Bay Area Cabaret Presents Chita Rivera 11/5

Two-time Tony Award winner Chita Rivera will perform songs from her legendary Broadway career with an intimate evening of music in Chita Rivera: MY BROADWAY coming to the Venetian Room 8pm, November 5, 2010 as the first subscriber show of Bay Area Cabaret's ongoing series. Accompanied by her longtime musical trio, led by music director Michael Croiter, Ms. Rivera will perform selections from her most celebrated musicals, including numbers from West Side Story ("America"), Sweet Charity ("Where Am I Going?" and "Big Spender"), Chicago ("All That Jazz" and "Nowadays"), Kiss of the Spider Woman, Bye, Bye, Birdie and The Rink, and featuring the music of Leonard Bernstein, John Kander & Fred Ebb, Charles Strouse, Stephen Sondheim and Cy Coleman among others.

Chita Rivera is an accomplished and versatile actress, singer and dancer who has won two Tony Awards as Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Rink) and received seven additional Tony nominations. Chita has performed her critically-acclaimed concert dates around the world in such cities as New York, London, Monte Carlo, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Toronto, Amsterdam, San Francisco, Cannes, Chicago and San Juan among many others. Last year, Chita released a new solo studio CD entitled AND NOW I SWING (Yellow Sound label), which pays homage to her stage legacy while also displaying her passion for jazz. From classic theater songs to jazz standards, all tracks featured on this new album have received new arrangements recorded by New York's finest musicians, reimagining some of Chita's favorite tunes. She recently starred in the Broadway and touring productions of The Dancer's Life, a dazzling new musical celebrating her spectacular career, written by Terence McNally and directed by Graciela Daniele. Last year she recreated her starring role in The Visit, the new Kander/Ebb/McNally musical at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA (originally done at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago in 2001) for which she received the 2009 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress. Chita received The Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama on August 12, 2009 and also received the coveted Kennedy Center Honor in Washington, DC in December, 2002, and was the first Hispanic ever chosen to receive this award. She also starred in the revival of the Broadway musical Nine with Antonio Banderas. She trained as a ballerina (from age 11) before receiving a scholarship to the American School of Ballet from legendary George Balanchine. Chita's first appearance (age 17) was as a principal dancer in Call Me Madam. Her electric performance as Anita in the Broadway premiere of West Side Story (1957) brought her stardom, which she repeated in London. Her career is highlighted by starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago, Jerry's Girls and (original Broadway casts) Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, Seventh Heaven and Mr. Wonderful. On tour: Born Yesterday, The Rose Tattoo, Call Me Madam, Threepenny Opera, Sweet Charity, Kiss Me Kate, Zorba, Can-Can with The Rockettes.

"Chita Rivera has a gleam in her eye, a smirk on her lips and a bounce in her step...you leave this show walking on air!" - The New York Times

"Chita Rivera is more than a musical theatre star. She's a force of nature." - Associated Press

"Chita Rivera is irresistible!" - Newsweek

"Shimmering show-biz perfection." - Los Angeles Times

"Ever-riveting! Chita Rivera has the rare presence of a thoroughbred star!" - USA Today

"Chita Rivera is a wonder to behold." - Wall Street Journal

Come sing along with the extraordinary Chita Rivera in Chita Rivera: MY BROADWAY.

This appearance is presented by Bay Area Cabaret, the local organization devoted to presenting audiences with top performers who expand the definition of cabaret. The organization was invited to reopen the Fairmont Hotel's historic Venetian Room as a showroom, and given exclusive music booking rights to present its musical series in the city's legendary showroom. Said Marilyn Levinson, Founding Executive Producer of Bay Area Cabaret, now in its seventh season, "The Venetian Room reigned supreme as America's premier supper club from 1947 to 1989. It was here that Tony Bennett introduced his signature song 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco' and show business legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Marlene Dietrich, Tina Turner, Joel Grey, Bobby Short, JAmes Brown, Vic Damone, Nat 'King' Cole, and many, many other performers held forth for more than four decades. We are thrilled and honored to be reopening this historic room as a music venue, where we will be presenting this generation's top Broadway, pop and jazz performers."

Bay Area Cabaret was founded by Marilyn Levinson, a fifth generation San Francisco native and niece of James Schwabacher, Jr., founder of San Francisco Opera's 27-year-old Schwabacher Debut Recital Series. Bay Area Cabaret is a not-for profit, all-volunteer organization, which presents extraordinary performances in a variety of elegant venues in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through its concert series and wide-ranging outreach activities, the organization aims to expand the definition of cabaret and broaden the audience for intimate entertainment, offering Great American Songbook entries from Harold Arlen and Stephen Sondheim to Jonathan Larson and Stevie Wonder. Past seasons have featured Sutton Foster, Christine Ebersole, Barbara Cook, television actors Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry, jazz diva Nnenna Freelon, Broadway stars Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley, sopranos Patricia Racette and Karen Slack, and multi-platinum songwriter and jazz vocalist Ann Hampton Callaway.

FOR CALENDAR EDITORS:

Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera: My Broadway
When: 8pm Friday, November 5, 2010
Where: Venetian Room of the Fairmont San Francisco
950 Mason Street, atop Nob Hill
Tickets: $60 general/ $55 subscribers
(415) 392-4400 or www.bayareacabaret.org.

An intimate evening of music with two-time Tony Award winner Chita Rivera performing songs from her legendary Broadway career in her own concert Chita Rivera: MY BROADWAY comes to the Venetian Room. Accompanied by her longtime musical trio, Rivera will perform selections from her most celebrated musicals, including numbers from West Side Story ("America"), Sweet Charity ("Where Am I Going?" and "Big Spender"), Chicago ("All That Jazz" and "Nowadays"), Kiss of the Spider Woman, Bye Bye Birdie, and The Rink, and featuring the music of Leonard Bernstein, John Kander & Fred Ebb, Charles Strouse, Stephen Sondheim and Cy Coleman. "You leave this show walking on air," raves the New York Times. "Shimmering show-biz perfection," cheers the Los Angeles Times. "Chita Rivera is more than a musical theatre star. She's a force of nature," raves the Associated Press.

Bay Area Cabaret Season Tickets:
Subscriptions are available at www.bayareacabaret.org or by phone at (415) 927-4636. Discounts available for groups of 10 or more.

 

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