The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) announced today that Broadway icon Chita Rivera will be honored with their 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award at the Seventh Season Awards Gala taking place on Sunday, November 14th at The Hudson Theatre (145 W. 44th Street) beginning at 6:00pm. Winner of two Tony® Awards and nominated for an additional seven Tony® Awards, Chita was recently seen on Broadway in The Dancer's Life, which celebrated her career and NINE which co-starred Antonio Banderas.
NYMF will also be honoring producers Barry and Fran Weissler (Chicago, Wonderful Town, La Cage Aux Folles, Scottsboro Boys) and the winners of the NYMF 2010 Awards for Excellence. The evening will include cocktails, a silent auction, seated dinner, and musical performances celebrating NYMF's Seventh Annual Season.
"It is not yet Christmas, and I have already received what I know will be my favorite gift. Thank you, New York Musical Theatre Festival." said honoree Chita Rivera.
"We are thrilled to honor Chita Rivera with our Lifetime Achievement Award," said Executive Director and Producer of The New York Musical Theatre Festival, Isaac Robert Hurwitz. "Chita is a true theater legend. Her exceptional passion and dedication to the theater, coupled with her extraordinary talent, have made her an inspiration to generations of artists and audiences alike."
There will be special performances from Bebe Neuwirth and the cast of The Scottsboro Boys, the Weisslers' newest Broadway offering. Other appearances and performances to be announced.
The Daegu International Musical Festival Production Award and The Stage Entertainment USA Development Award will be announced in the coming weeks.
Ticket prices for the NYMF Awards Gala are as follows: Champion Table of 10: $5,000, Champion Tickets: $500 (includes preferred seating and admission to the VIP After-Party with the artists), Supporter Table of 10: $3,750, and Supporter Tickets: $375.
To purchase tickets, call (212) 664-0979 x12, or email gala@nymf.org
Chita Rivera is an accomplished and versatile actress/singer/dancer, and has won two Tony Awards as Best Leading Actress in a Musical and received seven additional Tony nominations. 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. 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). 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 in the chorus of 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. Chita was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President
Barack Obama on August 12, 2009. She received the coveted Kennedy Center Honor in Washington, DC in December, 2002 and is the first Hispanic ever chosen to receive this award. Chita has just recorded and released a new CD entitled And Now I Swing and is on a nationwide concert tour of
Chita Rivera: My Broadway. Her most treasured production is her daughter, singer/dancer/choreographer
Lisa Mordente.
The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2010 is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group,TheaterMania.com, and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and is supported by AP-Red.com, Back Stage, Barnes and Noble, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Broadway.TV, Clear Channel Spectacolor, DFD-TV, King Displays, NASDAQ OMX, New World Stages, Next Magazine, PMD Promotions, The Port Authority of NY & NJ,
Queerty.com, Season of Savings, Tekserve, Terra Fossil, Thomson Reuters, TheMenEvent.com, Times Square Squared, and Yelp. Major supporters include The
ASCAP Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The Broadway League, The BWF Foundation, The Nathan Cummings Foundation with the support and encouragement of Jamie Ariel Phinney, The Charlie & Jane Fink Charitable Fund,
Cameron Mackintosh Foundation, The
Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Spiritus Gladius Foundation, and The Theater League. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
Photo Credit: Linda Lenzi
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