Fresh Air Weekend: Rita Moreno; ‘The kiss bug’

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from previous weeks, as well as new program elements specially designed for weekends. Our weekend show focuses on interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes clips from studio concerts. This week:

Rita Moreno on ‘West Side Story’ and Become the Model She Needed: Moreno moved to New York from Puerto Rico as a child. She says her Wparallel story the role is “the only part I can remember where I represented Hispanics in a dignified and positive way. “

“In the heights” is the perfect backdrop for a happy summer together: Set during a record-breaking New York heatwave, this vibrant screen adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s stage musical impulses with musical numbers that blend hip-hop, Latin pop and salsa.

“Kissing Bug” tells a personal story about race, sexuality, and a deadly bug: When Daisy Hernández was 5 years old, her aunt in Colombia contracted a mysterious illness that caused her large intestine to swell. Hernández details his aunt’s story – and his own – in a new memoir.

You can listen to the original interviews and watch again here:

Rita Moreno on ‘West Side Story’ and Become the Model She Needed

“In the heights” is the perfect backdrop for a happy summer together

‘Kissing Bug’ tells a personal story about race, sexuality and a deadly bug