Theater legend Chita Rivera comes to Broadway in Worcester at BrickBox Theater

WORCESTER — Chita Rivera has been in some of the greatest shows in Broadway history, including originating the roles of Anita in "West Side Story," Velma Kelly in "Chicago," and the title role in "Kiss of the Spider Woman."

She'll be cast as herself when she comes to the BrickBox Theater at the Jean McDonough Arts Center, 20 Franklin St., at 8 p.m. Sept. 23 for "An Evening with Chita Rivera and Seth Rudetsky," presented by Broadway in Worcester. Rivera will be in conversation and song alongside Sirius XM Radio host Rudetsky at the piano.

"I really have to say I was very fortunate to have the roles I was given," Rivera said.   

Hard-working and energetic, Rivera has also had a few breaks and defining moments along the way.

The first break might have been the family coffee table.

One of Broadway's greatest triple-threat talents was evidently a threat to the family furniture as she was growing up in Washington, D.C.

"Ever since I was born, I was a pain in my mother's tush," Rivera acknowledged in typically forthright fashion during a recent telephone interview. "I was very energetic. I used to ride bicycles, skate." She would also jump up and down on the furniture.

"My mother put me in ballet school to save her furniture. I went into a coffee table and broke it. That was the epitome of my being a freelance energetic kid," Rivera said.

Her mother thought ballet school would be a way to harness all that energy. It also did something else.

"Ballet school — that was the beginning of my learning. My beginning to being really in the business," Rivera said.

Rivera, 89, is still in show business. She likes doing the "An Evening with …" shows with Seth Rudetsky, who has spent many years on Broadway as a pianist and conductor

"We've done them before. I enjoy them tremendously because it's not like anything else. It's very relaxed, very informative and a lot of fun," Rivera said.

"It's spontaneous but it's thought out. Seth thinks it out and it's all off the cuff. He's so well-informed. He's so musical. Anything he asks, I trust him implicitly."

There are some questions Rivera has been asked a lot by different people, as she made clear in response to whether she has a favorite role.

"You can imagine I've been asked that a 1,001 times, and I don't," she said.

"I came up with the golden age and they were wonderful shows. Each one I was very fortunate to do. Each one at the time was my favorite. I've just been in love with most of my roles," she said.

Rivera has received 10 Tony Award nominations, two Tony Award wins, a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement, and is a Kennedy Center Honoree and Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient.

Cast in 'Call Me Madam'

She was born in Washington, D.C., to a Puerto Rican father and a mother of Scottish-Italian descent. The ballet school she enrolled in was the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet. When she was 15 a teacher from George Balanchine's School of American Ballet visited the school and Rivera was picked to audition in New York City. She was accepted into the school and given a scholarship.

Rivera said a defining moment came when she was cast in the Broadway touring production of the satirical musical "Call Me Madam" when she was 17.

"It was a big accident. I went with a friend who needed the job. I went for moral support," Rivera said.

How did the friend feel when Rivera was cast instead?

"I haven't spoken to her since," Rivera deadpanned. "I've made a joke out of it. I'm sure she was very pleased for me."

Meanwhile, Rivera felt quite at home with "Call Me Madam."

"It was a family situation. I had two chaperones in the company. I was only 17."

The show's choreographer was Jerome Robbins, who had reputation for being both a genius and hard taskmaster.  

"Jerome Robbins — he was wonderful. I called him Big Daddy, and he was an instructor. I wanted to be taught and he had a lot to teach, and I just ate it up," Rivera said.

She noted, "I'm sure you've heard that he was very tough. That is the only way we dancers will learn, by having a tough teacher."

Other teachers/choreographers/directors have included Hal Prince and Bob Fosse.

"There was so much to learn that you had no time to be temperamental," Rivera said.

From starting out as a dancer, Rivera went to singing and acting as well to become a "triple threat."

"I always considered myself a dancer, I guess because that's the way I started. I can't remember which show I was asked to sing in. I learned as I went along."

Regarding any roles she wishes she had had the opportunity to perform, Rivera said, "I can't think of one role to replace anything that I've done."

Her stage career is also highlighted by starring roles in "Bye Bye Birdie," "The Rink," "Jerry’s Girls," and the original Broadway casts of "Guys and Dolls," "Can-Can," "Seventh Heaven" and "Mr. Wonderful."

While Rivera originated the role of Anita (who sings "America") in "West Side Story," the 1961 film version cast Rita Moreno. Rivera has said that she auditioned for the original movie version while in "Bye Bye Birdie" during tryouts in Philadelphia. She asked if the film could be delayed for a bit, but it couldn't.

Tony Award-winning roles

She won Tony Awards for "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and "The Rink."

"Kiss of the Spider Woman" was written by John Kander and Fred Ebb and directed by Hal Prince, all of whom she has worked with on several shows.

"To be in the imagination of  Hal Prince and Kander and Ebb, it was a fantastic experience," Rivera said. 

She received a "Lifetime Achievement in Theatre" Tony Award in 2018.

"Lucky, just lucky," she said of her reaction to receiving the award. "And inspiring. You feel responsible for staying as good as you are. You feel you have to keep up a certain standard."

COVID shut down Rivera for a while, although she performed on camera. Now she's back on the stage again but acknowledges one still has to be careful. Masks will be required for attendance in the BrickBox Theater during the performance.

Meanwhile, "You get older and you have to adjust. Not as much dancing, but making other parts of my body dance," Rivera  said of the secret to her performing longevity. 

"An Evening with Chita Rivera and Seth Rudetsky" is Broadway in Worcester's second show. It debuted March 18 with "An Evening with Tony Award Winner Laura Benanti.”

Broadway in Worcester has been launched by Eric Butler, and is "committed to providing Central Massachusetts’ audiences with the opportunity to see Broadway’s most celebrated talents perform locally."

It also "fosters collaboration between these talents and the area’s local high school and college students and their arts educators through educational programming."

Rivera will participate in a free Q&A  at 4 p.m. Sept. 23 at the BrickBox Theater. All Central Massachusetts area high school and college students and arts educators are welcome to participate. Students and teachers may register at www.broadwayinworcester.com.

Asked what she will tell students, Rivera said, "The only thing I can give is, first, to be an example."

"And you have to really want to earn it, and you never stop learning. You have to give all of yourself."

'An Evening with Chita Rivera and Seth Rudetsky'

When: 8 p.m. Sept. 23

Where: BrickBox Theater, Jean McDonough Arts Center, 20 Franklin St., Worcester. Masks will be required  during the performance.

How much: $82-$97. VIP tickets are sold out. www.broadwayinworcester.com.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Tony Award-winning Chita Rivera, Seth Rudetsky at Broadway in Worcester