EDMONDS — The performing arts center here has hosted a variety of top talent during the past 10 years. The venue, with its intimate feel and great acoustics, is fast becoming a favored place for many.
But until now, nobody has performed at Edmonds Center for the Arts with quite the kind of resume that actress-singer-dancer Rita Moreno holds.
Moreno, who will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15, belongs to a group of just nine performers who’ve won the “grand slam” of American show biz.
Each of these actors/singers have at least one Emmy, one Grammy, one Oscar and one Tony honoring their individual work in television, the recording industry, film and theater.
Along with Moreno, the elite group includes Helen Hayes, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, James Earl Jones and Harry Belafonte.
Born in Puerto Rico five years before she moved with her family to New York, Moreno is the first Latina to earn the grand slam or what some people call the EGOT. Moreno, now 84, also won the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2014 and she was named a Kennedy Center honoree in 2015.
Most recognized for her Academy Award-winning role as Anita in “West Side Story,” Moreno’s career has spanned 70 years.
She appeared in other movies such as “Singin’ in the Rain,” “The King and I,” “The Ritz,” “The Four Seasons,” “Slums of Beverly Hills,” “Pinero” and “Rio 2.” Her TV work included the PBS kids show “Electric Company,” “Miami Vice,” “The Rockford Files,” “Oz” on HBO, a recurring role on “Law &Order,” “Ugly Betty” and more recently on “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Grace and Frankie.” Her Broadway credits include “The Ritz” and “Last of the Red Hot Lovers.”
Critics say her voice has only matured with age and that her stage presence brings down the house with virtuoso performances of classic songs forever associated with her. Think “America” from “West Side Story.”
In Edmonds, her show “An Evening with Rita Moreno” will include her favorites from the American Songbook, Broadway classics (including songs from “Sunset Boulevard”), swing, jazz, selections from her new Spanish language album, “Una Vez Más” (produced by Emilio Estefan), and even some rap.
If you go
At press time earlier this week, tickets to “An Evening with Rita Moreno” were still available.
Prices start at $34, with youth tickets for $15, available online at www.ec4arts.org or by calling 425-275-9595. Edmonds Center for the Arts is located at 410 Fourth Ave. N.
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