's an overhang, they need to produce these supports so that it actually can be printed and not fall over.

- Okay, yeah.

- So then all of the supports are removed, and we apply different mixtures and things.

Think of it like spackle- - M'kay.

- So to speak.

But I do sort of a blend of cement with some acrylic paint as a binder, and then that removes the striation lines.

- Right.

- And then it can be scenically painted, you know, in this case, given a golden- - Yeah, look at his eyes too.

- Aged brass look with red eyes.

- Mm-hmm.

- And you have something that, you know, this probably takes eight to 10 hours to print.

- Okay.

- Plus- - So you just- - The post-production work.

- You feed it in there and then you're off to do something else, right?

- Oh, yeah, so that thing's running 24 hours pretty much.

(Christine laughs) It's on a tight schedule.

- Mm-hmm.

(Rick coughs) All right.

So those are some of the little guys.

- Right, so- - But then there's bigger things to come.

- There's bigger things coming.

As I said, I don't wanna reveal too much, but once you come and see it, you'll see that there's some pretty amazing things that we've been able to create.

We're also, you know, there's a gallery wall of different vampires that have been created, representing the different houses across the world.

There are just subtle things, you know, here and there that are really for fans of the genre, for fans of Halloween.

You know, this isn't pumpkins and ghosts and that sort of thing.

This is very specifically a narrative that is meant to be kinda cool.

- Experienced, yeah.

- Yeah.

- So, when you walk in, you had some, I don't know, animatronics before at your house when you had those parties.

There will be some of those kinds of things too?

- It's less of that 'cause this isn't really sort of like a haunted house type of thing.

This isn't about jump scares.

This is more of a sophisticated sort of mood setting as opposed to, like, you know, trying to have people jump and scream.

- Okay.

(chuckles) But young Frankenstein won't be there or anything like that.

- (laughs) No.

- (laughs) No.

- "Puttin' on the Ritz," we might perform, but, you know.

(both laughing) - That's on the dancing night or maybe cabaret.

So, where did you find then these performers who are gonna be taking part?

You had to reach out and find some?

Are they locals or are they from elsewhere?

- So far, we've been able to source all local talent.

That was something I felt very strongly about, of wanting to contribute to our community and support the artistic movement in Peoria.

So we've been able to get almost all of them from the Peoria area, which is great 'cause, you know, coming from Los Angeles, it's a little different, your access to talent, but there are some super talented folks here that are really excited about joining us.

We have an operatic singer, we have belly dancer, we have fire juggler, we have all kinds of different things.

And we're also excited to partner with the Painted Wraith, which is a oddities and curiosity store, retail store, in Bloomington.

And they will be sort of providing a gift shop for us within the experience- - Okay.

- Featuring a lot of local artists and products thematically correct to the experience.

- So your research has been pretty intense.

And this came in January, you said you kinda got the idea, but then you didn't quit the other job until June, so.

- Well, actually the idea has been brewing for many years.

- Okay.

Since you came from, when did you come from LA?

Like six years ago?

- In May of 2020.

- All right.

- Yes.

So, by the second or third Halloween party, I was already thinking like, "Well, this could be something," you know?

And the more time- - Because of the response.

- Because of the response, yeah.

And because of my enjoyment, it still was something that I wanted to do.

I didn't get burnt out on it.

In fact, you know, (chuckles) before the night was over of each party, I was already thinking about the theme for next year.

- The next year.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Mm-hmm.

- And so that notion coupled with the fact that after being here for six years, I've met a lot of people, I've made a lot of friends, I've gotten a better understanding of our community and the lay of the land.

- [Christine] And the Midwest?

- And the Midwest, yes.

- (laughs) Okay.

- It was a bit of a learning curve at first, but now it's really important for me to see how many people that I'm friends with have a shared interest in the success of Peoria.

- Mm-hmm.

- And so this is my way to contribute.

You know, I don't wanna get involved in politics, and I, you know, I try to help out every now and then with things going on in the neighborhood, but this is what I do, and this is, I think, something that can add value.

- For the bigger community.

- Right.

And I feel that these types of efforts will actually help Peoria in the grand scheme of things.

So, I'm in for the long haul.

- There you go.

We like that.

Well, so, this is almost done.

So what's the next big project for CasaBlanco?

I mean, if you're already thinking about, you know, when you were at home thinking about your next year's party.

- Yep.

Well, we are considering a Christmas experience that would be more family friendly, more accessible, and slightly different model.

That's in the works.

We're figuring it out.

But honestly, (coughs) it is any type of experience where, you know, some sort of theatricality is required, some custom builds, something to kick it up a few notches, so to speak.

- [Christine] Not just the same old, same old.

