Friday, October 2, 2009

Did you guess who's coming to diiner?


No one even attempted to guess who the big star that I was lucky enough to have dinner was. Either you guys are lazy or maybe too young to figure out the clues I gave you.

The clues were...
This star was on the West Side when it came to Electric and crackers come to mind when I think of her.
She had a very memorable role in the film West Side Story, appeared on the children's TV show The Electric Company, and won a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for The Ritz. Maybe I should have worked an Oz reference in there in case any of you watched her in the TV series OZ.

Of course, the star is Rita Moreno, one of the very few (and very first) performers to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony, and a Grammy. Born in 1931, the actress is now 78 years old. Let me tell you, she looks absolutely amazing for her age... hell, she looks about 20 years younger than that. And she is funny, interesting, caring, and has a crazy side to her. The conversation between Rita, her husband Lenny, my friend Greg, and I, ranged from talking about good times with other stars she has been friends with over the years, to funny anecdotes about her husband (a retired internist and cardiologist.who is just turning 90 and is witty, extremely open minded and sharp as a tack), to bondage, dungeons, and sex playrooms. (It was Folsom weekend after all.)

I can't tell you what a great honor it was to have dinner with her and how warm and special she made me feel. She even insisted that I come to see her backstage when she performs in Florida in November. A big thank you to my friend Greg for sharing his friend Rita and her husband Lenny with me and for giving me an AWESOME experience!

HIT IT WITH YOUR FREAKIN' SHOE!!!
I'm not sure why the video I posted last doesn't always work when you click on it. Freaking Blogger! Try letting it load completely and then clicking on it... or the arrow... or your cat... or just take off your right shoe and hit the computer really hard it. Or refresh the page. Or... HELL I DON'T KNOW!!! It will play eventually. And so you know... It's just a cute video I did of my trip to Folsom with a special pit stop in it that is sure to offend many. I know.... no surprise there!

Next up I will post some photos from the Folsom Street Fair and some of the Porn friends I hung out with there.

9 comments:

Sue said...

It is always a pleasure to meet a big classy star! How great for you Nick!

Stan said...

How great for you! Rita is one class act for sure. Sorry I'm bad at guessing games Nick.

Frank said...

I guess I was the only one who knew who Rita Moreno is.Glad to hear that you had a wonderful dinner with Rita,her husband and your friend Greg.Thank you for sharing this!
xoxoxo

wdavi said...

The big give away clue, was the Oscar, Tony, Grammy hint. I would have posted Ms. Moreno as an answer, but have had problems loading your page lately. Anyway, how wonderful an experience for you!

Anonymous said...

WOW Dinner with a living legend.... Lucky you!:)

Jambrea said...

That is so cool! And I bet VERY interesting.

slyder said...

Wonderful! A classy lady and a true professional. Don't forget that she appeared in 44 episodes of Oz as a nun. I seem to remember one scene where she had a discussion with Chris Meloni's character while he was showering buck naked! One hot scene!

Sam said...

That is so very cool! What a treat for you!

Robert A. Geise said...

Jealous! And happy for you. I have loved her since Electric Company and reflectively in her film/television career before and after.

Not to minimize Rita's accomplishments, which are numerous and well deserved... Wiki says that Richard Rodgers was the first to win all four awards (1962), though he doesn't count as far as I'm concerned. In terms of actors, though,the wonderful Helen Hayes was next ('76), then Rita ('77). (And if you include non-competitive categories, Barbra was actually second, in '70.) The list of folks who have done this is short and impressive, and Rita is among good company all around.