Award Winning Actor-Singer Passed Away At Age Of 91
Broadway legend Chita Rivera, a two-time Tony winner who received eight additional nominations, died on Tuesday morning after a brief illness, her publicist announced. She was 91.
The actor-singer-dancer originated the role of Anita in the original Broadway production of “West Side Story,” as well as the title character in “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and the role of Velma Kelly in the original Broadway run of “Chicago.”
As the New York Times noted in reviewing her 2005 career retrospective, “Chita Rivera: A Dancer’s Life,” Rivera’s charisma lay “in her expert technique and in the infectious pleasure she derives from it. She has always been a pro’s pro in a world of exacting judgments and mythic standards.”
Rivera originated an array of iconic roles that other actors would take forward and make their own. But she rarely portrayed these characters outside of stage performance.
Rivera viewed herself as “a chorus dancer who went through the whole race.” “I think I can cope with anything that comes up,” she said.
She was on the path to a classical dance career when in 1952 Rivera accompanied a friend on an audition for the Broadway production of “Call Me Madam.” The friend didn’t get the part of principal dancer but Rivera did. She followed this debut with other Broadway shows, including “Can-Can,” “Seventh Heaven,” “Mr. Wonderful” and “Shinbone Alley.”
But her steadily growing profile sky-rocketed in 1957, when she appeared in “West Side Story.” Conceived, directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, the production was revolutionary, merging a jazzy score with a gritty, urban take on “Romeo and Juliet.” The performers wore sneakers and jeans, snapped their fingers and spoke in slang.