- Right, whether that's a gala event for charities or, you know, a larger function that, you know, could be related to a holiday, whether it's St.

Patrick's or Christmas or whatever, it's really just about helping people get lost in an environment and in an experience.

- Just for a little bit, because life has got- - Exactly.

- Too many things going on.

There's too many negative arrows being pointed every direction.

- Exactly.

- So a little bit of an escape, and it's not an escape room that you have to figure out.

(chuckles) - [Rick] Right.

We won't lock you in.

(both laughing) - I like that.

Well, it's pretty exciting.

So you're pleased with where you are at this point?

So this is August, we're coming up, we're about seven weeks away or something.

- Yeah, I have 35 days till install.

- Okay.

- I have a countdown clock on my phone.

- Uh-huh.

Good, good, good, good.

- And yeah, it's good.

You gotta keep the little bit of anxiety at bay.

- Right.

(Rick chuckles) But you seem to be managing it.

- Yeah.

- And, you know, by the last weekend, you'll be glad that you can get onto the next thing.

- [Rick] Exactly, exactly.

- All right.

- So, thank you.

- That sounds so much fun.

Well, okay, so, CasaBlanco Creations and- - Creative.

- Creative, sorry.

- Yes.

- Sorry.

Creative.

All right.

And it starts October.

It's three weekends in October.

- Yes.

- So the third weekend of October, third- - So it's the 15th, 16th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th.

- 23rd, 24th, yeah.

- 29th, 30th, 31st.

- Okay, all right, yeah.

That oughta be a big night that night.

So you're not gonna be giving out candy or anything?

- No.

(both laughing) At home, sure.

So, what have you tried to do so far for this event that hasn't quite turned out the way that you want it to do?

Or has there been major challenge that you said, "Oops, okay, I gotta scrub that one and go forward"?

- [Rick] Honestly, no.

(laughs) - Okay.

- Yeah, it's... So, other than limitation of time.

So I always come at things with kind of a roster of the things that I wanna do, and then it becomes an issue of negotiating time management, factoring things like how long is it gonna take to print something?

- Right.

- You know, so- - Well, you said this took eight or nine hours?

- Yeah, eight or nine hours.

- Just for those little guys?

- Just each one.

And then, you know, the machine might run out of filament or one of the supports falls and then you gotta reprint it.

So there are minor setbacks in that sense.

But in terms of planning, you know, I have this long list, and sometimes I have to cut things.

It's like, okay, what is the return on this?

Is it gonna add value to the experience?

Is it something that people are gonna notice or is it just something that I wanted to do?

- All right.

- And so I have to self-edit and go through things and decide, you know, okay, that's probably really not necessary.

But that's common to almost everything that I've done.

- Created something or another.

- Yeah, you have to kinda negotiate and really look at the big picture.

My experience working with Disney and with working in the entertainment industry, you kind of learn to do that and really think about, well, ultimately, what is the best guest experience?

And sometimes when you have to cut things, the guest never knew it was cut.

- Right, exactly.

So it's no big deal.

- The only one that's gonna hurt is you.

- Now, you were working on, you sent us a picture, you're working on a bust of something.

- Yes.

- And- - So that is our featured character, Vorian.

And so we provided a couple of images to show the process of building this thing.

You know, the hands are enormous as he stands eight feet tall.

- [Christine] Yeah, he's a big guy.

- So it has to be done carefully, the pieces have to be put together like a puzzle.

And then it's all coated to look, so you can't tell that it's a 3D print, and then scenically painted.

We're also doing a large base form that's gonna be illuminated, so there's technology in there.

Luckily, I have a great support team helping me with some of those elements.

- They know what they're doing, engineer types?

(chuckles) - Yes, yes, yes, indeed.

So I'm very grateful to them, and- - Will it be both levels?

Both levels of the old church, of Obed & Isaac's?

- It's really just the main level.

- The main floor?

All right.

- There is the back room that's on, you know, kind of level and a half, as well as the outside.

We're gonna have some, weather permitting, we will have some portion of it for overflow into the beer garden.

- All right, sounds great.

- Yep, yep.

Well, this sounds like a really good time for three weekends in October.

Thank you very much, Rick Dienzo Blanco, for being here from CasaBlanco Creative.

- Yes, yes.

- There we go, okay.

(Christine exhales) (Rick laughs) Got it done.

Thanks for being here.

I hope you're looking forward to the Halloween season, a spooktacular time.

Thanks for joining us.

Till next time, be well.

(lighthearted music) (lighthearted music continues) (lighthearted music continues) (lighthearted music continues) (lighthearted music fades) (bright music) (whimsical music) (whimsical music fades)