Chita Rivera, Broadway Legend and Trailblazing Latina Actress, Dead at 91

Broadway legend star of “West Side Story,” “Chicago” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman”, Chita Rivera died on Tuesday, January 30. She was 91.

via: NBC News

In a career defined both by longevity and excellence, she created and performed iconic roles on stage — thrilling audiences, wowing critics and inspiring generations of Latino performers.

Rivera’s daughter, Lisa Mordente, said in a statement that her mother died Tuesday in New York “after a brief illness.”

“She was one of the few performers who put their stamp on Broadway in virtually every decade,” said performance historian Brian Herrera of Princeton University. “She was a treasure of the American theater.”

Unlike some theater stars who leave Broadway for television and film, or dancers who transition into choreographers, Rivera never lost her love of being on stage. “She was a performer, through and through,” Herrera said. “She was remarkable, not only for her achievements, but because she was extraordinarily beloved.”

Of Puerto Rican heritage, Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero was born in Washington, D.C., in 1933. By age 16, she had auditioned for famed choreographer George Balanchine and moved to New York City to attend the School of American Ballet. Her early Broadway career included roles in “Guys and Dolls” (1953) and “Can-Can” (1954).

But it was in 1957’s “West Side Story” that Rivera had her breakout Broadway role, playing “Anita” in one of the most popular musicals of all time. On that show, she worked with musical theater legends Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim. Rivera was also known for her association with the creative team of John Kander and the late Fred Ebb.

“She has always won the highest praise from her collaborators,” Herrera pointed out.

“She was one of the greats. She is one of the consummate Broadway ‘triple threats’ that inspired us all,” said Nina Lafarga, who has appeared on Broadway in “In the Heights” and “Frozen.” She recalled that when Rivera visited the cast of “In the Heights” after a performance, “everyone was beside themselves.”

For more than five decades, Rivera played roles on Broadway ranging from the girlfriend of a rock star’s manager in “Bye Bye Birdie” (1960) to an alleged murderess in “Chicago” (1975) and a former showgirl at the Follies Bergere in “Nine” (2003).

A 10-time Tony Award nominee, Rivera won for “The Rink” in 1984 and “Kiss of the Spider Woman” in 1993. She also received a special lifetime achievement Tony in 2018.

“She truly lived ‘the dancer’s life,” Lafarga said, mentioning the title of Rivera’s 2005 show. “Her heart has always been in live theater.”

Rivera’s work on Broadway was remarkable considering that jobs in commercial theater have traditionally been scarce for Latino performers. A 2022 report by the Actors Equity Association, a union for stage performers, found that only 4.1% of union contracts nationwide went to Latinos from 2016 to 2020 — and Rivera achieved success long before the industry had any concept of “diversity” or “nontraditional casting.”

In 2002, Rivera became the first Hispanic woman to receive the Kennedy Center Honor.

In 2009, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. At that ceremony, President Barack Obama said Rivera “knows the adversity that comes with a difficult name,” while noting that she had “captured America’s imagination with her magnetic presence and radiant voice.”

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