Chita Rivera's new show

Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life
Pre-Broadway tryout, Old Globe Theatre, San Diego
September 21, 2005

Chita Rivera has been one of Broadway's most reliable stars, even if she hasn't been one of its most famous. Her name has been in theatre circles for the immense charisma of her stage presence and the legs that have kept her dancing strong straight into her 70s. But film stardom has largely elluded her, having been notoriously passed over for the film version of "West Side Story" even though she memorably created the role on stage.

Still, seeing her up on stage is usually cause for excitement: she was smashing as Roxie Hart in the revival of "Chicago" when it played Las Vegas in 1999. She was aged in her 60s at the time, and we were all impressed that she still had it in her to dance all those Fosse-esque steps. But even more impressive was that she still had "it" - the power to seduce an audience into believing in her character and go along with her for the ride.

Now comes "Chita Rivera: The Dancers Life," a Broadway-bound musical retrospective of her life that just opened at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Presented in musical revue and monologue format, the show goes through all of Chita's famous stage roles and new songs illustrate moments in her life (such as her early childhood).

Chita is ravishing in the show - but too bad the show itself is mostly boring, even if individual moments shine here and there. The main draw of the show is Chita's history on the stage: but will audience members who aren't knowledgeable about her past find the show even remotely interesting? The show is filled with in-jokes, and her narrative about her life is only interesting...but only for awhile. Chita's show, with book by playwright Terrence McNally and direction by Graciella Danielle, fails to live up to the interest that Elaine Stritch created with her one-woman show, "Elaine Stritch at Liberty" - and there Stritch only had herself up there on stage. Rivera has six dancers to help her along, and though they are talented and very good in and of themselves, they don't help the show's lagging momentum. Perhaps the problem is simply that it goes on for too long. A nice, one-act 90 minutes probably would have been enough; here its over 2 hours with one intermission.

As I mentioned, a few moments light up the stage, and they're worth mentioning: a tribute to the choreographers that influenced Chita's work is incredibly effective. Dancers in the background slowly move across the stage while Chita gives the audience an object lession in Broadway dance styles, going from Bob Fosse to Jerome Robbins. It's a thrilling marriage of well-written text, passion, and visual demonstration. But for the one or two effective moments, there are several duds: like when Chita talks about the men she has had in her life. She looks visibly uncomfortable and awkward talking about it (historically, she hasn't said much in the press about it either), and the whole bit looks contrived by show doctors formulaically looking to add some romance to the whole thing.

So this show is definitely Chita's show. Chita looks great, and she is great when she's talking about her work. Her show needs a bit of trimming to work, and I'm not sure how well it could do on Broadway in the long term. But Chita is Chita, and seeing her on stage is great anyway.

A little history on this production: The show had been scheduled to open at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles this past summer. But financing fell through, and the show's planned Broadway engagement was also cancelled. The Old Globe later came through with an offer that made production cheaper in San Diego - so the show was back on its feet and is now headed towards the Great White Way later this season.

The Globe has of late become quite a hot spot for Broadway show out-of-town tryouts. Last year, there was "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" - a hilarious, very fun show. Now we've got "Chita." And in January, there will be a new dance musical by choreographer Twyla Tharp using music by Bob Dylan, similar in vein to Tharp's "Movin' Out". What becomes of this very interesting relationship remains to be seen, but Southern California is certainly benefitting from seeing some of New York's newest stuff in one of our most intimate venues.

"Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life" is at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego through October 23. Visit www.oldglobe.org for more information.