Theater: Biographies

Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television The Oxford Companion to American Theatre Further reading

Rivera, Chita

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre | 2004 | | Copyright

Rivera, Chita [née Dolores Conchita Figueroa Del Rivero] (b. 1933), dancer, actress, and singer. The vivacious Latin‐miened performer was born in Washington, D.C., and studied at the School of American Ballet. She appeared in the choruses of Guys and Dolls, Call Me Madam, and Can‐Can before garnering attention in Shoestring Revue (1955). Roles followed in Seventh Heaven (1955) and Mr. Wonderful (1956), after which she created the part of the Puerto Rican immigrant Anita in West Side Story (1957). Rivera starred as the wily Rosie in Bye Bye Birdie (1960), the gypsy Anyanka in Bajour (1964), taxi dancer Charity in a touring company of Sweet Charity (1967), murderess Velma Kelly in Chicago (1975), the Queen in Merlin (1983), Italian housewife Anna in The Rink (1984), in the revue Jerry's Girls (1985), and as Aurora and the ghostly Spider Woman in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993). Her most recent Broadway appearance was as the agent Liliane LaFleur in Nine (2003). Rivera took years to become a bona fide Broadway star, but she remains one of the most durable and beloved of stage troupers.

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Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Rivera, Chita." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Rivera, Chita." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-RiveraChita.html

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Rivera, Chita." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-RiveraChita.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	CHITA RIVERA DANCING DYNAMO KEEPS ON KICKING AS A THEATER LEGEND AT AGE... Newspaper article from: The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); 6/2/1998
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