Manzano, who is best known for inspiring, educating and delighting children as Maria on "Sesame Street," will deliver the address in McCrary Theatre on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
Tickets are now available to hear Sonia Manzano deliver the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Address on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 6 p.m. Her talk is titled, “Multi-Racial Latinos & the Civil Rights Movement.”
Manzano is best known for inspiring, educating and delighting children as 鈥淢aria鈥 on 鈥淪esame Street.鈥 Manzano was a fixture on the iconic program for more than 30 years, having broken ground as one of the first Hispanic characters on national television.
Raised in the South Bronx, her involvement in the arts was inspired by teachers who encouraged her to audition for the High School of Performing Arts. Following study at Carnegie Mellon University, Manzano landed a role in the original production of the off-Broadway show 鈥淕odspell鈥. Within a year she had joined 鈥淪esame Street,鈥 eventually writing scripts for the series. She played Maria for more than four decades until her retirement from the show in 2015.
Twice nominated for an Emmy for her performances on 鈥淪esame Street,鈥 she won 15 Emmys as part of the writing team for the series. Her latest books are, 鈥淏ecoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx鈥 and a Christmas picture book, 鈥淢iracle on 133rd Street.鈥 She authored the children鈥檚 book, 鈥淣o Dogs Allowed鈥 in 2007 and the young adult novel, 鈥淭he Revolution of Evelyn Serrano鈥 in 2012.
She received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 43rd Daytime Emmy Awards and in 2016 was presented with honorary doctorates from Carnegie Mellon, Tufts University and Lehman College.
Admission is $15 or free with an 黑料不打烊 ID. Tickets are available at the Center for the Arts Box Office. For ticket information, call (336) 278-5610.