Rita Moreno and Gloria Estefan to Duet in ‘One Day at a Time’ Animated Episode (EXCLUSIVE)
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Get ready for a musical battle of the “One Day at a Time” divas!
Gloria Estefan and Rita Moreno will be performing a parody of Estefan’s “Mi Tierra” in the upcoming animated episode, Variety has learned exclusively.
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“We diss each other, and we’re doing it to the tune of her beautiful, wonderful, saucy” song, Moreno told Variety about the performance. “It’s wonderful because she’s letting us borrow this song, and we’re parodying it. It’s very short but it’s very funny. We’re very nasty with each other — as you know, our characters despise each other. She had a great time writing it, and I had a super time singing it.”
The special episode is entitled “The Politics Episode” and slated to air June 16 on Pop TV. In it, the Alvarez family explores how talking about politics with family members who may have different views from your own can be challenging but is necessary. This includes the extended Alvarez family, including cousin Estrellita (Melissa Fumero), Tia Mirtha (Estefan) and Tio Juanito (Lin-Manuel Miranda) — people who are much more conservative than Penelope (Justina Machado), her kids (Isabella Gomez and Marcel Ruiz) and even her mother Lydia (Moreno).
At one point in the episode, Lydia suggests they settle their political differences the old fashioned way: with a talent contest, which leads to her fantasizing about singing a duet with her sister where they each sound off about their best attributes.
“Everybody loves me/They tell me I’m so lovely/Compare my voice to that of the angels/There’s no one like me/That’s what they say,” Estefan sings.
Meanwhile, Moreno sings: “I am the one who has all the talent/My beauty’s epic so hide your talons/Because this contest I’m gonna slay.”
“I think people are going to love” the episode, Moreno said. “I asked one of the producers if the animators might be interested if I made some funny faces ala Lydia that they could borrow for the animation. So after we did all of the recordings, my grandson, who is living with me downstairs while school is out, took a video with my phone. I made all of the faces that Lydia makes with respect to certain lines.”
“Mi Tierra” was Estefan’s first single off her Spanish-language album also entitled “Mi Tierra,” which means “My Homeland.” It was originally released in July 1993 and features such lyrics as “canto de mi tierra bella y santa, sufro ese dolor que hay en su alma (I sing of my beautiful and holy land, I suffer that pain that is in your soul,” becoming an anthem of sorts for anyone with deep love and gratitude for their place of birth.
This Sony Pictures Television reboot of “One Day at a Time” was developed by Gloria Calderón Kellett and Mike Royce. They, along with Norman Lear and Brent Miller, serve as executive producers. This episode idea came from Kellett. Jonas Diamond, executive producer and co-owner of Smiley Guy Studios in Toronto, oversaw the animation.
The series also stars Stephen Tobolowsky, Todd Grinnell and India de Beaufort. (Tobolowsky and de Beaufort do not appear in this episode, though.)
See a first look at the animated duet above.
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