We are distraught here at Dolores Delargo Towers! Our Patron-Saint-with-Attitude Señorita Chita Rivera has departed in a storm of glitter, jewels and twirling chiffon, to take centre stage (of course - who would dare argue) in Fabulon.
From The Guardian:
A consummate “triple-threat” entertainer, she was celebrated for her singing, acting and dancing in classic musicals including West Side Story and Chicago. She won Tony awards for best actress in a musical for Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Rink and was given a lifetime Tony award in 2018....Rivera emerged as a New York theatre sensation in the 1950s and was still centre-stage six decades later, in the 2015 Broadway production The Visit, which reunited her with composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb. She performed their songs over decades, not just in musicals but also in her own cabaret revues....
She looked back at her career in a 2005 revue, Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, and in the 2023 book Chita: A Memoir, written with Patrick Pacheco, which notably featured her hell-raising alter ego Dolores (also Rivera’s birth name). She continued to perform small shows, sometimes with her daughter and with her own piano, bass and drums trio.
[Of her backstage routines on Broadway, she said]: “The only time my door would close would be just before I went on and I said my prayers. I would say the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Act of Contrition. Then I’d go off to be crazy!... My prayer was always, ‘Let me say the right words, let me please the audience, let me do a good show.’”
She never did a bad one!
RIP, Chita Rivera (born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson, 23rd January 1933 – 30th January 2024)
La légendaire Chita Riviera, l'une des grandes lumières de Broadway, nous manquera.
ReplyDeleteChita était une grande chanteuse, danseuse et artist de scène.
A l'occasion, elle conduisait de Montréal à New York et la voyait se produire à Broadway dans 'Sweet Charity' et 'Chicago' et dans de nombreux spectacles de cabaret.
Sans oublier les émissions de télévision américaines Ed Sullivan, Hollywood Palace et même un épisode de Outer Limits. :)
Certains émissions de variétés de la télévision américaine avaient des connotations homoérotiques avec leurs danseurs masculins.
*d'Anjou
Wherever Chita went, the gays would follow... Jx
DeleteI was shocked. I hope they are clearing a huge path in Fabulon for this one.
ReplyDelete"Clear the decks! Light the lights!"
DeleteIt's sad news, indeed. Jx
PS Where have you been?!
DeleteOh bugger! Another great has left the stage...Vale
ReplyDeleteOne of the greatest..! Jx
DeleteI had seen her in many shows over the years in New York City since it was only a hop and skip from Philly. Adored Chita Riviera. And just yet another death that places me towards the top of the list, not being but a few years behind her age.
ReplyDeleteShe was performing right to the end, and was on stage/TV even last year - see here. [I can't see the video, unfortunately; I assume that's because I'm in the UK]. Jx
DeleteShe was amazing. A great loss
ReplyDeleteThere'll never be another... Jx
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