GEORGE BALANCHINE, 1904-1983

The foremost choreographer in the world of 20th-century ballet, Russian-born George Balanchine had danced and choreographed for Sergei Diaghilev at the Ballets Russes before coming to the United States in 1933. Here, he founded the School of American Ballet. As a teenager, Chita auditioned for “Mr. B.,” winning a scholarship to his prestigious school. His company continues to this day as the New York City Ballet, which just featured a week of his ballets in their current season. His legacy endures and his work is actually performed more frequently today than during his lifetime!

ANTONIO BANDERAS

When Antonio Banderas, star of Spanish and Hollywood film, decided to return to his stage roots, he chose the 2003 Broadway revival of the musical Nine. Chita played his French producer, and together they performed a sizzling tango culminating with Chita’s leg fully extended over the shoulder of the standing Banderas. The two became fast friends, renowned for their post-performance entertaining in Chita’s dressing room. Three years later, when Banderas starred as a dance instructor in Take the Lead, and skeptical members of the press asked about his dance credentials, he boasted, “I danced on Broadway for 285 performances with Chita Rivera!”

Leonard Bernstein rehearses with the "West Side Story" cast—that's Sondheim at the piano and Chita with her hands on his shoulders.

LEONARD BERNSTEIN, 1918-1990

Chita calls him “Lenny,” but to the rest of the world, he is the great American conductor and composer, Leonard Bernstein. He was just 39 years old when his score for West Side Story premiered on Broadway with 23-year-old Chita Rivera playing Anita. Chita recalls that at her audition, Bernstein himself played “A Boy Like That” for her on the piano.

Jack Cole claps out the count with Chita during rehearsals for "Zenda."

Rita Hayworth performs Jack Cole's choreography for "Put the Blame on Mame" in "Gilda."

Cole rehearses with Marilyn Monroe.

JACK COLE, 1911-1974

One of the most influential of all American choreographers, Chita winces when young dancers don’t know who Jack Cole was. In addition to work on Broadway, Cole was noted for his work in Hollywood, where young Gwen Verdon was his assistant. Closely associated with Rita Hayworth (Cover Girl and Gilda) and Marilyn Monroe (Gentleman Prefer Blondes and There’s No Business Like Show Business), Cole is credited with having invented an enduring style of Jazz-Ethnic-Ballet. He choreographed Chita in Zenda.

SAMMY DAVIS, JR., 1925-1990

Before West Side Story, in 1956, Chita had a featured role in Mr. Wonderful, starring Sammy Davis, Jr. In the show, she attracted the attention of the public with a series of comic cross-overs with the tag-line “I’m available.” In private, she attracted the attention of Sammy Davis, Jr. During the run, the two had a short-lived romance. They always remained friends.

BOB FOSSE, 1927-1987

Angular, sexy, detailed and highly sophisticated, Bob Fosse’s is probably the most easily recognized American choreographic style. Fosse famously choreographed Chita in Chicago, molding such numbers as “All That Jazz” and “When Velma Takes the Stand” to her unique virtuosity. Other Fosse shows include The Pajama Game with its quintessentially Fosse number, “Steam Heat”; Damn Yankees and Sweet Charity (both with his wife Gwen Verdon); How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; and the film version of Cabaret starring Liza Minnelli.

Chita rehearses Peter Gennaro's choreography for "West Side Story," 1957.

Buzz Miller and Peter Gennaro.

PETER GENNARO, 1919-2000

Peter Gennaro and Chita were off-Broadway gypsies together before West Side Story. He attracted attention as one of the three featured dancers in Bob Fosse’s “Steam Heat” number in The Pajama Game, and soon began to pick up choreography jobs. He staged (and danced) the “Mu Cha Cha “number from Bells are Ringing with Judy Holliday, and went on to assist the great Jerome Robbins with West Side Story as co-choreographer. Un-credited, he staged the landmark “America” and “Dance at the Gym” numbers. For Chita, he choreographed Bajour in 1964.

DORIS JONES, 1914-2006

“We owe our teachers, the good ones, more than they will ever know,” says Chita. For her, that one special teacher was Miss Doris Jones. As an African-American teenager in Depression-era Boston, Jones found that avenues to classical ballet were closed to her because of her race. In 1941, she and another young dancer, Claire Haywood, founded the Jones-Haywood School for Ballet in Washington, DC with a mission to provide minority students with the opportunity to learn classical dance. Chita’s mother enrolled her in the Jones-Haywood School and it would be Miss Jones who took Chita to New York City to audition for the great George Balanchine.

KANDER & EBB

The great songwriting team of John Kander and Fred Ebb have been loyal to Chita and she to them. If the major muse of their careers was Liza Minnelli, for whom they wrote Flora the Red Menace, Cabaret and The Act as well as the score for the film New York New York, then Chita is a close second. For Chita they wrote Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Visit. They wrote The Rink for Chita and Liza to perform together. In the 1970s, the duo penned a cabaret act for Chita. Fred Ebb died in 2004, but the team is currently represented on Broadway by the long-running revival of Chicago and the brand new musical, Curtains.

Liza and Chita in The Rink, 1984.

Liza and Chita in "The Rink," 1984.

