Rita Moreno in West Side Story
West Side Story is one of the most popular musicals in American theater history. Jerome Robbins was the director and choreographer. Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics and Leonard Bernstein the music for the story based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Rita Moreno, center, was one of the stars in the 1961 film version that won 11 Academy Awards.
Credit: AP/Wide World

People in the United States observe National Hispanic Heritage Month each year from September 15 to October 15. During this period, Latin American countries celebrate their independence. These countries include Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

Iconic, talented, and always fashionable, Rita Moreno belongs in the spotlight! Moreno is a Puerto Rican -born actress, singer, and dancer who has won acclaim on the stage, in motion pictures, and on television. Moreno became the first Hispanic actress to win an Academy Award. She won the 1961 award as best supporting actress for her performance as the girlfriend of a Puerto Rican-born New York City gang leader in the musical West Side Story. She also won a 1975 Tony Award as best supporting actress for her performance in the musical The Ritz. She didn’t stop after becoming the first Latina EGOT winner. Only 16 other people have the honor of being called an EGOT, the elite group of artists who have won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards.

Rosita Dolores Alverio was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico, on Dec. 11, 1931. She moved to New York City with her mother at the age of 5, and she soon started dance lessons. Moreno began working in motion pictures in the 1940’s, using her voice to dub Spanish-language versions of American films. She made her Broadway debut in 1945 at age 13 in the play Skydrift. She took the stage name Rosita Moreno from the last name of her stepfather, then later shortened her first name to Rita.

In addition to minor TV and movie roles in the 1950’s, Moreno danced with star Gene Kelly in the motion picture Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and portrayed an unhappy young Burmese woman given to the king as a “gift” wife in The King and I (1956). She also had a notable role as a prostitute in the film Carnal Knowledge (1971). Her other films include Summer and Smoke (1961), Popi (1969), and The Ritz (1976), in which she repeated her Tony Award-winning role.

Moreno was a regular performer from 1971 to 1977 on the Public Broadcasting Service children’s educational TV program “The Electric Company.” In 1972, she received a Grammy Award for her contribution to the show’s soundtrack album. She also received Emmy Awards for her guest appearance on the TV variety series “The Muppet Show” in 1977 and for her performance on an episode of the detective series “The Rockford Files” in 1978.

From 1994 to 1998, Moreno provided the voice of Carmen Sandiego, a world-famous thief, on the animated TV series “Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?” She was a regular performer from 1997 to 2003 on the cable television prison drama “Oz” as Sister Pete, a nun who works as a psychological counselor to inmates. In 2017, Moreno began acting on the television situation comedy “One Day at a Time,” an update of the popular series of the same name that aired from 1975 to 1984. In 2013, she published a memoir, Rita Moreno. Moreno became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2015. Moreno starred in Steven Spielberg’s 2021 remake of West Side Story, as a newly developed character named Valentina.

Asian American actress Anna May Wong.
Credit: © Paramount Pictures

March is Women’s History Month, an annual observance of women’s achievements and contributions to society. This month, Behind the Headlines will feature woman pioneers in a variety of areas.

Her face has gone from the big screen to quarters! Anna May Wong was an Asian American actress. She became famous during the early years of American cinema. In her time, she was one of the few Asian performers to achieve widespread success. Wong eventually grew disappointed with the limited roles offered to her. She also became an outspoken critic of the casting of white performers in Asian roles. The U.S. Mint announced in 2021 that Wong would be one of five women commemorated on the quarter in their American Women Quarters series.

U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters Program 2022 quarters.
Credit: US Mint

Wong Liu Tsong was born Jan. 3, 1905, in Los Angeles, California. Her parents operated a laundry. She made her first motion-picture appearance as an extra in The Red Lantern (1919). Wong continued acting in small roles. For years, she hid her work as an extra from her family. Her first credited role was in Bits of Life (1921). When her father learned of her acting career, he insisted on being present when she was on set.

Wong starred in the 1923 film Toll of the Sea, the first widely released feature film made in Technicolor. Before Technicolor, films were either shown in black and white or colored by hand. In Toll of the Sea, Wong played the romantic lead, bringing her new fame. However, her stardom started to strain her family life, with photographers and fans showing up at the family laundry to see her. Her family was further upset with her role in The Thief of Bagdad (1924) as an untrustworthy “Mongol slave.”

By the late 1920’s, Wong had grown disappointed in Hollywood. She was consistently offered roles as villains, slaves, or temptresses. In contrast, sympathetic leading roles were often reserved for white performers. Even Asian lead roles were often performed by better-known white actors made up to look Asian. In The Crimson City (1928), for example, Wong played a supporting role to lead actress Myrna Loy, a white woman made to look Asian. Wong moved to Europe in hopes of finding more realistic roles. There, she learned to speak French, German, and Italian. In 1929, Wong starred alongside the British actor Laurence Olivier in the play A Circle of Chalk in London.

