As Good as Their Word

Antonio Sacre took a lot of hazing from classmates in his Delaware elementary school because he was one of the few Latinos enrolled. So much, that by the time he reached first grade, he made a life-altering decision.

“No one spoke Spanish in my school,” said Sacre, the son of a Cuban-born father and an Irish American mother. “One day, I just came home and announced that I didn’t want to speak Spanish ever again.”

Sacre, an award-winning bilingual storyteller who will appear this weekend in San Juan Capistrano’s Once Upon a Story festival, says that by the time he hit high school, he had lost most of his Spanish and was pretty blase about his Latin roots in general.

It took food fights with his Cuban grandmother to snap him out of it.

“I started spending summers with my grandma in Little Havana in Miami,” he explained. “We’d be eating dinner, and I’d say ‘Pass the rice.’ She’d say, ‘Say it in Spanish.’ If I didn’t know the right word, she’d pick off a little handful of the food and throw it at me.

“I was getting pretty hungry, so I figured I better get with it,” he recalled with a laugh. “Now I speak Spanish fluently. . . . If you’re blessed enough to have two languages, that’s something to be proud of.”

Speaking by phone from his home in Chicago, Sacre said he hopes his performance will help inspire listeners of all ages to take pride in their cultural roots and learn to appreciate others’ as well.

In the 75-minute program, “Growing Up in Two Cultures,” Sacre will move between English and Spanish to tell stories about his youth, along with folk tales and myths from Latin America and North America.

Sacre said he’s most gratified when he’s playing a multicultural crowd and hears “the buzz between the races” at the end of his show.

“The kids will start talking back and forth about what they’ve shared. There’s a dialogue going on.”

The wordplay isn’t just for kids, of course. The two-day festival, being held for the seventh year in downtown San Juan Capistrano, has been expanded.

It includes two after-hours programs targeted specifically to teens and adults: “Past My Bedtime,” a collection of reminiscences and musings from Massachusetts teller Bill Harley (known for his commentaries on NPR’s “All Things Considered”) and David Novak’s “Words & Coffee” in the El Camino Real Playhouse, a new venue for the festival.

With the help of the City Council and city staff, organizer Melba Jones has also added an expansive tented pavilion in the town’s new Historic Town Center Park. The tent, which Jones said was inspired by the ones used at the prestigious National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tenn., will seat 800 listeners. (Guests are encouraged to dress warmly for events in the HTC park tent.)

This year’s festival offers 15 programs starting at 7:30 p.m. Friday with an all-ages program featuring Harley, Sacre, Novak, Gay Ducey (a Bay Area teller and educator), Clara Yen (a Northern Californian who specializes in Asian stories), New Orleans-born Diane Ferlatte (known for her African and Southern tales) and musician Erik Pearson. Teller Izzi Tooinsky will emcee.

Highlights include a campfire and spooky tales for older children and adults (including a guest appearance by Martha Holloway--related story, Page 50), a comedy program signed for the hearing-impaired, and a family program by Ferlatte and Pearson. Workshops and story swaps also will be offered, and visitors can mingle with the artists at a fund-raising dinner at Sarducci’s Cafe and Grill and in an open panel discussion, both on Saturday.

The festival concludes Saturday night with, in Novak’s words, “an evening of narrative, literature and the layering of ideas.”

Aimed at older teens and adults, the intimate session includes desserts, beverages and an environment Novak describes as “sitting up after the kids have gone to bed, having that last cup of coffee and a good yak fest.”

BE THERE

Once Upon a Story storytelling festival runs 7:30-11 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-10:15 p.m. Saturday. Programs will be in the El Camino Real Playhouse, 31776 El Camino Real; in the La Sala auditorium in the San Juan Capistrano Public Library, 31502 El Camino Real, and in the new Historic Town Center Park, 31778 El Camino Real. Admission to individual events is $3-$10, or a weekend pass is available for $15-$30 (excludes “Dinner With the Storytellers” and Novak’s “Words & Coffee” show, which are $15-$30 and $5-$7, respectively.) (714) 493-5911 or (714) 768-1916. Sarducci’s Cafe and Grill, 31751 Camino Capistrano.

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ONCE UPON A STORY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday

* 6:30 p.m.--Historic Town Center Park (HTCP) tent opens for book and tape sales and seating.

* 7:30-9:30--”Many Roads--Many Tales,” variety program featuring Gay Ducey, Bill Harley, Clara Yen, David Novak, Antonio Sacre, Diane Ferlatte with Erik Pearson. Host: Izzi Tooinsky. American Sign Language interpreter: Paula Dunn. All ages. HTCP tent.

* 9:45-11--”Spooky Fun,” campfire tales by Novak, Ferlatte and Martha Holloway. For older elementary school students to adults. HTCP tent.

* 9:45-11--”Past My Bedtime,” stories by Harley. Teens to adults. La Sala auditorium, San Juan Capistrano Public Library.

Saturday

* 9-10 a.m.--”The Tie That Binds,” a workshop on developing and telling personal stories, led by Ducey. For teens to adults. El Camino Real Playhouse.

* 9:30-10 a.m.--”Story Swapping in the Park,” open story swap. Sign-ups at 9:15 a.m. HTCP tent.

* 10-11 a.m.--”Knick-Knack Paddy Whack,” music and stories for little people by Ferlatte and Pearson. For preschoolers to adults. HTCP tent.

* 10:15-11:15 a.m.--”Folktales-- Finding, Choosing & Telling,” a workshop by Yen for teens to adults. El Camino Real Playhouse.

* 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.--Open panel chat with Harley, Yen, Novak, Ducey, Tooinsky and Ferlatte. For older teens to adults. HTCP tent.

* 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.--”Growing Up in Two Cultures,” a bilingual program by Sacre. For all ages. El Camino Real Playhouse.

* 1:30-2 p.m.--”Story Swapping in the Park.” Sign-ups at 1:15 p.m. HTCP tent.

* 2-3:30--”Good Life Comedy,” featuring Harley, Yen, Ducey, Sacre and Tooinsky. American Sign Language interpreter: Dunn. For all ages. HTCP tent.

* 3:45-5--”More Rhyme Than Reason,” a “milk-and-cookies show for all ages” featuring Novak. HTCP tent.

* 5:15-6:45--”Fund-Raising Dinner With the Storytellers.” Sarducci’s Cafe and Grill.

* 7-8:30--Grand Finale featuring Harley, with Yen, Sacre and Ducey. Host: Tooinsky. All ages. HTCP tent.

* 9-10:15--”Words & Coffee,” stories, coffee and dessert with Novak. Teens to adults. El Camino Real Playhouse.