The Crowd -- B.W. Cook

“Oh, what the heck. I’ll be 70 in December,” Rita Moreno said,

addressing the crowd that had gathered in support of the Big

Canyon/Spyglass Hill Philharmonic Committee of Orange County. The event,

held in the ballroom of the Irvine Marriott Hotel, raised funds to

support music education programs for youth in Orange County schools.

The “West Side Story” star rushed in from Los Angeles, where she is

taping a comedy pilot for potential pickup during the 2002-03 television

season. Moreno shared with the crowd that she was playing a Greek mother

in the sitcom. Moreno’s career has spanned five decades, earning her the

highest of honors in film, television and theater.

It is hard to believe that Moreno is turning 70. Of course, we are all

getting older. Many of us identify the stages of our lives with landmark

entertainment vehicles.

Therefore, it is no surprise that the nearly 500 guests who had come

to meet her, enjoyed Moreno’s words and shared experiences as if she were

a longtime friend. Moreno shared personal stories about her Puerto Rican

birth and her arrival in America as a young girl.

“I came into New York Harbor on a boat,” she said. “I have a vivid

memory of seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time as a very young

girl. You know what I thought? I thought how fantastic it was that a lady

runs America.”

Moreno added that she knew from a young age that dreams were possible

in her new country. This in spite of “a overwhelming sense of sadness and

hardship,” she said.

Moreno told the audience that she and her mother, who worked

relentlessly to support them in their new land, were overpowered by the

sadness of the cold and gray environment of New York as compared with the

tropical climate of Puerto Rico. No matter how poor they were, there were

still palm trees in Puerto Pico.

“I kept asking my mother where were the flowers?” said Moreno with a

poignant tone in her voice.

She went on to say they also had a great deal of difficulty with the

English language. Moreno confessed that there were times when she would

“die of embarrassment” over her mother’s malapropisms and

mispronunciations.

“I loved my mother so much. However, there were times when I prayed,

‘Oh God, could you please open up the earth and just swallow her for just

one minute,”’ Moreno recalled.

In a lighthearted moment, Moreno shared an anecdote concerning the

first meeting of her Puerto Rican Catholic mother with her New York

Jewish fiance. One of the language difficulties that her mother never

overcame was the pronunciation of the letter “y” as a “j.” The first

words out of Moreno’s mother’s mouth to her fiance were, “So, jou are the

Jew?”

The audience howled, and Moreno told them she was celebrating her 35th

wedding anniversary despite her mother’s language difficulties.

“I am a prisoner of hope,” said the co-star of the HBO prison drama

“Oz.”

Moreno’s hope could be felt throughout the ballroom of the hotel.

Lovely JoAnne Mix, president of the Big Canyon/Spyglass Hill

Philharmonic, told the crowd about the life-changing opportunity the

committee’s work affords young people who are taken to the Orange County

Performing Arts Center to experience a live production. Mix told the

audience about her own experience as a young girl in Chicago seeing live

ballet for the first time, relating her own emotional connection to that

of contemporary children in Orange County today.

The event was underwritten by Chairwoman Kim Grubman and her prominent

businessman husband, Seymour. Additional major support came from Mary Kay

VanderMolen, John and Donna Crean, Joyce Reaume, Joy Owens, Mix, Gloria

Duthie and Flo Anhood.

Corporate sponsorship came from Fletcher Jones Motor Cars, Martin

Lawrence Galleries, Thomas Printers and Bodega Chocolates at South Coast

Plaza. A host of additional businesses generously donated to the silent

auction, ensuring a successful event.

Spotted in the crowd were the glamorous Jacque Heebner, Patricia

Cranford, Julie Maxwell, Carol and Don Julian, Deborah Mars, Ann Stern,

Nancy Burnett, MaryAnn Miller, Ollie Hill, Martha Green and Mary

Osterhout.

Moreno closed the event with an impressive reading from “Death of a

Salesman.” The room applauded with sincerity, impressed by the actress’

ability to transition into character delivering an emotional moment.

It’s all about the magic of performance. Which is also what the Big

Canyon/Spyglass Hill Philharmonic Committee is all about.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.