Age of chita rivera biography book

Happy International Women’s Day. I hope you all wore purple, the color of royalty. The Anderson- de Rivero family lived in an African American neighborhood in Washington.

For women’s history month, I gravitate to memoirs to hear the stories of those women who paved the way for so many to shine today. From iconic roles as Velma Kelly in Chicago to Aurora in Kiss of the Spider Woman to portraying dramatic personas in The Rink and The Visit, Chita Rivera grew to be a star and theater icon. Along the way, Rivera gives voice to Dolores, “my sensual, dark, and renegade alter ego,” who relishes opportunities "to throw shade at the opposite sex.” The intimate tone of this backstage look at Rivera's career makes for compelling reading.

She could do it all: dance, sing, and act. The Latin flair seeps out of these pages and followed Chita for her career, but she appeared prideful to represent boriqua culture. Her father Julio passed away in 1940, so her mother Katherine entered the workforce to provide for her five children. Dolores did not experience racism; her first dance partner Louis Johnson was African American, and she was light enough to “pass” as white.

Her response is that she was finally slowing down and thought that it was time to give the fans what they long sought, the spicy and more poignant moments both. By the time I was old enough to visit her on my own, staying home and watching musicals became our favorite pastime whenever it was a non beach day. “When I did play Latinas,” she writes, “I was naturally upset when my characters were subjected to racist taunts.” She also acknowledges the devastating impact of the AIDS crisis on the theater and dance communities.

No one was too big a star to hang out with the company at a diner after rehearsal or a show. But Dolores—the irreverent side of the sensual, dark, and ferocious Chita—was always present and influential in creating some of Broadway’s most iconic roles, including Anita in West Side Story‚ Rosie in Bye Bye Birdie, Velma in Chicago, Aurora in Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Claire in The Visit.

She also details all those who shaped her career, leading to the wide range of roles that she made her own over seven decades on Broadway. By age sixteen, the two dancing prodigies won scholarships to the School of American Ballet, jump starting their careers. Too many older people never get a chance to record their lives for posterity, whether a celebrity or a member of society.

Over the course of her life, Chita cites her mother as being the shaping influence in her life as well as countless personalities of the theater community. Even though she acted on screen later in her career, Chita’s place was on stage.

Last year I watched the new version of West Side Story with my daughters, but I still prefer the original, which gained its place in society from notoriety of the Broadway production. The theater community, even in the 1950s, was a large family.