In 1931, Wong starred as the lead in the Broadway play On the Spot. The role led to a return to Hollywood, with Daughter of the Dragon (1931) and Shanghai Express (1932). Both films offered the type of Asian villainess roles Wong had sought to escape. Yet Shanghai Express allowed for a more nuanced portrayal. Wong played Hui Fei, a prostitute (sex worker) and ally of a Chinese warlord who later turns on him, killing him.

Despite the acclaim she received for Shanghai Express, Wong continued to be offered disappointing roles. Producers had wanted Wong to play Lotus, a dancer, in the film adaptation of the novel The Good Earth. Wong wanted to play O-Lan, the female lead. The German actress Luise Rainer went on to win an Academy Award for portraying O-Lan.

In 1936, Wong again left Hollywood, this time for China. In China, Wong was criticized for her early film roles and for being too western for Chinese audiences. When she returned to America, filmmakers were more interested in hiring her to coach white actors performing Asian roles. In 1942, she retired from acting in films.

During the 1950’s, Wong acted in television shows, including her own series in 1951. In “The Gallery of Mme. Liu Tsong,” Wong portrayed a gallery owner who solved crimes. In 1960, she attempted a return to film, portraying a housekeeper in Portrait in Black. Wong died Feb. 3, 1961, from a heart attack. The Chinese American actress Michelle Krusiec played Wong in the television miniseries Hollywood (2020).

The Tony Awards are given annually to recognize achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at a ceremony in New York City.
Tony Award Production

After its longest shutdown, Broadway reopened in New York in September 2021. The Covid-19 pandemic forced the closure of theaters in March 2020. Many Broadway productions relied on government funding to return to the stage. As a result, fewer musicals, plays, and revivals were eligible for the 2021 Tony Awards.

Moulin Rouge! won the most awards of any show of the night. Of its 10 Tony Awards, Moulin Rouge! brought home best musical. The musical had performances for seven months before the Covid-19 shutdown.

The Inheritance won best play. With The Inheritance, Matthew Lopez became the first Latino writer to win best play. Lois Smith won best-featured actress in a play as The Inheritance‘s sole female actor. At age 90, Smith became the oldest performer to win a Tony Award for acting.

A Christmas Carol became the first play to win best original score. All five nominees for the award were plays.

A Soldier’s Play won best revival of a play.  

Slave Play made history with a record 12 nominations. Despite its nominations, Slave Play was shut out of any awards.

The Tony Awards are presented annually for distinguished achievements the previous season in the Broadway theater in New York City. The awards are named for Antoinette Perry, an American actress, producer, and director. They are administered by the League of American Theaters and Producers and the American Theater Wing.

The Tonys honor achievements in about 20 categories, including best new play, best new musical, and best revivals of a play and a musical. Tonys are awarded for acting, directing, designing, orchestrations, and choreography. Special awards are also made for lifetime achievements in the theater and to a distinguished American regional theater.

A Tony Awards committee appoints a group of theater professionals to select four nominations for each category. Several hundred theater professionals and journalists then vote on the winners. Winning a Tony, or even being nominated for the award, has become important to the box-office success of many Broadway shows. The Tony Awards were founded in 1947.

August 24, 2018

Tomorrow, August 25, is the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary American  conductor, composer, and pianist Leonard Bernstein in 1918. Bernstein ranks among the most famous figures in American music of the 1900′s. Bernstein served as musical director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra from 1958 to 1969, the first American to hold that position. During this period, the orchestra’s prestige increased greatly. Bernstein often performed as solo pianist with the orchestra while conducting at the same time. He was a strong supporter of modern American composers and often programmed their music with the orchestra. Bernstein died at age 72 on Oct. 14, 1990.

Leonard Bernstein works on a musical score in 1955. Credit: Library of Congress

Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on Aug. 25, 1918, and graduated from Harvard in 1939. He studied with the famous conductors Serge Koussevitzky and Fritz Reiner and, in 1943 and 1944, served as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Bernstein became famous in August 1943 when, on short notice, he conducted a Philharmonic concert that was broadcast nationally.

Rita Moreno leads the cast of the 1961 film version of West Side Story. Credit: AP/Wide World

Bernstein became best known for his musicals, including On the Town (1944), Wonderful Town (1953), Candide (1956, revised 1973), and West Side Story (1957). He also wrote the important concert compositions Symphony No. 1, Jeremiah (1944); Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety (1949); and Symphony No. 3, Kaddish (1963). He wrote the music for the ballets Fancy Free (1944), Facsimile (1946), and Dybbuk (1974) as well as the Serenade for violin, strings, harp, and percussion (1954). Bernstein composed two operas, the short Trouble in Tahiti (1952) and its sequel, the full-length A Quiet Place (1983); and the music for the film On the Waterfront (1954).

