Rita Moreno 'conversation' upcoming
IRONTON Renowned actress, singer and dancer Rita Moreno is set to appear at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Bowman Auditorium on the Ohio University Southern Campus for “A Conversation with Rita Morena.”
The stage and screen star boasts an illustrious career spanning more than seven decades and is recognized for her groundbreaking roles in such productions as “The King and I”, “Singing in The Rain,” “West Side Story,” “The Electric Company” and most recently “Eighty for Brady.” She is a winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards.
Moreno, 92, came to schedule the visit because of her ties to Ironton native John Ferguson, a 1969 graduate of Ironton High School. Ferguson, owner of the home contracting company “More Than A Carpenter,” was hired by Moreno’s husband, Leonard Gordon, to work on their home. Their friendship endured; after Gordon’s death, he was contacted by Moreno when she had a problem to resolve: She was in a wheelchair following surgery and he helped transport her to a performance. Eventually, Ferguson would become her manager.
This will be Moreno’s second visit to Ironton and she said she’s looking forward to the Ironton-Lawrence County Memorial Day Parade, the oldest continuously running Memorial Day Parade in the United States.
Proceeds from ticket sales, priced at $20 each and available on the Rotary website irontonrotaryclub.org, are earmarked for nursing scholarships and local youth services.
