The Broadway star was 91 years old and had also starred in Kiss of the Spider Woman
January 31st – 11.19am – MILAN
The world of entertainment has lost another star. While in Italy we mourn the death of Sandra Milo at the age of 90, in the United States thoughts turn to Broadway star Chita Rivera, who died at the age of 91 after decades spent on stage.
Chita Rivera died
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Chita Rivera’s death was announced by her daughter Lisa Mordente. The 91-year-old actress was best remembered for her role as Anita from West Side Story and is considered one of the show’s most popular Latina stars. You have received 10 Tony nominations (the theater awards in the USA), winning twice for The Rink and Kiss of the Spider Woman. In 2018 she received the Tony for Lifetime Achievement, recognizing her lifetime achievement on stage. Her fans considered her a true force of nature capable of lighting up the stage with every appearance she made. She has acted in New York, in London, touring around the world with cabaret shows, she has acted in films and TV programs.
who was Chita Rivera
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He achieved success in 1953 with Guys and Dolls on Broadway, then confirmed himself with Can-Can the following year and in 1956 with Mr. Wonderful. In 1957 came what we might call the role of a lifetime: Anita from West Side Story, which she played in both New York and London. She was essentially self-taught in singing and acting, she trained by working on stage, she had a basis in classical dance which was useful for taking her first steps in musicals. She was a perfectionist who never missed a rehearsal or a show. A worker who didn’t have diva attitudes. She worked with choreographers such as Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins, with the composer Leonard Bernstein, the playwright Terence McNally. In 1986 she had an accident, her car was hit by a taxi and Chita Rivera had to stop for a long time due to fractures in her legs. Only thanks to her willpower and a long period of rehabilitation, she managed to return to the stage. But she was never the same again.
The carreer
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In 1993 she reprized her role in Kiss of the Spider Woman but admitted that she no longer had the strength she once had: “You won’t see me wearing ballet shoes anymore because I no longer have my Achilles tendons” she said at the time. In 2009, United States President Barack Obama awarded her the Medal of Freedom, which is the country’s highest civilian honor. In 2015 she returned to the stage on Broadway with The Visit. In 2021 she starred in the film tick, tick… Boom! of Netflix, in the chorus of his career he had been part of the cast of Sweet Charity in 1969 and of Chicago in 2002. Lin-Manuel Miranda spoke of his meeting with Chita Rivera on the occasion of tick, tick…Boom!: “It wasn’t available on the days of filming, for days I had left an empty chair on the set” he declared, underlining how strenuously he worked to bring it to the set. She managed to participate during some additional filming 8 months later: “It was a wonderful three days, she was magnificent, she is magnificent, I can’t use the past tense.”
Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero, this is her real name, was born in Washington, she was the third of five children of Pedro Julio and Katherine, her father was Puerto Rican while her mother had Irish and Scottish origins.
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