Chita Rivera (1933-24)

I am a midwestern gay boy who (literally) grew up down the street from a cornfield, and so I didn't see my first Broadway show until I was 25 (Promises, Promises with Kristin Chenoweth & Sean Hayes).  But I loved live theater, and like most young, closeted men, the way that I found an opening into the world of theater was through cast albums, including the original cast album of West Side Story.  This was the first time that I would become familiar with Chita Rivera, one of the grand dames of the New York stage in the latter half of the 20th Century, who passed away this week at the age of 91.

Born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson (which was never going to fit on a marquee), she was already on Broadway at the age of 18, doing chorus work before reaching stardom a few years later as the original Anita in West Side Story, which would make her a headliner on Broadway.  While she would not play the role in the movie (which would win Rita Moreno an Academy Award), she spent most of the next few decade's being one of the signature actresses on Broadway.  Like Mary Martin or Barbara Cook, her time in cinema was limited (her most noteworthy role was opposite Shirley MacLaine in Sweet Charity), but she'd originate countless musicals, including Bye Bye Birdie, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Chicago, playing Velma Kelly (yet another role that would win the actress playing the part an Oscar).

Rivera was a singular star.  In an era where Broadway feels like they're all about who can belt the loudest (even if that becomes hopelessly generic over time), Rivera wasn't the best singer on Broadway (she wasn't Barbara Cook), but instead belonged to a group of actresses like Carol Channing, Elaine Stritch, & Angela Lansbury who used their distinctive singing styles to make magic on the stage.  I thankfully would eventually get to see said magic, watching her as Princess Puffer in the Studio 54 imagining of The Mystery of Edwin Drood.  She was sublime, watching one of the true greats light up the stage that felt made for her.