By Debbie Gardner
debbieg@thereminder.com
There’s no doubt that Rita Moreno is hot right now. From her breakout role as the vivacious Cuban grandmother, “Lydia,” on the Netflix reboot of “One Day at a Time” to her influences on the remake of “West Side Story,” the consummate performer – she’s one of only 12 people to have won an Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy – has been garnering her share of media buzz of late.
And that’s not even taking into account the recent attention when she wore the same dress to this year’s Oscars she’d donned to the 1962 event, where the then 30-year old won the “Best Supporting Actress” award for her portrayal of “Anita” in the original film version of “West Side Story.”
Western Massachusetts, too, is now a recipient of some of that Moreno buzz. We’re basking in a bit of the star’s notoriety and energy as she appears at Bay Path University’s 24th annual Women’s Leadership Conference on March 29, to give the afternoon keynote speech.
Prime was privileged to connect with the very busy celebrity by phone about her Leadership Conference appearance – and other things – during her recent stop in Washington, D. C. The call came just days after Moreno’s March 4 Kennedy Center lecture at the annual Arts and Public Policy forum, and a recent appearance on the E! Entertainment talk show “Busy Tonight,” with “One Day at a Time” co-star Justina Machado and series co-creator Gloria Calderón Kellett.
“This is ridiculous,” Moreno said of how much in demand she’s been of late. “I don’t get it, but I’m thrilled.”
Yes, at 87, she’s undeniably still a sought after celeb. But Moreno confessed it’s actually the intimate talks like the one at the Bay Path conference she looks forward to.
“I love giving these talks” she told Prime, calling them “my favorite thing because the talks always end with a Q and A [session] and I love connecting with the audience.
“That’s the truth, and that’s what I love the most,” she said, adding she’s “stopped counting” the number of such talks she’s done over the years.
“It is my favorite thing, and probably my strong suit,” Moreno shared.
A return engagement
This year’s conference marks Moreno’s second appearance at the annual Bay Path event. Her first appearance was in 2001, as the opening speaker, when the conference was themed “Ages/Stages.” In 2019 she’s the closing speaker for a conference themed “Why Not Me?”
When asked about her plans for this year’s talk, Moreno reflected for Prime on how much has changed since her last visit to the Springfield area.
“There’s the ‘Me Too’ movement, and there’s a lot of attention paid to women now as a result of [‘Me Too’] and that’s a good thing,” Moreno said. “I think movements like the ‘Me Too’ movement have made women, in the best sense, more fierce, in the sense that we have changed our opinions about ourselves.”
Musing further, Moreno quickly amended her thoughts. “We haven’t changed our opinions about ourselves, we’ve just made them public,” she added.
Overall, she said her message to fellow women at her talks is always, “We are worthy and we have value.”
Older – and proud of it
Moreno said she’d also be sharing with her Bay Path audience a bit about embracing things as a vibrant octogenarian.
“I’m going to be talking about my life. Even though I was there [before], my life has made a tremendous turnaround in terms of everything,” she shared. “I’m a widow now, and I’m older … and I just feel awfully good about myself and that is fabulous.”
Readily admitting her age as 87 – “I’m old,” she joked – Moreno said she truly wishes people would stop telling her how good she looks for her age.
“We’ve got to stop saying things like that [to each other].” Moreno said, adding people – especially other women – “keep saying to me ‘you look wonderful’.
“I’m glad to be old and still here,” she said, thinking, active and doing things.
“I think I have changed a lot of opinions and a lot of perceptions,” Moreno continued. “I think it is precisely why people enjoy me as much as they do when I speak to them in person, because they see this lively, alert 87-year-old who is carrying on. I celebrate every single moment – this is the time to do that.”
She attributes her approach to life at 87 to “frame of mind,” and the gift of good genes.
“Feeling your age is something I don’t understand, I don’t know what it [means],” Moreno shared. “I love to say I’m 87 because it impresses people, but I honestly don’t think of it. If people who were interviewing me didn’t constantly bring it up, I wouldn’t think of it.”
She did, however, admit to having 87-year old knees. “I move onstage, but I don’t dance anymore,” she said.
As for aging, her advice to other women about growing older is to “embrace” the gift it offers.
“Embrace the moment, smell the coffee, smell the roses. I’m a wonderful appreciator of the moment; I’m really good at that and I think that’s the secret or clue to happiness in older age,” Moreno shared.
That, she said, and keeping your sense of humor.
