Broadway legend and Tony Award winner Chita Rivera has died at the age of 91. According to her daughter, Lisa Mordente, she died peacefully today in New York after a brief illness. Her storied Broadway career spanned from 1952 (Call Me Madam) to 2015 (The Visit), with iconic shows like West Side Story, Chicago, and Bye Bye Birdie in between. https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1752417175728447865 From Variety:
The actress-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.”
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.
Rivera wowed audiences with her vibrant performance as Anita, best friend to the show’s heroine, Maria, and girlfriend to Maria’s brother Bernardo.
One of the most nominated performers in Tony Award history, Chita received 10 nominations, won twice and received the 2018 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. Read the full recap of Chita’s glorious career at Variety. https://youtu.be/yCP8VzaheU0?si=f6GAOx9FaIC4KvfB https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2E30HG5QNs https://youtu.be/pcctZtYJOpM?si=kAeauB4sULbqA6ST https://youtu.be/g9_fi5ZmqyU?si=0OkgOyqAJDNKVf4N As regular reader’s know, I was very, very fortunate to have worked with the actress/dancer/singer/force-of-nature in the Las Vegas company of the wildly successful revival of CHICAGO the Musical in the late 1990s. All I can say is: she was every inch the Broadway star you imagined her to be. And as down to earth as you’d dream. 
With Broadway legend Chita Rivera during my CHICAGO days with her
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