LIZA MINNELLI

The friendship between Chita and Liza Minnelli is very deep and goes back to 1975 when Liza stepped into the Broadway production of Chicago while Chita’s co-star, Gwen Verdon, had throat surgery. Liza’s name never appeared on the marquee. Before each performance, the audience was informed that “At this performance, the role of Roxie Hart, usually played by Gwen Verdon, will be played by Liza Minnelli.” The reaction was always an explosion of cheers and applause. In 1984, Liza appeared with Chita on Broadway again in The Rink.

TONY MORDENTE and LISA MORDENTE and all the

DEL RIVEROS

During the run of West Side Story, Chita met and fell in love with Tony Mordente, a dancer in the show. The couple later divorced, but they are the parents of Lisa Mordente and remain quite close. Tony Mordente is a prominent television director. He and Lisa Mordente staged the guest appearance by Dick Van Dyke during the Broadway run of Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life. Lisa has a Buffalo connection, having appeared at Studio Arena in the 1978 show, Platinum, starring Alexis Smith. Platinum went on to Broadway, where Lisa received a Drama Desk nomination. In 1981, Lisa received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in Marlowe. Lisa is the dance captain for the national tour of Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life. In fact, members of Chita’s family are almost always to be found at her shows, especially her brothers and sisters: Julio, Armando, Carmen and Lola.

JEROME ROBBINS, 1918-1998

If West Side Story was the show that turned Chita Rivera into Chita Rivera, then Jerome Robbins was the choreographer. Chita credits Robbins with giving her “detail, style and substance” as a dancer. While most biographies of Robbins emphasize his nasty personality, Chita has never been known to say a word against him. His extensive dance vocabulary ranged from classical ballet to jazz and back. In addition to West Side Story, the iconic Jerome Robbins image is three sailors dancing his ballet, Fancy Free—a theme he reused in On the Town, both with music by Leonard Bernstein.

ELAINE STRITCH

Chita made her professional debut as a principal dancer in the national touring company of Call Me Madam starring Elaine Stritch. A great Broadway diva with a raspy voice, brash delivery and astounding comic timing, Stritch had been the standby for Ethel Merman in the 1952 Irving Berlin hit. At the time, young Chita was an aspiring ballerina at the American School of Ballet in New York City. Stritch appeared in other prominent shows in the 1950s, and was so admired by Noël Coward that he wrote Sail Away specifically for her. For Sondheim, she was the original Joanne in Company, unforgettably singing “The Ladies Who Lunch.” Off-stage, Stritch gained a reputation for brazen bouts of drunken misbehavior—now under control. In her later career she appeared on Broadway in A Delicate Balance and in the Hal Prince revival of Showboat, as well as in her own autobiographical show, Elaine Stritch at Liberty. She often pops up in television and on film, and was memorable as a recurring feminist defense attorney on Law and Order and as Jane Fonda’s tyrannical mother-in-law in Monster in Law.

DICK VAN DYKE

Chita and Dick Van Dyke

in Bye Bye Birdie, 1960.

Chita played her first starring role opposite Dick Van Dyke in Bye Bye Birdie. Van Dyke then embarked on a successful television and film career, appearing on The Dick Van Dyke Show and in the film version of Bye Bye Birdie, as well as in such films as Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Chita played a recurring character on The New Dick Van Dyke Show. During the Broadway run of Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, Van Dyke made a guest appearance in the show, singing “Rosie” and performing the original choreography during Chita’s birthday week.

Sexy Richard Amaro partners Chita in a series of Act II tangos.

RICHARD AMARO

Who is that hot man dancing with Chita? Chita always uses superior dancers in her shows. Richard Amaro began his career dancing with the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble. He has appeared on Broadway in the original companies of Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Graciela Daniele’s Dangerous Games in world tours of West Side Story. He appeared with Chita on Broadway in The Dancer’s Life and has partnered her in this show throughout its entire run. Chita has also danced before with Lloyd Culbreath and Richard Montoya, who appeared on Broadway in The Dancer’s Life and are also scheduled to perform with her in Buffalo.

GWEN VERDON,

1926-2000

Born in California, redheaded dancer-actor-singer Gwen Verdon first worked in Hollywood. As a chorus dancer at MGM, she helped Carol Haney dub the taps for Gene Kelly in the title sequence of Singin’ in the Rain, and worked as assistant to choreographer Jack Cole. After a show-stealing appearance in Broadway’s Can-Can (1953), in which Chita had a chorus role, Verdon was featured in a triumphant series of musicals staged by Bob Fosse, whom she eventually married. Most memorably, Verdon starred as Lola in Damn Yankees (1955), the only stage role she repeated on film. Verdon won Tony awards for each of her four 1950s musicals—an accomplishment no other performer has ever matched. She returned to Broadway in Sweet Charity (1966) in which Chita succeeded her to star in the national tour. In the film version of Sweet Charity, directed by Fosse, Chita played Nickie and Shirley Maclaine played Verdon’s role. Verdon’s final Broadway show was Chicago (1975) in which she co-starred as Roxie Hart, opposite Chita’s Velma Kelly. Verdon would often say that her friendship with Chita allowed her to enjoy, later in life, the fun and frivolity she was never allowed to have as a girl, studying dance.