It’s a wicked time for Rita Moreno…
The 89-year-old Puerto Rican actress, dancer, and singer, a living Latina legend, will take part in PBS’ Wicked in Concert special.
Co-hosted by the Tony Award-winning musical’s original Broadway stars Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, the musical event will feature performances by Moreno, Mario Cantone, Gavin Creel, Ariana DeBose, Cynthia Erivo, Stephanie Hsu, Jennifer Nettles, Alex Newell, Isaac Powell, Amber Riley, Gabrielle Ruiz and Ali Stroker.
The starry line-up was announced by Nouveau Productions Executive Producer Robert Pullen. The concert special will air on Sunday, August 29 at 9:00 pm ET on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS Video App.
The concert, directed by Baayork Lee, is designed as a celebration of the return of Broadway following the 16-month COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
This special will feature reimagined, never-before-heard Wicked musical arrangements created by music director and conductor Luke Frazier just for this broadcast, with performances filmed in multiple locations including Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and New York City.
Since opening on Broadway in 2003, Wicked, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman based on Gregory Maguire’s novel reimagining some characters from The Wizard of Oz, is the fifth longest-running show in Broadway history.
The musical has been seen by over 60 million people worldwide and has amassed over $5 billion in global sales.
