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Chita Rivera, born 1933
Born Washington, D.C.
An enduring Broadway diva, dancer, singer, and actress, Chita Rivera has been dazzling audiences since she set foot on the stage as principal dancer in Call Me Madam (1951), a role she accidentally snatched from a friend while accompanying her to an audition. She danced in Guys and Dolls in 1953 and starred in Can-Can before soaring to fame as Anita in the 1957 Broadway premiere of West Side Story. Rivera originated the roles of Rosie in Bye Bye Birdie (1960), Velma in Chicago (1975), Anna in The Rink (1984), and Aurora in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993). The latter two roles brought her Tony Awards. In 2015 she starred in the Tony-nominated musical The Visit
In 2002, Rivera became the first Latina to receive a Kennedy Center Honors award; she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
ADAL, 1983 (from the 2014 portfolio Los Portraits) |