Among Bernstein’s concert works for voice are Mass, composed for the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in 1971; Chichester Psalms (1965), for chorus and orchestra; and Songfest (1977), for six vocal soloists and orchestra.

June 9, 2016

The great American songwriter Cole Porter was born 125 years ago today in 1891. Porter wrote a few hit single songs, but his finest work came in the scores of Broadway musical comedies. In a career that stretched from the 1920’s to 1960, Porter composed perhaps the most sophisticated, elegant, and complex body of popular songs in American music history.

This week, we celebrate Cole Porter’s 125th birthday.
CREDIT: Library of Congress

Cole Albert Porter was born on June 9, 1891, in Peru, Indiana. He came from a wealthy family and attended both Yale and Harvard universities. Porter began composing while in school, and in 1917 he moved to Paris. There he traveled in the fashionable social set that established itself in Europe following the end of World War I in 1918. Porter wrote several unsuccessful musicals before gaining recognition with his scores in 1929 for the musicals Wake Up and Dream, with its hit love song “What Is This Thing Called Love?”, and Fifty Million Frenchmen with its hit “You Do Something to Me.”

During the 1930’s, Porter composed scores for several hit Broadway musicals, including Gay Divorce (1932), Anything Goes (1934), Jubilee (1935), and DuBarry Was a Lady (1939). His songs were known for their witty and cynical lyrics as well as their rich melodies. Porter also wrote songs for such Hollywood musicals as Born to Dance (1936) and Rosalie (1937). These shows included such classic songs as “Let’s Do It,” “Love for Sale,” “Night and Day,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “Just One of Those Things,” “Begin the Beguine,” “You’re the Top,” and “It’s DeLovely.”

In 1937, Porter was seriously injured in a horseback riding accident in Long Island, New York. The accident cost him the use of both legs and the eventual amputation of one. He lived in constant pain the rest of his life. Porter’s songwriting career went into decline for 10 years after his accident, but he emerged in 1948 with his greatest Broadway show, Kiss Me, Kate. The score included eight hits, notably “Wunderbar,” “Another Op’ning, Another Show,” and “So in Love.”

After Kiss Me Kate,” Porter wrote one more successful musical, Can-Can (1953), which featured the classic “I Love Paris.” He spent the last years of his life in seclusion in New York City and died on Oct. 15, 1964.

June 9, 2015

The 69th annual ceremony to grant the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, better known as the Tony Award, was held in New York City at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday night, June 7.

The Tony Award (Credit: Tony Award Productions)

The musical “Fun Home” was the big winner at the 2015 Tony Awards. It was the first show adapted from a graphic novel to win a Tony. The story portrayed the emotionally turbulent early life of popular cartoonist Alison Bechdel. The show took Tonys for best musical and for best score for Jeanine Tesori (composer) and Lisa Kron (lyricist). Kron also took the award for best book. Michael Cerveris, who played the cartoonist’s father, won the Tony as best actor in a musical for his performance, and Sam Gold won as best director of a musical.

As usual, the British took plenty of major awards. “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by English playwright Simon Stephens was named best play. The play was based upon a 2003 novel by British author Mark Haddon and features a brilliant young man with social disabilities who tries to solve a neighborhood mystery. London-born Alex Sharp took the Tony in the category of actor in a leading role in a play for his performance as the teenager in the show. In addition, English director Marianne Elliott took the Tony as director of a play for “Curious Incident.” “Skylight,” a 1995 drama by English dramatist David Hare, won the Tony for revival of a play. Helen Mirren received the Tony for actress in a leading role as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Audience.” And Scottish actor Richard McCabe took home the Tony for actor in a featured role in a play for his supporting performance in “The Audience,” as British Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical classic “The King and I” swept three major awards, starting with the award for revival of a musical. Kelli O’Hara received the Tony as best actress in a leading role in a musical for her performance as Anna. Ruthie Ann Miles took the prize for actress in a featured role in a musical, playing the part of Lady Thiang, chief wife of the king of Siam. The British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon won a Tony for his choreography for “An American in Paris,” an adaptation of the 1951 movie musical that became one of the big hits of the Broadway season. The musical features the music of George Gershwin.

The 76-year old Tommy Tune was one of the evening’s most popular winners, receiving the lifetime achievement award for his long career as a dancer, director, and choreographer on Broadway.

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