Hollywood legend Rita Moreno is an EGOT winner and now she’s being bestowed with the honor of having a building named after her within the industry.
On June 23rd, the “West Side Story” actress attended the naming ceremony of Hollywood Arts Collective’s Rita Moreno Arts Building in Los Angeles.
The building will be inaugurated in the summer of 2023 and is situated at 1630 Schrader Blvd. The Entertainment Community Fund’s Hollywood Arts Collective complex also houses the Cicely Tyson Residential Building which is dedicated to residents having low-income.
Artist rendering of the Hollywood Arts Collective
While talking to Variety Moreno shared her disbelief:
“This really came as a surprise to me, and I was asked if I would allow them to put my name on it and I did two things: I almost peed, and I damn near fell down on the floor. I said, ‘Really?’ And then I wanted to say ‘Why?’ but I figured that would be kind of rude. If they had chosen me there was something just wonderful about me that I needed to be reminded of. So that’s how it happened. And I really am just thrilled to pieces. I can’t believe it.”
Moreno also talked about the last time she saw Cicely Tyson who passed away last year, aged 96. The pair visited the White House during the holidays.
She reminisced the memory fondly:
“We’re taking pictures in front of the tree, and I’ll never forget this — this is so Cicely Tyson — a young girl was rounding us up and she said, ‘Okay, you guys,’ and Cecily took after her. She said, ‘Excuse me. We are not guys. How dare you.”
She continued:
“She let her have it. This poor creature who didn’t know any better, obviously, was so embarrassed. She turned bright scarlet. She said, ‘Don’t you ever, ever call women ‘you guys’ again.’ And I just said, ‘Cecily, ‘I love you.’ She said, ‘Rita, I love you.’ She was so gorgeous, such a beautiful woman.”
The naming ceremony was hosted at the chic Bar Lis at the Thompson Hollywood hotel. It was attended by the Entertainment Community Fund Board president and CEO Joseph P. Benincasa, Western Region executive director Keith McNutt, and chairman Annette Bening. Writer and producer of Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, Ralph Faruqhar was also among the guests.
Bening told Variety:
“I met a woman who worked for the city when they were originally starting this project 13 years ago. It took so long, so many people. And I just loved it, because I live here in LA. And I just wanted to do everything I could to try to help.”
She added: “It’s 151 units of affordable housing. For anybody that lives in LA, and anybody that’s having a hard time getting by in LA, you know what that means to have affordable housing. Housing everywhere, it’s really expensive, but here, we really need it. We really need to provide this kind of help.”
While giving a speech in the evening Rita Moreno also received a future sketch of the Rita Moreno Arts Building. She talked about her childhood passionately as she grew up in New York City and dreamed about becoming an actor one day. She’d listen to the radio on her family apartment’s fire escape.
She went on to surprise the people in attendance by doing a cover of her absolute favorite song as a kid, “Dream,” originally sung by the Pied Pipers.
Moreno also shared what would be her late mother’s reaction if she had been alive to see a building named after her daughter.
“She’d probably say ‘Oh, that’s nice. Why?,’ So I would tell her this — I would say that the Hollywood Arts Collective…is very important for lower income arts and entertainment workers who are being priced out of Hollywood. This is incredible.”
She wrapped up with:
“This is going to allow them to continue to live and work and will allow them to dream. You know, you just cannot take our dreams.”
Rita Moreno Arts Building is a $120 million project that will be providing affordable housing for 151 artists. It will also include nonprofit arts office space, 86-seat theatre, rehearsal studios, art galleries, and also provide the regional headquarters for The Actors Fund’s Western. The building is scheduled to open its doors in 2024.
You can catch the virtual groundbreaking for the building right here:
Meanwhile, Los Angeles City Council Member Mitch O’Farrell (@MitchOFarrell) shared the progress of the Rita Moreno Arts Building proudly on his Twitter comparing it to last year’s:
What a difference a year makes!
Great progress is being made on the Hollywood Arts Collective – a new 151-unit, 100% affordable building for artists under construction on a former surface parking lot in the Heart of Hollywood. pic.twitter.com/XhaSlLUR4L
— Mitch O'Farrell (@MitchOFarrell) February 4, 2022
Let us know your thoughts about Hollywood’s generosity, and the honor bestowed on the legends, Rita Moreno and Cicely Tyson, in the comment section below.
Jane Davies
