Review: Broadway Legend Chita Rivera Dazzles at Café Carlyle Singing Her Favorite Songs

When Tuesday night the formidable Chita Rivera opens her debut Café Carlyle show, An Evening of My Favorite Songs, with "I Won't Dance" (Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields/Jimmy McHugh), it's like watching a thoroughbred nose the racing gate. There's too little space on the small stage to do much more than shimmy, twirl, and display Bob Fosse-like arm moves; the performer exudes an urge to cut loose. At the ripe age of we-all-aspire-to-that-kind-of-unquenchable-joie-de-vivre, she shoots off sparks.

The band consisting of Musical Director/Percussionist/Guitarist Michael Croiter, Associate MD/Piano Michael Patrick Walker, Jim Donica on Bass, and Dan Willis on Reeds, buoy Rivera with rhythmic zest. Arrangements suit her to a T, carrying melody when she does not, sometimes slowing down both to accommodate the vocalist and, in the case of such as "Where Am I Going?" (Cy Coleman/ Dorothy Fields) to an appealingly dark, subdued effect.

Rivera offers anecdotes and songs from her long, prominent career, each starting with the phone call. There are numbers from: Sweet Charity (Cy Coleman/Dorothy Fields), in which she played Charity on tour ("I couldn't step into Gwen Verdon's shoes, but I could bring my own") and Nicki in the film; "A Lot of Livin' To Do" from Bye Bye Birdie (Charles Strouse/Lee Adams) performed by another character in the show, but here, positively inhabited by Rivera; two from West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim), replete with Anita's spitfire accent; "Carousel" from Jacques Brel is Alive and Living in Paris, propelled by powerful, staccato vocal and Dan Willis's evocative sax; and "Chief Cook and Bottle Washer" from Kander and Ebb's The Rink, which arrives beautifully pissed off.

Highlights include "Winter" and "Love and Love Alone" from Rivera's last Broadway appearance in Kander and Ebb's The Visit. The artist steps seamlessly back into the role of Claire Zachanassian. She's tempestuous, bitter, and, deeply unhappy, has barricaded her heart. When you're young/Feeling oh so strong/What can prove you wrong?/Love, and love alone . . . seems to rise from the depths of her being. The lady understands.

And "Nowadays" and "All That Jazz" from her iconic turn as Velma Kelly in the original cast of Kander and Ebb's Chicago. Rivera looks just as swell with a top hat and cane as she did 41?! years ago. For the first song, she playfully sings as herself and then, Gwen Verdon. For the second, the artist's jacket opens, one leg thrusts out, and she 'assumes the position.' I'm gonna rouge my knees/And roll my stockings down . . . she sings, fingers walking provocatively down her leg. There's a strut, a shoulder shake, and an expertly wiggled turn with hands back-flapping. In today's terminology, she vogues.

Carol Hall's "Circle of Friends" closes the evening with affection and gravitas. Rivera tells us she discovered the song upon losing friend (actor) Larry Kert. She performs for all those gone and remembered, with pulse and depth.

Chita Rivera's weathered vocals may not sustain phrases or offer a once, open-throated belt, but the beloved artist puts on a helluva show.

Chita Rivera is performing at Café Carlyle through April 30.

Photos by David Andrako

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