Chita Rivera...first preview 9/10

I saw the first preview of "Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life" last night at the Old Globe in San Diego.

Let me get a few things out of the way.
1. There are a few new songs by Ahrens and Flaherty. I LOVE their music. I was extremely underwhelmed by their new songs. You put them up against classics like "A Boy Like That" and "Nowadays" and they pale in comparisons.
2. Chita spends just about the whole show on stage talking directly to the audience. Some of the book, written by Terrence McNally, fell a little flat. Not saying the book is bad, by any means. Yes, some of it could be trimmed, and I'm sure will be. But in many cases I think it just flew over the San Diego audience's head. There are many many chunks of the show where Chita talks about choreographers and co-stars that she's worked with. Fun stories and details...if you're a theatre fan and know who she's talking about. At intermission I overheard several people commenting on this...in fact, a few audience members didn't know who Chita was!
Chita also stubbled over her words on many occasions. Not a big deal...she talks a lot. Moments seemed a little scripted and stilted, but I'm sure as she gets more comfortable it'll flow nicely. I loved the moments where she was comfortable. It felt like we were sitting in a room just chatting. Very nice.

Okay, minor faults aside...the evening was this 33 year old gay musical theatre fan's wet dream.
Chita's ensemble is full of hot dancers. Ms. Rivera is up there holding her own. True, her kicks aren't as high and some of the moves not as smooth as they used to be. But she lives up to "living legend" in every sense of the word.
We start of with her as a child, and her homelife. Then move into her days as a chorus girl...some funny stories there.
She tells a funny story about her 6 auditions for "West Side Story" and singing "A Boy Like That." At the end of the story, the lights go black and she's hit with a spot, and she breaks into the song. CHILLS!
She ends Act 1 talking about her co-stars. She breaks into "Rosie" from "Bye Bye Birdie," then "Big Spender," and then "Nowasdays" which she dances with an extra spotlight, as if Gwen Verdon is right next to her. She also does these great little imitations of Gwen Verdon. She ends it with a weird little Liza and "The Rink" section. I was left a little uneasy by this section...not quite sure why. She seemed uneasy with it.
Act 2...are you still with me?
She talks about the men in her life...fun story about Sammy Davis,Jr...and dance the Tango. Then she goes into stories about the choreographers she's worked with, and dances each of their styles briefly.
She ends the show with highlights from some of her past shows. I about fell out of my seat when she launched into "Kiss of the SpiderWoman," and then the male ensemble comes out and they do "Where You Are"...Chita dances ALL of it!
She ends the show performing "All That Jazz" with the child version of herself (Liana Ortiz). Pretty amazing to sit back and watch her work.

I'm anxious to see it again in a few weeks to see how it's grown and changed. Like I said, I think NYC audiences will appreciate it a little more as I felt a lot of it was too specific for non-theatre folk. I found myself involuntarily explode on the way out of the theatre when I overheard a woman say that Chita really shouldn't have young trained dancers up there with her because it just shows her lack of dancing skills. WHAT?! Again, her dancing doesn't look as effortless as I've seen it before...but she's 72 and up there putting on a master class, in my opinion. And I'm sure the "young, trained dancers" up there with her stand back and watch and learn in awe the same way I did from the 3rd row.

Wheew...long review. Amazing night. Can't wait to see it again. Chita remains an inspiration and role model.

any mention of "Bring Back Birdie?"

Yes to both. She belted the @$#% out of All That Jazz, and mentioned "Bring Back Birdie." She talks about all her shows and movies, flops and successes.

The show is also bookended with her receiving the Kennedy Center Award.

God, so many other details....

Damn. I can't wait for this! Thanks for these details.

I'm especially excited for the Gwen Verdon mentions. And ALL THAT JAZZ seems like the perfect show finale!

Judging from what you saw...

Do you think it'll most likely be nominated for the SPECIAL EVENT Tony.. or do you thhink there is a chance it can be nominated for Best Musical?

oh my god...she sings Chief Cook and Bottle Washer????? I am so freaking excited!!!

NEVER try to figure out the nom committee inner workings -Unless dementia is your goal.

Are any other "Special Event" shows slated for the season?

Must there be X amount of shows before that category is considered?

So many revues have been nominated and have won BEST MUSICAL.

And this show has new music (And classic songs), an original book, and an ensemble. I just feel there is a chance it could be nominated for Best Musical.

Updated On: 9/11/05 at 04:50 PM

The category was created in 2001 after the whole CONTACT controversy where many questioned how a show with no singing, no original music and little dialogue could be considered for "Best Musical."

Solo autobiographical shows (with or without ensembles) are automatically placed in the Special Event category. Every single one of these solo shows that has appeared on Broadway since 2001 has been placed in that category and this show won't be any different. All of these solo shows have original books, by the way (Stritch's was written by John Lahr; Bea Arthur was written with two other collaborators; Billy Crystal, John Leguizamo and Mario Cantone wrote theirs themselves). A couple of new songs doesn't change a thing (most of these solo shows include some new musical material -- Bea Arthur and Mario Cantone both had new songs in theirs).

Bottom line, unlike book shows and regular revues, these are unique memoirs that can only be performed by these given performers themselves and won't be produced or performed by anyone else once this given performer stops doing it. That makes it a Special Event, not a Musical.

Edit: Stritch was open ended. And how a show categorized on IBDB means absolutely NOTHING to the Tony committee.

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Updated On: 9/11/05 at 05:05 PM

If Chita is sick there will be no performance and refunds will be issued. Nobody is paying to see Charlotte D'Amboise or whomever pretend to play Chita Rivera in an autobiographical show of Rivera's life -- yet another reason this show is a "Special Event" and not a musical. It can't happen if Chita can't go on.

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Updated On: 9/11/05 at 05:12 PM

Rivera's main competition in the Special Event category will probably be Martin Short's IF I'D SAVED, I WOULDN'T BE HERE, which he's writing in collaboration with Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitman -- the three them together will very likely come up with a very, very funny show with lots of clever original songs. Sarah Jones' BRIDGE & TUNNEL may also finally make it to Broadway sometime later this season, if it can find a theatre.

I don't believe any other Special Events have been announced thus far for this season.

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Updated On: 9/11/05 at 05:23 PM

"and then "Nowasdays" which she dances with an extra spotlight, as if Gwen Verdon is right next to her."

That's nice.