American Broadway star Chita Rivera comes to London this September for a two-week stay at the Wyndham’s, where she presents her cabaret show Chita Sings as part of the American Songbook In London series.
In the show, which runs from 10-22 September, Rivera sings songs from some of the shows that made her name in the US and over here – America and A Boy Like That from West Side Story, All That Jazz, Nowadays and Class from Chicago, Big Spender, Where Am I Going? and Something Better Than This from Sweet Charity.
The 74-year-old musical actress’s career spans both sides of the Atlantic and covers more than 50 years. On Broadway she found fame playing Anita in West Side Story in 1957, which she recreated for the subsequent London production. She went on to star in Bye Bye Birdie (reprising her role in the West End in 1960), Chicago, Nine, The Rink, Jerry’s Girls and Kiss Of The Spider Woman (which came to London in 1992), plus, more recently, her autobiographical show Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life. She has received nine Tony nominations, winning twice for Kiss Of The Spider Woman and The Rink. Rivera was last in London in 1999, reprising her role as Velma Kelly in Chicago.
Chita Sings is hosted by American cabaret star Jeff Harnar and Rivera is accompanied by conductor David Krane.
Currently at the Wyndham’s is the Bill Kenwright revival of Somerset Maugham’s The Letter, starring Jenny Seagrove and Anthony Andrews, which ends its run on 11 August. No further productions have been announced for the Wyndham’s to follow Chita Sings.
CB