CHITA RIVERA - THE DANCER'S LIFE

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/6/06 at 12:23am

Man, I wish this show would have been professionally videotaped for a television airing on HBO and then to DVD.

Looking at the BWW video preview from the show and reading about what it was. Sounds like it was smartly written. I really wish I had a chance to see it. DAMN IT!!

Question - were there any songs written specifically for this show? Or were they all from shows she has been in?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/6/06 at 12:31am

Actually the problem with it was that it WASN'T smartly written. The book by Terrence McNally was surprisingly flat and uninteresting and lacked humor. And for a woman who's known the who's who of the American Musical Theatre for a half century, it was amazingly skimpy on interesting anecdotes (the show pales in comparison to Elaine Stritch's solo show). There were a few undistinguished new songs from Ahrens & Flaherty and some boring tango choreography from Graciella Daniele. While there were a couple of decent moments (her tribute to Gwen Verdon; her retrospective on her favorite choreographers), overall it was an extremely weak vehicle for such a legend.

Updated On: 4/6/06 at 12:31 AM

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 4/6/06 at 12:34am

It was very corny and cliche.

It had its thrilling moments, but most of the show was a big drag.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/6/06 at 1:05am

Wow - amazing how a video preview can make it seem good, then...

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/6/06 at 1:15am

Yeah, Margo said it all.

While definitely poorly written and conceived, it's still worth seeing simply to see Rivera do her thing.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 4/6/06 at 1:20am

To add on what other people have said, Chita's anecdotes seemed trivial and irrelevant. Also, while it is unfair to compare the two actresses (they couldn't be more different), it was almost impossible for audiences to draw comparisons. Stritch's show was so tightly written, great song selection, it seemed to have such great flow, and Stritch made you feel you were drinking cocktails with her. Chita is a legendary performer and she sure knew how to sell the poor material she was asked to deliver, but at no point did you feel you were there with her. It felt more like you were getting the textbook history of Chita's life versus the real deal that Stritch gave. The new songs didn't add anything to the material, and McNally's book was "nice" at its best. All in all, it was just sad to see this legendary brilliant performer getting such mediocre material as the celebration of her life on stage.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 4/6/06 at 3:44am

Although Chita is not among my favorite performers, i must say i enjoyed her show. But yes, the writing wasn't memorable, but it had a few funny jokes, i had a great time.

[steel84]

Posted: 4/6/06 at 3:55am

Isn't a tour starting up?

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 4/6/06 at 5:06am

Yes, and the show is pretty much low budget, so im sure everyone will get to see what was shown in NYC.