Icons: February 2009 Archives

Apologies for the inconsistent blogging today. Power was completely out in the newsroom for several hours. So, knock wood, we have power - for now,

I'll kick off a new batch of posts by sharing a bit of a new interview Cher did with Associated Press. The 62-year-old icoin has been doing stints at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace but after she steps off of the stage, she hasn't exactly been a wild thing. No drinking or gambling for the Oscar, Grammy and Emmy winning star.

"I like to go out, do my work and then come home," says Cher, who likens her time away from the stage to living like "a nun."

"The schedule is a dream schedule," she adds. "The only thing that I kind of didn't anticipate for some reason, I don't know where my brain is, but I didn't anticipate the dryness getting to my throat the way it did. ... So when I'm there, I have to kind of live like a nun and not talk during the day, but that's the only unusual thing....It's so hard for me, I just really have to think about it and just not speak, but I have to remind myself about 100 times a days, because I'm not the kind of person that doesn't want to talk.

Why did Cher, retired from concert tours, decide to return the stage: "Look, performers love to perform -- that's the thing that we do. I think one of the best things was being able to imagine anything that I wanted, anything that I came up with we could do, because this theater is unbelievable. I come home twice a week, so I'm kind of at home. ... I'm not there that much, but it takes me 40 minutes to get home (in the Los Angeles area), it's like doing a show from my bedroom.

On her upcoming CD: "It's hard to put a label sometimes on songs, but it's a little bit more guitar-oriented, a little bit more like "I Found Someone" feeling, and there's some stuff that's still sort of guitar-oriented, but it's got a Southern feeling to it. You know, I just find songs that I like and then I do them and hopefully they make something cohesive."

For some odd reason, one of my friends, a few weeks ago, kept singing Rita Moreno's heavily accented version of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from "The Ritz" and each time, I completely busted up. So when I intrerviewed Miss Moreno a few days ago for an article running in Thursday's LA Daily News, I told her about it and without missing a beat, she launched right into it:

Almost fell outa my chair.

She's the best! Here is an early look at my story on the legendary entertainer who is still going strong...

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Don't tell Rita Moreno that her days of getting on top of a piano to sing a song are over. The 77-year-old showbiz legend plans to do just that at The Conga Room at LA Live tonight when she performs her first local cabaret gig in nearly three decades.

"I do a tribute to Peggy Lee and I end doing 'Fever' on top of the piano in a very saucy way which everyone loves," Moreno says. "It tickles them to death to see a 77-year-old woman doing sexy stuff anf being sexy."

So what took the only woman to have won Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy awards so long to return. After all, she has performed in this and similar one-woman shows in other places including New York City clubs The Carlyle and Feinstein's.

"There is no cabaret in an industry town like LA and it's a scandal!" she says. "It's been almost 30 years. So when I was offered this one night at The Conga Room, I lept at it so i can at least show my friends what I do when I'm not doing television, film or theater."

What can her fans expect during this rare opportunity to see Moreno live?

"It has Broadway, it has jazz," she says."There are two Spanish numbers, one is with castanettes. We are throwing everything into this show then we end it with a fabulous Puerto Rican salsa. What really pulls the show together are the anecdotes, a story that ties it all together and enriches everything."

There will also be some numbers from "Sunset Boulevard," a show that starred Moreno as Norma Desmond that she performed on the London stage.

In the years since she dazzled as Anita in the film adaptation of "West Side Story," Moreno has rarely slowed down keeping busy on Broadway ("Last of the Red Hot Lovers," "The Odd Couple," "The Ritz"), on television ("Oz," "Electric Company," "Cane") and film ("Carnal Knowledge," "The Slums of Beverly Hills," "Pinero.").

Moreno is one of several female showbiz icons past 70 who are still performing on stage in one-woman shows. Others include Elaine Stritch, Florence Henderson, and Mitzi Gaynor.

"Aren't we great?" she says. "All I can say is that there's the difference between us and people who don't do anything at our age. It's because we love our work. We love what we do. Why on Earth would we ever quit it?"

While Moreno has won all four of showbiz's major awards, what means the most to her are her Presidential Medal of Freedom and her induction last year into the California Hall of Fame.
She keeps the awards at her home and next to her Oscar stands, of all things, a soccer trophy earned by her grandson.

"He got his trophy and brought it to my house and said, 'I think this should sit next to the little gold man.'"

Online extra:

On being a gay icon: "I have a reputation for having been involved in gay community years ago before it was the fashionable thing to do. I did one of the first Hollywood Bowl shows supporting the gay and lesbian community. It was such a new thing and TV news people showed up, sticking mics in my face saying, 'Why are you doing this?' That's how long ago that was."

On "Cane," the drama cancelled after less than one full season on CBS: "I'm so sad about it. I miss it. It was such a marvelous show. I think it had every good chance of being immensely successful had we been on in the right timeslot. It was 'Dynasty' and 'Dallas' and all that great stuff."

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Here's the info foir the show:

What: An Evening With Rita Moreno
Where: The Conga Room at LA Live, 800 West Olympic Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90015
When: Thurs. Feb. 19, 2009 VIP Reception 6:30-7:30pm, Concert 8:00pm
More Info: http://www.inboundclicks.com/ritamoreno/