A Look Again at Her Profession – New York Theater

January 31, 2024

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Chita Rivera died as we speak on the age of 91. Born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero, she originated roles in “West Facet Story,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Chicago” and “Kiss of the Spider Lady,” in an acclaimed Broadway profession that lasted greater than seven decade, beginning with the unique “Guys and Dolls.” obituary

Beneath are pictures and movies trying again.

Rivera re-created her iconic numbers in a number of the earliest of her 18 exhibits in numerous live performance performances, TV broadcasts, and her 2005 autobiographical present on Broadway “Chita Rivera The Dancer’s Life”
Right here is she is on The Judy Garland Present – by which period she had already carried out in seven Broadway exhibits, together with starring roles in West Facet Story and Bye, Bye Birdie

Seventh Heaven, 1955, Music by Victor Younger; Lyrics by Stella Unger; Guide by Victor Wolfson and Stella Unger;Camille, Collette, Fifi

West Facet Story, 1957, Guide by Arthur Laurents; Conceived by Jerome Robbins; Music by Leonard Bernstein; Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Chita Rivera performs “America” from West Facet Story (and likewise “All That Jazz” from Chicago) on the 1982 TV particular “Broadway Performs Washington” on Kennedy Heart Tonight

Bye, Bye Birdie, 1960, Guide by Michael Stewart; Music by Charles Strouse; Lyrics by Lee Adams;

“Spanish Rose” on the Ed Sullivan Present

Bajour, 1964. Guide by Ernest Kinoy; Music by Walter Marks; Lyrics by Walter Marks; Based mostly on “New Yorker” tales by Joseph Mitchell.

Chicago, 1975. By John Kander and Fred Ebb with a guide (and path) by Bob Fosse
She performs “All That Jazz” on the Merv Griffin Present in 1980, three years after the unique manufacturing of Chicago closed on Broadway. (The revival, in 1996, is now the second-longest working present on Broadway)

These days, in The Dancer’s Life, alongside an empty highlight representing her “killer diller” dance accomplice within the unique, Gwen Verdon.

The Rink, 1984. Guide by Terrence McNally; Music by John Kander; Lyrics by Fred Ebb.

Rivera gained her first Tony Award for her efficiency as Liza Minnelli (who was additionally nominated in the identical class, Finest Actress in a Musical)