“I think when people reach a certain age – whatever that is for them – they become very serious, and I’m saying that’s the time to start laughing and seeing the humor in life,” Moreno said. “I laugh a lot, I laugh so much it’s almost a hobby.
“I honestly don’t think of myself as 87,” Moreno reiterated as we chatted. “When I think of myself, I think of myself as a very privileged and lucky woman.”
Loving her new appeal
Moreno said her Netflix show and recent appearances on shows such as “Kelly and Ryan,” “Jimmy Kimmel” and “Busy Tonight” are seemingly attracting a much broader audience to her talks than someone in her 70th decade of performing might expect.
“I notice there are a lot of young women – more than I ever dreamed of – who are coming to my talks,” she noted, joking, “They have been talking to their parents.
“I’m a very modern 87-year old person,” Moreno said, adding that she felt she “exceeded expectations” during her very candid “Busy Tonight” appearance (see it at https://www.facebook.com/BusyTonightTV/videos/1608779779266281/). “I don’t live in a time warp, except for good manners and being on time.”
She’s especially enjoying her return to the small screen on Norman Lear’s Netflix reboot of the 1970s sitcom, “One Day at a Time.”
“Isn’t it marvelous? I love it – we’re waiting to see if we are going to be picked up [for a fourth season],”* Moreno said. “I don’t know how much of an audience we have, but we are loved by those who watch the show.”
As for her character, the outrageous Cuban grandmother, Moreno said she couldn’t have asked for a better role.
“How much fun is it to be Lydia? I adore her – this is the perfect role,” she said of her very sexual grandma character. “There isn’t anything I don’t love about her…. Her vanity is just hilarious. She really believes she can seduce anybody or anything; she’s so shameless she would try to seduce a lamppost!”
Beyond the comedy factor, Moreno said playing her character, Lydia, is important for another reason.
“[She’s] important because women won’t speak about it to men, [but] women in their 70s and 80s are every bit as vibrant as they were in their 30s and 40s,” she said. “Just because we can’t make babies doesn’t mean we’re not vibrant people.”
But Netflix isn’t the only project keeping her busy. Moreno said she’s very excited to be involved with the remake of “West Side Story” with her “favorite director,” Steven Spielberg.
“Can you believe it? It’s coming full circle and It’s incredible,” Moreno said. “I’m just starting to read the script and it’s absolutely astonishing.”
In the new version of “West Side Story” – script by “Angels in America” playwright Tony Kushner – Moreno will play Valentina, the wife of candy shop owner Doc, who has passed away.
Moreno said the story is still set in the same timeframe and the ages of the cast are “quite young” – as she said they should be – and the actors unknowns. The actress playing “Maria” – who is 17 – is Hispanic; the actors playing the members of the gang, the Sharks, are also all Hispanic and Puerto Rican and “that’s fabulous,” she said.
Shooting on the film is slated to start in June and Moreno said she expects to join the cast in August. She’s hoping the shooting schedule for a fourth season of “One Day at a Time” doesn’t “complicate things” for her two projects.
Making birthdays count
Celebrity is just one aspect of Moreno’s life at this stage of the game. She is also a fierce advocate for families and children near her California home.
“I’m very involved with hunger, – local hunger,” Moreno said. “I contribute greatly to the Alameda food bank – I live in the San Francisco area – that, and a nonprofit clinic for people who don’t have health insurance.”
She explained, “Hunger always worries me. I don’t see how you can think straight when you are hungry. When there are a lot of little children who are hungry who are going to school and struggling, that’s what concerns me the most.”
Her philanthropy, she added, even extends to her own birthday celebrations.
“I do something [for my birthday] that I’d like to pass on to your readers,” Moreno told Prime. “I have a birthday party every year – it’s a big bash that usually involves costumes and themes – but instead of gifts, I ask people to bring a toy or two for a needy child.”
She said she’s gotten “gifts” ranging from a simple doll to tricycles and doll carriages, all of which she then donates to a local charity.
“It doesn’t have to be an expensive gift – it can be a book of stickers – anything someone can afford,” she said of her birthday “gift” strategy.
“Not only do I celebrate getting older, but I celebrate children,” Moreno said. “And it makes everyone feel good.”
*Editor’s Note: Netflix officially announced it was not picking up “One Day at a Time” for a fourth season on March 14. According to a post on the ET website, Co- creators Mike Royce and Gloria Calderon Kellett, and Sony studios said they were looking for “other outlets” for the comedy.
