I’m so saddened by Chita’s passing. I loved her. She is a true Broadway icon and legend who will be dearly missed. Thank you for scheduling this event to honor her and show clips from her extraordinary career. My memory of Chita goes back to the early 1960s when my mother would play her Bye Bye Birdie Broadway cast album on our hi-fi stereo. I was just a child, but I remember that I loved listening to Chita’s songs on that album, and so I continued to play that record many times for years afterward. She had such pizazz in her voice, and what a fantastic dancer! Such a huge loss.
I wish I could join you, but have a conflict. I'll certainly be with you in spirit, and haven't stopped thinking about Chita since the news came across my screen.
I'm a lifelong fan who finally got to meet Chita in 2016. "I have loved you ever since West Side Story. I was 3." She gave me a wink and a hug, and said: "I was 9." Hers is a life to be celebrated, not mourned, although the world will be poorer place without her. Heaven will be a little bit brighter, sound a little lovelier, and have the most incredible dancing ever. While I'm in no rush to get there, with the likes of Chita there, it sounds like a lovely place to spend eternity.
So sorry I missed today's Memory Room. I'll never forget seeing Chita and Liza doing Chicago in NY, oh so many years ago. Liza was filling in for Gwen, who was having throat problems. A fan even rushed to the stage, pen and paper in hand for autographs!. At least she's on film for all to remember.
Superb performance a few years back w Seth Rudetsky at the Wallis in Beverly Hills He peppered Chita w great questions. She sang lustily, danced w grace and sass, and responded wittily throughout. A true trouper. The last of the great ones. We shall not see her like again beyond the footlights. May a choir of angels and chorus line of hoofers lead her to the Broadway pantheon where Ethel and Mary and Gertrude, among others, reside.
Chita Rivera was a pioneer in bringing prominence and to talented Hispanic
entertainers. She has helped to dispel
Institutional discrimination in the show business industry and her performances were unforgettable. The relationship between her and Dick van Dyke in Bye Bye Birdie helped to overcome early on opposition to a interracial romances in Broadway and film.
A truly great loss to our industry. I was lucky enough to be at The Royal Albert Hall for this wonderful performance when you really could feel the love in the room for Chita.
The trail that she blazed is one that has still not arrived at its destination of equality so it is up to all of us to continue the work and keep alive her memory.
Such a loss for all of us. I saw Chita in “WSS” a very long time ago and again in “The Dancer’s Life. She was supposed to perform at the Olney Theatre (Maryland) last summer but cancelled at the last minute. I was so disappointed.
Chita was a woman of great talent and a real trailblazer. She will be missed.
I’m so saddened by Chita’s passing. I loved her. She is a true Broadway icon and legend who will be dearly missed. Thank you for scheduling this event to honor her and show clips from her extraordinary career. My memory of Chita goes back to the early 1960s when my mother would play her Bye Bye Birdie Broadway cast album on our hi-fi stereo. I was just a child, but I remember that I loved listening to Chita’s songs on that album, and so I continued to play that record many times for years afterward. She had such pizazz in her voice, and what a fantastic dancer! Such a huge loss.
I wish I could join you, but have a conflict. I'll certainly be with you in spirit, and haven't stopped thinking about Chita since the news came across my screen.
I'm a lifelong fan who finally got to meet Chita in 2016. "I have loved you ever since West Side Story. I was 3." She gave me a wink and a hug, and said: "I was 9." Hers is a life to be celebrated, not mourned, although the world will be poorer place without her. Heaven will be a little bit brighter, sound a little lovelier, and have the most incredible dancing ever. While I'm in no rush to get there, with the likes of Chita there, it sounds like a lovely place to spend eternity.
So sorry I missed today's Memory Room. I'll never forget seeing Chita and Liza doing Chicago in NY, oh so many years ago. Liza was filling in for Gwen, who was having throat problems. A fan even rushed to the stage, pen and paper in hand for autographs!. At least she's on film for all to remember.
Superb performance a few years back w Seth Rudetsky at the Wallis in Beverly Hills He peppered Chita w great questions. She sang lustily, danced w grace and sass, and responded wittily throughout. A true trouper. The last of the great ones. We shall not see her like again beyond the footlights. May a choir of angels and chorus line of hoofers lead her to the Broadway pantheon where Ethel and Mary and Gertrude, among others, reside.
Chita Rivera was a pioneer in bringing prominence and to talented Hispanic
entertainers. She has helped to dispel
Institutional discrimination in the show business industry and her performances were unforgettable. The relationship between her and Dick van Dyke in Bye Bye Birdie helped to overcome early on opposition to a interracial romances in Broadway and film.
A truly great loss to our industry. I was lucky enough to be at The Royal Albert Hall for this wonderful performance when you really could feel the love in the room for Chita.
https://youtu.be/0PkZ5DOI3sg?si=ofpvru3a_wruWnZq
The trail that she blazed is one that has still not arrived at its destination of equality so it is up to all of us to continue the work and keep alive her memory.
Such a loss for all of us. I saw Chita in “WSS” a very long time ago and again in “The Dancer’s Life. She was supposed to perform at the Olney Theatre (Maryland) last summer but cancelled at the last minute. I was so disappointed.
Chita was a woman of great talent and a real trailblazer. She will be missed.
I’ll definitely be there.😭💔