Viva Chita

Pop quiz: Name some theater stars who are well known to the general public even though they never worked extensively in film or television. Though this kind of thing used to happen a lot, it rarely happens any more, and most of those stars have left us. But Chita Rivera is still going strong at 72.

After cutting her teeth in such shows as Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, and Mr. Wonderful, Chita made her first big splash as Anita in the original Broadway production of the epoch-making musical West Side Story, later repeating her role in London. She went on to star in such hits as Bye Bye Birdie (playing opposite Dick Van Dyke), Chicago (co-starring with the late Gwen Verdon and Jerry Orbach), and Kiss of the Spider Woman — not to mention such flops as Bajour, Merlin, The Rink, and the notorious Bring Back Birdie. In more recent years, she earned praise for her performances in Anything Goes at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey and in The Visit, the John Kander-Fred Ebb-Terrence McNally musical that played Chicago but has yet to reach New York.

Though her film work has been limited, Chita did shine as Nickie in Bob Fosse’s Sweet Charity, and she had a brilliantly effective cameo in Rob Marshall’s mega-hit movie version of Chicago. (It wasn’t until I saw the flick in a tiny town in Florida that I got to hear the second of Chita’s two lines in it; at every Manhattan screening I had attended, the line in question was drowned out by the audience’s cheers for this beloved lady.) TV-wise, she has done her stuff on variety shows and awards telecasts — and, just last week, she made a guest appearance on Will & Grace as the lesbian partner of a character played by fellow Broadway veteran Michele Lee.

In 2002, Chita joined Elizabeth Taylor, James Earl Jones, James Levine, and Paul Simon as a recipient of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors. And in 2003, she scored a triumph as Liliane La Fleur in the Broadway revival of Nine. She has been putting together a show about her life, which is planned to hit the boards later this year — but before that happens, she’ll be doing a club act titled Chita Rivera: And Now I Sing at Feinstein’s at the Regency, February 22-March 12. I recently spoke with her about that gig and other subjects.

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THEATERMANIA. Chita, everybody’s talking about your guest shot on Will & Grace. I tried to tape it but I experienced some technical difficulties, so I haven’t seen it.

CHITA RIVERA: What? You missed my lesbian experience? Are you mad, man?! [laughs] I remember thinking of my darling friend Madeline Kahn. She had such a funny line in one of the Mel Brooks movies: “No tongues, no tongues!” I thought, “I’ll play the lesbian part, but no tongues, no tongues!”

TM: I imagine that, when you were on Broadway in Bye Bye Birdie and Michele Lee was in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, neither one of you dreamed that you’d ever be playing lesbian lovers on national television.

CHITA: One doesn’t think of things like that. I never think very far ahead, anyhow. You turn the corner and you never know where you’re gonna be, so I pretty much keep everything open. But Will & Grace is such a great show. The kids on it are so talented — and the director, Jim Burrows, is Abe Burrows’ son. There were lots of wonderful surprises on the set. I was rehearsing a scene and, all of a sudden, I heard the overture of West Side Story. I turned around and it was Sean Hayes playing it on the piano. He’s an accomplished musician. It was fabulous!

TM: You’ve been putting together a show about your life. Will your act at Feinstein’s have anything to do with that?

CHITA: No, it’s completely different. It’ll be just me performing with a trio. This will be my first time playing with a small band in a small space like that. Years ago, I played The Grand Finale, but I had [dancers] Chris Chadman and Tony Stevens with me. That was a blast.

TM: So the Feinstein’s gig won’t exactly be your club debut but it will be your first time performing without backup boys. Without giving too much away, what kind of a program can people expect?

CHITA: First of all, I should tell you that my conductor is Mark Hummel, who’s terrific. We’ve worked together on a lot of things. The show is made up of a bunch of songs that I really kind of like. You know, the place is very small, so I won’t be dancing. I thought of a funny new line the other night, and I hope those people on the East Side get it: “It’s not that I can’t dance, it’s just that I don’t think you want me for dinner.” If I started to dance, I might end up sitting on their plate!

TM: You made a couple of solo albums in the ’60s, one of which had the same title as your show: And Now I Sing.

CHITA: It was an idea that someone had back then. I think I was in Birdie at the time, and I did this album with, like, a 35-piece orchestra. I thought, “You know, that’s not a bad title. It says the obvious.” In the show, I do numbers like “Carousel” — the Jacques Brel song. I do a couple of duets with Mark and I talk about some friends of mine. I’m doing one song from The Visit that Freddy and John wrote, and I sing a song of Cy Coleman’s: “Where Am I Going?” from Sweet Charity.

