NEW YORK, NEW YORK, A BEAUTIFUL NOISE And More To Perform At The 2023 Chita Rivera Awards; Presenters Announced

Presenters and performances have been announced for the 2023 Chita Rivera Awards, taking place on May 22 at 7:30pm at NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Place off Washington Square Park).

The Chita Rivera Awards are produced by Joe Lanteri, Founder and Executive Director of the New York City Dance Alliance Foundation, Inc. in conjunction with Patricia Watt and this year's ceremony will be hosted by Funny Girl's Jared Grimes.

Presenters at this year's Chita Rivera Awards include: living legend Chita Rivera, Derek Hough (Dancing With the Stars), Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago), Charlotte d'Amboise (Chicago), Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots), Tony Yazbeck (Flying Over Sunset), John Riddle (The Phantom of the Opera), and more.

Performances include: A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical; New York, New York; Only Gold; and more.

It was also announced that Jeffrey L. Page, co-director and choreographer of this season's 1776, will receive the Douglas and Ethel Watt Critics' Choice Award. The Douglas and Ethel Watt Critics' Choice Award is bestowed by the journalists of the Chita Rivera Awards Broadway judging committee, to recognize outstanding work that falls outside the framework of the original categories. It is named for the longtime Daily News theater critic Douglas Watt and his wife Ethel.

In keeping with the mission of the Chita Rivera Awards, nominators considered shows and films that opened during the 2022-2023 theater season.

Along with Jeffrey L. Page, this year the Chita Rivera Awards will be honoring John Kander with the Lifetime Achievement Award and BroadwayHD, founded by Bonnie Comley and Stewart F. Lane, with the Ambassadors For The Arts Award.

Tickets to the Chita Rivera Awards are available to the general public at www.ChitaRiveraAwards.com.

The mission of the Chita Rivera Awards is to celebrate dance and choreographic excellence, preserve notable dance history, recognize past, present, and future talents, while promoting high standards in dance education and investing in the next generation.

Nominators considered outstanding choreography, featured dancers, and ensemble in shows on Broadway and Off Broadway, as well as outstanding choreography in film, that opened in the 2022-2023 season. Nominations for the productions under consideration this season will be determined by the designated nominating committee. There are separate nominating committees for Broadway, Off Broadway and Film. There is also an awarding committee for Broadway, which determines the final nominations that are received from the Broadway nominations committee.

For the first time, the Outstanding Dancer in a Broadway Show category is gender-free. This category has twice as many nominees as the former gendered categories. There will be two winners.

Tickets for the Chita Rivera Awards are currently on sale and can be purchased at www.ChitaRiveraAwards.com. Ticket prices are as follows: $100 for a balcony ticket to the Awards ceremony, $600 for an orchestra ticket to the Awards ceremony and admission to the pre-show red carpet cocktail party and VIP reception, and $6000 for 10 Orchestra tickets to the Awards ceremony, admission for 10 to the pre-show red carpet cocktail party & 1 table at the VIP reception.

A theatrical icon and one of Broadway's greatest triple-threat talents, Chita Rivera is one of the most nominated performers in Tony Award history having earned 10 nominations, won twice and received the 2018 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. A versatile actress/singer/dancer, her most recent starring roles include The Visit, the final John Kander/Fred Ebb/Terrence McNally musical directed by John Doyle and choreographed by Graciela Daniele on Broadway; the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood; the Broadway and touring productions of The Dancer's Life, a dazzling musical celebrating her spectacular career, written by Terrence McNally and directed by Graciela Daniele and the revival of the Broadway musical Nine with Antonio Banderas. She trained as a ballerina (from age nine) before receiving a scholarship to the School of American Ballet from the legendary choreographer George Balanchine. Chita's first appearance (age 19) was as a principal dancer in Call Me Madam. Her electric performance as Anita in the original Broadway premiere of West Side Story brought her stardom, which she repeated in London. Her career is highlighted by starring roles in Bye, Bye Birdie, The Rink (Tony Award), Chicago, Jerry's Girls, Kiss of the Spider Woman (Tony Award), and the original Broadway casts of 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 in 2009 and received the coveted Kennedy Center Honor in 2002. In 2019, Chita performed her solo concert at London's Cadogan Hall; in 2018 she was honored as a Living Landmark by the New York Landmarks Conservancy; in 2016 she headlined at Carnegie Hall and in 2015, Great Performances aired their special Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin' To Do, a retrospective of her extraordinary life and career nationally on PBS. Her current solo CD is entitled "And Now I Swing." Her long-awaited book CHITA: A MEMOIR was published by HarperOne in April, 2023. Her most treasured production is her daughter, singer/dancer/choreographer Lisa Mordente.

