At 91 years old and with a long career on Broadway, the iconic dancer Chita Rivera died this Tuesday in New York. She was also a singer and actress, talents that led her to 10 Tony Award nominations, winning two of them.
Lisa Mordente, his daughter, confirmed the death to the AP, after a brief illness.
Her participation on Broadway opened the gap for Latin artists. In addition, another of her notable recognitions was being chosen marshal of the Puerto Rico Day Parade in 2012, held in New York.
Chita Rivera’s artistic career
She first became known in 1957 as “Anita” in the original production of “West Side Story” and was still dancing on Broadway with her characteristic energy, half a century later, in “The Visit.” ” from 2015.
“I wouldn’t know what to do if I wasn’t moving or telling a story or singing a song,” he said that year. “That’s the spirit of my life and I’m very fortunate to be able to do what I love, even at this point in my life.”
In August 2009, Chita Rivera was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor the United States can bestow on a civilian. The artist placed her hand over her heart and shook her head in amazement as President Barack Obama presented her with the medal.
He rose from chorus girl to star, collaborating along the way with Broadway’s greatest talents, including Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Bob Fosse, Gower Champion, Michael Kidd, Harold Prince, Jack Cole, Peter Gennaro, and John Kander and Fred Ebb.
His Tony nominations and awards
In 1988 he had to recover from a serious car accident that crushed his right leg and became a tireless star on tour.
She was on Broadway in a raucous production of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” in 2012 and in the chilling “The Visit” in 2014, earning another Tony nomination for best actress.
“She can’t rehearse except at full throttle,” playwright Terrence McNally said in 2005. “She can’t act unless she’s at full capacity, no matter the size of the theater. “She is going to be there 101% for that hearing.”
She won Tony Awards for “The Rink” in 1984 and “Kiss of the Spider Woman” in 1993. Upon receiving a Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 2018, she said: “I wouldn’t trade my life for “the theater for nothing, because the theater is life.”
She was nominated for a Tony seven other times, for “Bye Bye Birdie,” which premiered in 1960; “Chicago”, 1975; “Bring Back Birdie,” 1981; “Merlin”, 1983; “Jerry’s Girls,” 1985; “Nine”, 2003; and “Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life”, 2005.
“I don’t think we have enough original musicals,” she told the AP in 2012. “I know I’m being old-fashioned, but theater is where music, lyrics, words, scenery and stories come together. And I’ve been lucky enough to have done several shows where that actually happened. They take you to other places and are daring. That is what we need”.
His albums include 16 songs taken from recordings of his plays and were released as part of Sony’s Legends of Broadway series and two solo albums: And Now I Sing, for a small record label in the 1960s, and “And Now I Swing”, in 2009, for Yellow Sound Label.
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Before it was very rare to see a Latino surname or face succeeding on Broadway, but the doors have begun to open. These are some of those who have achieved it.
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Bianca Marroquín. This season she returned to ‘Chicago,’ where she has played Roxie Hart on and off for the past 20 years, with more than 4,000 performances. Her other Broadway credits include Daniela in ‘In the Heights’ and Carmen in ‘The Pajama Game.’ Recently, Bianca appeared as Chita Rivera in the ‘FX miniseries Fosse’ and, at Univision, we have seen her in several reality shows and television shows.
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Lindsay Mendez. The actress, of Mexican roots, winner of the Tony for her performance as Carrie in ‘Carousel’, has provoked standing ovations with her incredible voice when participating in works such as ‘Wicked’, ‘Significant Other’, ‘Godspell’, ‘Everyday Rapture ‘ and ‘Grease’. Her histrionic ability has also led her to act for film and television. This year she starts filming the movie ‘The Grotto’.
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Mandy Gonzalez. She is one of the best-known actresses with Mexican roots on Broadway: in ‘Wicked’ she gave life to Elphaba and in ‘In The Heights’ she played the noble Nina Rosario. Currently we see Mandy shine in ‘Hamilton’ in the role of Angelica Schuyler. She put her aside and brought out two children’s books, from a series she calls: Fairless.
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Ana Teresa Villafañe. The young actress of Cuban and Salvadoran origin became known for playing Gloria Estefan in the Broadway musical ‘On Your Feet!’ . Named one of her 30 Under 30 by The New York Times, the young star is unstoppable: she is seen acting on television as well as supporting important causes such as the Dreamers.
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Alex Lacamorie. In addition to being one of the creators of the music of ‘Hamilton’, this artist of Cuban origin has an incredible story of overcoming: since he was little he had severe hearing loss. However, that did not stop him from studying music and having several Tony Awards. Lacamorie is, to date, one of the most active and successful musicians on Broadway.
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Robert Lopez. Among his most recent successes is creating songs for works such as ‘The Book of Mormon’ and ‘Avenue Q’. His success in theater opened the doors of Hollywood and he has co-written songs for several animated films such as ‘Frozen’, ‘Frozen II’ and ‘Coco’. In addition, he is the youngest artist to win “the grand slam” of performing arts awards: of all awards: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony, a merit that only 16 people have achieved.
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Karen Olivo. Although she was born in New York she always speaks with pride about her Latin roots (her father is Puerto Rican, her mother is Dominican). Olivo began her career on Broadway as an understudy in ‘Rent,’ but the play that took her to stardom was ‘In the Heights.’ And in 2009 she won a Tony Award playing Anita in a revival of ‘West Side Story.’ She currently formed the organization Affect, which seeks to bring greater financial transparency to the theater industry.
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Sergio Trujillo. The name of this Colombian is at the forefront of some of the best Broadway choreographies: from ‘Jersey Boys’ to ‘Memphis the Musical’ and ‘On Your Feet’. In 2019 he won the Tony for his work in ‘Ai n’t Too Proud’, a play that he returns to the stage in October. In his interviews, Trujillo has said that, since he is from Cali, he has “dance in his veins.”
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Robin de Jesus. The actor with Puerto Rican roots has received several Tony nominations, the last being for his role as Emory in ‘The Boys in the Band’. The other two nominations that de Jesus has received were for playing Sonny in ‘In the Heights’ and Jacob in La Cage aux Folles (‘The Cage of the Mad Women’). Last year the television version of ‘The Boys in the Band’ premiered on Netflix.
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2024-01-30 22:22:00
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