ajhlovestheatre

“And the moon grows dimmer….”

I saw Chita Rivera several times on stage – as Aurora in Kiss of the Spiderwoman, as Roxie Hart in Chicago (her ‘Roxie’ monologue went on for what felt like ten minutes each time and she still left the audience wanting more…she made a total hilarious meal out of the simple line “I’m older than I ever intended to be” and the audience went nuts) and most recently as the oldest woman in the world in the thrillingly dark Kander and Ebb flop The Visit on Broadway. In the latter, her acting was so detailed and exquisite that I wondered if maybe she was showing signs of advanced age; that thought went out of the window at curtain call when she turned into a funny, naughty, flirtatious showgirl, batting her eyelashes at her leading man (whom her character had wanted murdered) and blowing kisses into the orchestra. Every performance I saw her give was fresh, magnetic and infused with indefinible star quality. She was like molten lava mixed with kindness. Totally unique. You can’t manufacture stage presence, and she had it. Blimey, did she have it.

Back in 2016 when I was researching a book about the history of Joe Allen restaurant, my NYC based friend Merle set up a phone interview for me with Chita (who was a regular at the restaurant on both sides of the Atlantic, and was an ex of the eponymous restauranteur….her name and face are all over the walls of the eateries on West 46th Street in Manhattan and Burleigh Street in Covent Garden). Since I don’t habitually speak to Broadway legends – especially not ones whose distinctive, charismatic voices I listened to as a kid on the cast albums of shows like West Side Story and The Rink – I was a little nervous.

As it turned out, I needn’t have been. From the moment she picked up the phone and said “is that you Alun?” in that tone that just doesn’t sound like anyone else, Chita was everything you’d hope she’d be, and more. She was funny, gossipy, delightful, as she talked about her disappointment at seeing posters of shows she’d been in on Joe’s notorious “flop wall”, how Mr Allen didn’t say much but would write her the most beautiful poems…. the chat went on way longer than the allotted time. It ended with Chita making me promise to come and say hello if ever we were in Joe Allen at the same time at any point in the future. Sadly for me, that never happened. Neither did the book, but I still treasure my notes from that magical conversation.

I heard her voice again, as I was reading her glorious autobiography written with Patrick Pacheco, Chita – A Memoir – the book is an absolute must for Broadway fans, and anybody who wants confirmation that you can simultaneously be a terrific, compassionate human being, and an insanely talented artist…those two things are not necessarily mutually exclusive. It’s a great read particularly, in the light of what’s just happened, the sections where Chita talked about her fascination with death. I hope she and Hinton Battle are kicking up a storm together.

Rest well, you amazing woman. One of the greatest lights of the Broadway Golden Age is gone. Chita Rivera 1933 – 2024: what a lady, and what a star.