Rita Moreno to Join Academy Museum for WEST SIDE STORY Screening and Conversation

Academy Award®-winning actress and Academy Museum Gala honoree Rita Moreno will visit the Academy Museum for a conversation on her life and iconic eight-decade long career. The conversation will be followed by a screening of West Side Story (1961) in 70 mm. The event takes place on Thursday, October 17 at 7:30 PT. Tickets are available to purchase HERE.

Moreno is a Hollywood and Broadway legend, having been honored and recognized for her critically acclaimed performances during her more than 80-year career. She has won all four of the most prestigious performing art awards: an Oscar, a Tony, two Emmys, and a Grammy. Her countless credits span more than eight decades, beginning with her Broadway debut at age 13. In addition, Moreno has starred on London's West End, appeared in more than 70 feature films, countless television shows, and has performed in numerous regional theaters, including her one woman show, Life Without Makeup, at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. She continues to tour the country appearing at speaking engagements and lectures.

Moreno recently starred in such films as The Prank (2022), a comedy-horror film that released in theaters nationwide and the Netflix film Family Switch, which was released on the platform in December, 2023. Recently, she has starred in several blockbuster films, including Fast X (2023) and 80 for Brady (2023); a holiday flick for Lifetime-TV, Santa Bootcamp (2022); and hosted the 30th Anniversary Special of Beauty and The Beast on ABC-TV.

Moreno also co-starred and served as an Executive Producer in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story (2021). Her documentary, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It, had its world debut at Sundance Film Festival and then released in theaters nationwide. The film also debuted on TV as part of PBS’s American Masters series and is now streaming on Netflix. Moreno also appeared in the widely popular Latinx reimagining of Norman Lear’s classic TV sitcom, One Day at a Time, which aired for 4 seasons.

In 2015, Moreno released her first ever all-Spanish language album, Una Vez Más, produced by good friend, Emilio Estefan. She is also a New York Times bestselling author with her first book, Rita Moreno: A Memoir, published by Celebra Books.

Recipient of the Peabody Career Achievement Award and the Kennedy Center Honor for her lifetime contributions to American culture, she was also honored by her peers as the 50th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. She has also served as Grand Marshall for both the Rose Parade and National Puerto Rican Day Parade.

Moreno is the recipient Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush, the highest civilian award of the United States, and the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama, the highest award given to artists and arts patrons.

West Side Story in 70mm

Director Robert Wise teamed up with legendary Broadway director-choreographer Jerome Robbins for this film version of the acclaimed stage musical that transposed the story of Romeo and Juliet to contemporaneous New York. Maria (Natalie Wood) is a young Puerto Rican girl whose love for the Polish-American Tony (Richard Beymer) exacerbates the conflict between two local street gangs, the Jets and the Sharks.

The film won 10 Oscars including Directing and Best Picture, as well as acting awards for the supporting performances of George Chakiris and Rita Moreno, who made Academy history as the first Latina to win an acting Oscar. Her vibrant, unforgettable performance as Anita includes classic renditions of the Bernstein-Sondheim songs “America” and “A Boy Like That.” The star’s relationship with West Side Story came full circle when she played the shopkeeper Valentina in director Steven Spielberg’s 2021 remake, for which Ariana De Bose won an Oscar for her own portrayal of Anita.