On January 30th of this year, we lost one of the last stars of the “Golden Era” of the Broadway musical, Chita Rivera at the age of 91. We’re celebrating her career over two programs beginning on this week’s Dress Circle (2/11 7:00 p.m.)
Chita appeared in 18 musicals on Broadway and toured in 8, including “Chicago” twice – once in 1977 and again in 1999, and we’re going to try to use as many of her Broadway appearances as possible, but sadly, some didn’t have cast recordings.
She started her career as a replacement dancer in “Guys and Dolls” and “Can-Can” than a national tour of “Call Me Madam” as the “principal dancer.”
In this program, we’ve planned songs from her first “named role” in “Seventh Heaven,” “Mr. Wonderful,” “West Side Story,” “Bye, Bye Birdie,” “Bajour,” “Chicago,” and “Bring Back Birdie.” Our next program will feature songs from her later appearances up to her final show, “The Visit.”
Sadly, there are many people who never got to see this luminous performer who did travel in her own spotlight on stage, and we’re hoping that we’ll capture some of what made her such a special performer over these two shows.
Join us as we celebrate Chita’s incredible career over the next two programs.