If seeing Broadway legend Chita Rivera perform live is not on your bucket list, it should be. Bring your jazz hands over to The Ridgefield Playhouse on Sunday, November 20th at 7:00 pm for this one-night-only, intimate concert presented by Ingersoll Auto of Danbury and Ridgefield Magazine. Called a “force of nature” by the Associated Press, Chita will perform all the hits from her remarkable 65 year career including numbers from “West Side Story”; “Sweet Charity”; “Chicago’; “Kiss of the Spider Woman”; “Bye, Bye Birdie” and more! Ticket holders are invited to a free wine tasting in the lobby of The Playhouse at 6:15 pm, courtesy of The Wine Group/Benziger Family Winery—and can start off their evening with a Prix Fixe Dinner at Bernard’s restaurant. Partially underwritten by Adam Broderick Salon & Spa, this show will also include a special tribute to Ms. Rivera’s dear friends John Kander & Fred Ebb (writers of Kiss of the Spider Woman), as well as songs by Leonard Bernstein, Charles Strouse, Jerry Herman and Stephen Sondheim. Media sponsor for this event is Fine Arts Radio WMNR 88.1fm.
Born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero, Chita began studying ballet at age 11. Four years later she was selected to attend George Balanchine’s School of American Ballet in New York City. Her stage presence as an actress, dancer, and singer was undeniable, and when she accompanied a friend to an audition for a musical a few years later, Chita won the part instead. In 1957, her electric portrayal of Anita in the original Broadway premiere of West Side Story, made her a star. Throughout the years, she has wowed audiences in a variety of roles for stage, film and TV, earning numerous awards. She has been nominated for the Tony Award ten times and received the award twice—in 1984 for "The Rink," and in 1993 for “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”
Chita is the first Hispanic woman and the first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honors award and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2009.
For tickets ($70), call the box office at 203-438-5795, or visit www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org. The Ridgefield Playhouse is a nonprofit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge Avenue, Ridgefield, CT (parallel to Main Street).