Chita Rivera Joins Line-Up of Tony Awards Presenters

Chita Rivera has signed on to the starry roster of Tony Awards presenters.

She will join five dozen stars--including Oprah Winfrey, Glenn Close, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters, Liev Schreiber, Kyra Sedgwick, Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Eric McCormack, Ralph Fiennes, Cynthia Nixon, Martin Short, Alfre Woodward, Anna Paquin--as a presenter at the 2006 Tony Awards, which will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on CBS, Sunday, June 11th, 8:00 – 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT time delay).

Rivera is currently nominated as Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life. Prior to The Dancer's Life, she starred in the New York-bound Kander and Ebb musical The Visit at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Rivera is a two-time Tony Award winner for The Rink and Kiss of the Spiderwoman, and also received nods for her performances in Nine (her most recent Broadway appearance), Jerry's Girls, Merlin, Bring Back Birdie, the original production of Chicago and Bye Bye, Birdie. Rivera originated the role of Anita in West Side Story, and has also been seen on Broadway in Can-Can, Mr. Wonderful, Shinbone Alley and Bajour, as well as in touring productions of Pippin and Sweet Charity. Rivera will tour with The Dancer's Life, which opens at the new Miami PAC in January of 2007.

This year, the duty of hosting the Tony Awards will be shared. The 60th Anniversary show is bigger than just one host," said executive producers Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner previously. "So we've put together a line-up of 60 stars from the stage to lead our celebration."

This year, The American Theatre Wing's Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards will be celebrating their 60th Anniversary. The 2006 Tony Awards are presented by the League of American Theatres and Producers and the American Theatre Wing.

The Tonys are presented by the League of American Theatres and Producers and the American Theatre Wing. At the League, Gerald Schoenfeld is Chairman and Jed Bernstein is President. At the Wing, Sondra Gilman is Chairman, Doug Leeds is President and Howard Sherman is Executive Director. For Tony Award Productions, Elizabeth I. McCann is Managing Producer and Joey Parnes is Coordinating Producer.

Kirshner and Weiss/White Cherry Entertainment are Executive Producers of the 2006 Tony Awards. Weiss will also serve as Director of the 2006 Tony Awards.

The official Tony Awards web site, www.TonyAwards.com, is developed, designed, and hosted by IBM, an official partner of the Tonys.