Rita Moreno Talks With ABC7

June 21 - KGO (KGO) -- She's won an Oscar, a Tony, a Grammy and two Emmy's and she's not done yet. Local celebrity Rita Moreno is back on stage. Once again lending her name and her talent to the Bay Area theater scene. For years has called the Bay Area home she is now putting down roots at the Berkley

It's exactly the kind of role she loves to tackle. The domineering, overbearing southern belle, Amanda Wingfield in Tennessee Williams acclaimed classic the Glass Menagerie. A great role but not exactly Hollywood style casting for this Latina.

Rita Moreno: "Isn't that great, that's why you have to say not a Puerto Rican woman playing a southern belle, but an actress playing a southern belle."

That's one reason why Rita Moreno, star of film and stage is making the non profit Berkeley Repertory Theatre, her acting oasis.

Rita Moreno: "A lot actors do it, it gives them the opportunity to do something they would otherwise never be asked to do and you're willing to and it won't kill your career."

It's a career that has spanned six decades, beginning on Broadway at just 13.

But it was the role of spitfire Anita in West Side Story that earned her an Oscar.

Now 74, Moreno is the first and only Hispanic in history to have won the coveted Oscar, the Emmy, the Tony and the Grammy. And while the desire for that audience love still burns in this actress, her heart longs for something even greater.

Rita Moreno: "I've come to the point in my life where it's more important to be my grandchildren and my daughter. It's time I don't want to miss their toddler hood."

That means saying no to Broadway and yes to San Francisco's plush room where Moreno performs her cabaret show. And it also means sharing her talent with Bay Area audiences up close; two years ago Moreno incarnated opera diva Mara Callas in Berkeley Rep's Master Class, breaking theater records.

Now she's drawing audiences in for Glass Menagerie, and she promises there's more to come.

Rita Moreno: "The way I see it every two years if they want me I'm here."

ABC7's Jessica Aguirre: "Does this place make you happy?"

Rita Moreno: "It's my big home away from home love it."

And there's no question that local theater goers love her.

Because of audience demand Rita Moreno's run in the Glass Menagerie has been extended again and will run until July 2nd.

>> <font color="red">Video On Demand: Build Your Own Newscast</font>

Get more News »

• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•