Chita Chats About WEST SIDE STORY Revival & More

Legendary singer, actress and dancer Chita Rivera is gearing up to perform her show 'My Broadway' for Tampa Bay audiences next week. And while the 77-year old Rivera remains a triple-threat to be reckoned with, she tells the St. Petersburg Times that theatre-goers should not expect dance to be a part of the programme during her show. "I move, but the whole purpose of this is not to dance," she says on a phone interview from New York. "My first number is I Won't Dance. Now I want to do the jazz thing and have some fun with that."

During the interview, Rivera also discusses the revival of the current Broadway production of WEST SIDE STORY which left her with mixed feelings. The show has been re-written to accomodate a bilingual rendition of songs and dialogue. A native of Puerto Rico, Rivera says, "When I first heard about it, I thought it was a fabulous idea. But when I saw it, I was disappointed because I wanted to hear Anita sing, 'A boy like that who'd kill your brother,' but it was in Spanish. I didn't think it worked, and neither did (producers), obviously, since they changed some of it back."

To read the rest of the interview with the St. Petersburg Times, please click here.