The NYC Dance Alliance Foundation, Inc. (NYCDAF), founded in 2010 by Executive Director Joe Lanteri, is committed to broadening performing arts awareness while advocating education and high standards of excellence in dance. The Foundation invests in the next generation of professional performers by offering scholarships for secondary and college education. To date, over 400 talented teenagers have shared in nearly $4 million awarded directly through NYCDAF. Those recipients are represented in 42 of the most prestigious university arts programs in the country. Many have since graduated and are now represented on Broadway, as well as concert dance companies based in NYC and around the world. www.NYCDAFoundation.net

An Emmy Award-nominated director and choreographer, Jeffrey Page spearheaded the 2015 and 2018 Tokyo productions of the musical Memphis, which received four Yomiuri Award nominations, including Best Musical. The first African American to be named the Marcus Institute Fellow for Opera Directing at The Juilliard School, Mr. Page won an MTV Video Music Award for his work with Beyoncé, whose creative team has included him for more than 12 years. His work was featured on Beyoncé's "Formation" World Tour, in her historic Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival performance, and in two of her HBO specials. Mr. Page was the associate creative director for Mariah Carey's "Sweet, Sweet Fantasy" European Tour, and has been a featured choreographer on Fox Television's "So You Think You Can Dance." He currently is the creative director for singer-songwriter Jazmine Sullivan, most recently working with her on the 2020 BET Soul Train Music Awards. Mr. Page was in the original, award-winning Broadway cast of Fela!. He worked alongside Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori to choreograph the hit Broadway musical Violet starring Sutton Foster (Roundabout Theatre Company). Page was acknowledged by the Berkshire Theatre Awards for his work at Barrington Stage Company's Company and Broadway Bounty Hunter. In 2016, he established Movin' Legacy as an Indianapolis-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the ethnology and documentation of contemporary and traditional dance from Africa and the African diaspora. Jeffrey holds an MFA degree with a concentration in Theatre Directing from Columbia University in New York City, and serves as a lecturer at Harvard University and The Juilliard School. In 2019 he was awarded the Chuck Davis Emerging Choreographer Fellowship from the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

2023 Chita Rivera AWARD NOMINATIONS

BROADWAY

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY IN A BROADWAY SHOW

Steven Hoggett, A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical

Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot

Susan Stroman, New York, New York

Jennifer Weber, & Juliet

OUTSTANDING DANCER IN A BROADWAY SHOW

Clyde Alves, New York, New York

Peter John Chursin, Bob Fosse's Dancin'

Dylis Croman, Bob Fosse's Dancin'

J. Harrison Ghee, Some Like It Hot

Jacob Guzman, Bob Fosse's Dancin'

Robyn Hurder, A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical

Kolton Krouse, Bob Fosse's Dancin'

Jess LeProtto, A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical

Mattie Love, Bob Fosse's Dancin'

Khori Michelle Petinaud, Bob Fosse's Dancin'

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE IN A BROADWAY SHOW

& Juliet

A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical

Bob Fosse's Dancin'

New York, New York

Some Like It Hot

OFF BROADWAY

OFF BROADWAY SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS

The Awarding Committee of the 2023 Chita Rivera Awards will celebrate excellence in Off-Broadway musical theater by presenting these special awards.

Outstanding Dancers in an Off-Broadway Show

Gaby Diaz, Only Gold

Ryan Steele, Only Gold

Outstanding Choreography in an Off-Broadway Show

Andy Blankenbuehler, Only Gold

CHOREOGRAPHY IN FILM

Babylon, Choreographer: Mandy Moore

Magic Mike: Last Dance, Choreographers: Alison Faulk, Luke Broadlick;

Contributing Choreographer: Leo Moctezuma

Roald Dahl's Matilda, the Musical, Choreographer: Ellen Kane

Spirited, Choreographer: Chloe Arnold

13: The Musical, Choreographer: Jamal Sims

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A DOCUMENTARY RELEASE

Broadway Rising, Director: Amy Rice

Everybody Dance, Director: Dan Watt

Moonage Daydream, Director: Brett Morgen