The legendary Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award winner Rita Moreno is returning to the Plaza Theatre and the El Paso Community Foundation’s Plaza Classic Film Festival!
The iconic singer, dancer, and actor will appear with 1952’s Singin’ in the Rain at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 28 and Steven Spielberg’s 2021 version of West Side Story at 7 p.m. Friday, July 29, both in the Plaza Theatre. Ms. Moreno is the last surviving member of the main cast of Singin’ in the Rain. The 15th annual Plaza Classic Film Festival will be July 28-August 7 in and around the Plaza Theatre.
She played Zelda Zanders, her first Anglo character in a feature film, in Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s classic. She won a supporting actress Academy Award for her portrayal of the fiery Anita in 1961’s of West Side Story. In the new version, she served as an executive producer, played the newly created character of Valentina, and performed the pivotal song Somewhere.
Miss Moreno has a long history with the Plaza Theatre and the Plaza Classic Film Festival. She headlined a benefit concert there in 1986, which enabled the El Paso Community Foundation to purchase the deteriorating 1930 movie palace and eventually restore it with the City of El Paso. She appeared again in 2007, the year after the theater reopened, and headlined the Plaza Classic in 2013. Since then, she starred in the Latinx remake of TV’s One Day at a Time, received considerable Oscar buzz for the new West Side Story and has roles in the forthcoming Fast and Furious sequel, Fast X, and Tom Brady’s Eighty for Brady.
Rita Moreno, 90, is one of the few performers to receive TV’s Emmy, music’s Grammy, cinema’s Oscar, and Broadway’s Tony awards. In addition to her Academy Award, she received Emmy Awards for The Muppet Show and The Rockford Files, a Grammy for contributions to the soundtrack of the children’s show, The Electric Company, and a Tony for her performance in the Broadway production of The Ritz. Her extensive credits include HBO’s Oz and the films The King and I, Carnal Knowledge, and The Four Seasons.
Miss Moreno joins the previously announced F. Murray Abraham, an El Paso native, as this year’s special guests. Mr. Abraham will appear with Amadeus, for which he won Best Actor Oscar, at 7 p.m. Friday, August 5 and The Grand Budapest Hotel at 4 p.m. Saturday, August 6, both in the Plaza Theatre.
Tickets will go on sale on June 27 at the Plaza Theatre box office and Ticketmaster.com. Festival Passes, which include admission to Plaza Classic movies and special events, and the new Movies Only Pass, are on sale at plazaclassic.com/tickets. Go to plazaclassic.com for more information or follow us on social media.
