CHITA RIVERA: My Broadway Plays The Van Wezel 1/20/2010

Two-Time Tony Award winner Chita Rivera will perform songs from her legendary Broadway career in her own concert Chita Rivera: MY BROADWAY coming to The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30-$45 (with limited "smart seats" available at $10).

Ms. Rivera will be accompanied by an 11-piece orchestra and will perform selections from her most celebrated musicals, including numbers from West Side Story ("America"), Sweet Charity ("Where Am I Going?" and "Big Spender"), Chicago ("All That Jazz" and "Nowadays"), Kiss of the Spider Woman, Bye, Bye, Birdie and The Rink, and featuring the music of Leonard Bernstein, John Kander & Fred Ebb, Charles Strouse, Stephen Sondheim and Cy Coleman among others.

A new CD featuring all this music is available now

Chita Rivera is an accomplished and versatile actress, singer and dancer who has won two Tony Awards as Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Rink) and received seven additional Tony nominations. Chita has performed her critically-acclaimed concert dates around the world in such cities as New York, London, Monte Carlo, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Toronto, Amsterdam, San Francisco, Cannes, Chicago and San Juan among many others. She recently starred in the Broadway and touring productions of The Dancer's Life, a dazzling new musical celebrating her spectacular career, written by Terence McNally and directed by Graciela Daniele. Last year she recreated her starring role in The Visit, the new Kander/Ebb/McNally musical at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA (originally done at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago in 2001) for which she received the 2009 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress. Chita received The Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama in August, 2009 and also received the coveted Kennedy Center Honor in Washington, DC in December, 2002, and was the first Hispanic ever chosen to receive this award. She also starred in the revival of the Broadway musical Nine with Antonio Banderas. She trained as a ballerina (from age 11) before receiving a scholarship to the American School of Ballet from legendary George Balanchine. Chita's first appearance (age 17) was as a principal dancer in Call Me Madam. Her electric performance as Anita in the Broadway
premiere of West Side Story (1957) brought her stardom, which she repeated in London. Her career is highlighted by starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago, Jerry's Girls and (original
Broadway casts) Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, Seventh Heaven and Mr. Wonderful. On tour: Born Yesterday, The Rose Tattoo, Call Me Madam, Threepenny Opera, Sweet Charity, Kiss Me Kate, Zorba, Can-Can with The Rockettes.

Come sing along with the extraordinary Chita Rivera in Chita Rivera: MY BROADWAY.
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m.