TM: It must have been such a tough time for you, losing people like Ebb and Coleman.

CHITA: Yes, I was really being bounced around with Jerry Orbach and Cy and Freddy and Greg Mitchell. I was watching the Grammys, and when they said “here are a few of the great people that we’ve lost,” I looked at my sister and said, “Oh my God, Freddy’s going to be there.” And sure enough, he was. It’s still so hard to believe that he’s gone, but he’d be happy to know that they used a gorgeous picture of him. Just beautiful.

TM: Back to the one-woman show you’re putting together: Does it have a title?

CHITA: I always feel strange giving out the title because I’m not absolutely sure that we’re gonna settle on it. Terrence McNally has written the book, and Patrick Pacheco actually did the interviews; that was during Nine, and then Terrence took the transcripts and wrote a script. Graciela [Daniele] is directing and choreographing. I think we’re going to have five singer/dancers, plus a little girl that plays me and someone that plays my father. We start rehearsals in April and we’ll eventually play New York, but not right away. After Bring Back Birdie, I’ll never do that again! Opening right up in New York City is like having an operation in the middle of 42nd Street and inviting everybody to watch. Everybody says, “Don’t worry, we won’t tell anybody” — and then they can’t wait to get on their cell phones. The old way of doing things really is the best way: You work it in town, you take it out on the road, and you see how it plays before you bring it in. So that’s what we’re gonna do.

TM: The last time you and I talked, the movie version of Chicago was still in the talking stages. In fact, I think Rosie O’Donnell was being mentioned to play Mama Morton. Are you thrilled with the way the film turned out?

CHITA: Oh gosh, yes. I thought Rob [Marshall] did an amazing job, with great respect to Bobby [Fosse]. And I think the girls were terrific — Renee [Zelwegger] and Catherine [Zeta-Jones]. I knew that Rob was great; I’m just so happy to see a nice, talented guy really come through and be recognized.

TM: Resurgence of film musicals.

CHITA: I hope so — and with Rob out there, I think there’s great hope, because he certainly wants to bring back musicals. Whatever happens with Phantom, the point is that it’s done and it’s out there for people to see.

TM: How great that Fred Ebb got to see the Chicago movie before he died, and to enjoy its phenomenal success.

CHITA: Freddy and John [Kander] loved it. They went up to Canada to see some of the rehearsals, then they called me and said how excited they were.

TM: Nine was such a great show. I thought maybe you could talk about that a little bit, and about Antonio Banderas.

CHITA: He just comes through on every level; he gives 200 percent. And he’s not bad to look at! He adored being on stage every night. Originally, I had no intention of doing that show, but then I met with [director] David Leveaux and I loved the way he described what he wanted to do with it. I thought of Antonio as a magnificent bird with huge wings, soaring through the sky with all this fire coming from his beautiful tail feathers — and I’m hanging onto the tail, going “Yeah!” It was a fun image, and I felt absolutely safe being on somebody else’s ride. Their aren’t many movie stars of Antonio’s caliber; so many of them are selfish, just thinking about their own trip, but he made everybody in the company feel important.

TM: Of course, not all film and TV stars are successful when they turn to the stage. How do you feel about others who have little or no stage training or experience being cast in major roles on Broadway?

CHITA: If they can cut the mustard, why not? We want to keep the theater alive. Whether someone comes from the theater to the movies or from the movies to the theater, talent is the thing that matters. If it’s somebody who can’t cut the mustard and they’re only standing there because of their box office draw, then you get a little upset because there are so many talented people in the theater who don’t get the opportunity to really shine.

TM: Wasn’t it almost 20 years ago when you had an accident and there was a question as to whether or not you would ever dance again?

CHITA: Yeah, I had a car accident. I’ve got 16 screws in my left leg. It makes for interesting conversation at parties — and at the airport. You should see their faces when I say, “I’ve got 16 screws in my leg, would you like to feel them?”

TM: Do you consciously think of yourself as carrying on a theatrical tradition?

CHITA: I didn’t used to think that way, but in working on the new show, I was reminded that I really am sort of the last one. I do believe in the tradition of the theater: studying hard, coming up from the chorus, staying in shows for a while and not jumping from one to another, learning every single night. A lot of people ask, “Did you know that West Side Story was going to be a huge hit when you were rehearsing?” Of course, you don’t know, because you’re inside the piece; you really have no idea what the outside looks like. Then it’s opening night, people respond, and you think, “What is that?!” The theater is a huge, wonderful family — and if you take advantage of the whole process, you’ve got longevity.