The Dancer's Life: Co-Starring Chita Rivera

Leave it to Chita Rivera to share the spotlight in a show about her own career. Arguably musical theatre's greatest living performer, she spends most of The Dancer's Life singing and dancing the praises of others.

But when you think of it, Chita Rivera is not your typical Broadway legend. Sure, her ability to communicate character and emotion through the finest work of some of Broadway's greatest choreographers, matched with strong, perfectly phrased vocals that shimmer with nuance earn her a place among musical theatre's greatest. And yet she's never had a Broadway musical built around her talents. No Gypsy, South Pacific, Hello Dolly! or Redhead for Chita Rivera. From West Side Story to Bye, Bye, Birdie to Chicago and beyond, her Broadway career has been that of a co-star. Even in The Rink, for which she won her first Tony, her role was no larger than that of the more famous Liza Minnelli. And though she was undoubtedly the star of Kiss of the Spider Woman, her second Tony-winning role, she was an above-the-title star playing a supporting character.

Her reputation is that of a hard worker and an expert at her craft who keeps herself free of scandal, in top condition and can always be depended upon to give an opening night quality performance even when the house is half-filled and she's a year into the run. And that's the Chita Rivera we see on stage in The Dancer's Life. Sure, there's been heartbreak and romance, but if she doesn't want to talk about it in public, that's her business. If you want to learn about what happened behind closed doors, this is not the show for you. If you want to learn from the best about what it's like to rise from the chorus into stardom and to continually strive to deliver the kind of performance that is worthy of the creators' work and the audience's presence, then don't miss Professor Rivera's Master Class.

The importance of teaching and the willingness to always be learning is the dominating theme of Ms. Rivera's show, as scripted by Terrance McNally and directed by Graciela Daniele. The opening image is that of a young Chita (Liana Ortiz) listening to her father playing the saxophone and being inspired to move. After a catchy new Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty tune where Rivera explains how her mother sent her to ballet class to keep the hyper-active kid from destroying the furniture, we're introduced to her first teacher; a stern instructor who instilled the child with discipline and a love for dance. As the teenage Rivera joins the ranks of Broadway gypsies, her teachers become more famous. She learns comic timing from Elaine Stritch, gets good career advice from Gwen Verdon and learns how dance is a form of drama from Jerome Robbins.

In making the transition from chorus member to leading player, Rivera talks of the unique relationship that exists between Broadway co-stars, stressing that whatever negative feelings one may have for the person off-stage, for two and a half hours that person is your best friend and your rock to lean on. Individual tributes to those she's played opposite in the past are concluded with a heart-tugging remembrance of Gwen Verdon. Starring in Chicago was both a thrilling and terrifying experience for Chita Rivera, convinced she wasn't good enough to sing and dance alongside her idol. In the show's most perfectly conceived moment, Chita Rivera performs "Nowadays" next to an empty spotlight. Through sheer love and admiration (and a pretty accurate impersonation) she makes us believe that Gwen Verdon is singing and dancing beside her. It is a simple moment full of high emotion. Bring tissues.

A highlight of Act II is a lesson in the dance styles of Jack Cole, Peter Gennaro, Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins; emphasizing the unique contributions each made to musical theatre and how we are in danger of losing their artistry if new dancers do not learn from those of the past; a point that's driven home at the show's conclusion when young Liana Ortiz is given a lesson in Bob Fosse's staging of "All That Jazz", her eyes always glued to the woman who introduced the song to the world as she tries to imitate each step and each gesture.

In between we get a glimpse of the process by which she tries to find the heart of each character she plays. Through another Ahrens/Flaherty song, including excerpts from Chicago, The Rink and Kiss of the Spider Woman, she explains her search for a personal connection to a murderous vaudevillian, a working-class mom reconnecting with her adult daughter and a glamorous but deadly film fantasy figure.

Ethel Merman will be remembered as the clarion powerhouse. Carol Channing, the empress of over-the-top satire. Mary Martin was America's sweetheart and Gwen Verdon was a sexy Puck with the soul of Charlie Chaplin. Chita Rivera is perhaps Broadway's greatest example of mature, serious acting as expressed through the fizz and excitement of song and dance. And she seems very modest about it.

Photos of Chita Rivera and Liana Ortiz by Paul Kolnik