Book NewsChita Rivera Memoir Gets Bilingual Release April 25
The three-time Tony Award honoree penned the book in collaboration with journalist Patrick Pacheco.
By
Logan Culwell-Block
April 25, 2023
Chita Rivera
Three-time Tony honoree Chita Rivera's CHITA: A Memoir, written with journalist Patrick Pacheco, releases April 25 from HarperOne. Available in print and as an audio book read by Rivera, the book releases simultaneously in English and Spanish.
The tome covers the West Side Story and Chicago star's early life and long Broadway career. The project is not Rivera and Pacheco's first collaboration; Pacheco was credited with "biographical research" on Rivera's 2005 autobiographical solo show, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life.
With a more than 60–year career on Broadway, Rivera is perhaps best known for creating the roles of Anita in West Side Story, Rose in Bye Bye Birdie, Velma in Chicago, and Aurora in Kiss of the Spider Woman, winning Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical Tony Awards for Spider Woman and The Rink. She was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2018, recognizing a career that also includes performances in Nine, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and, most recently, The Visit.
Rivera is closely associated with the writing team of John Kander and Fred Ebb, having starred in their musicals Chicago, The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and The Visit, but the memoir also covers working with such theatrical luminaries as Stephen Sondheim, Bob Fosse, Dick Van Dyke, Arthur Laurents, Gwen Verdon, Leonard Bernstein, Liza Minnelli, and Hal Prince.
The Fred Ebb Award recognizes excellence in musical theatre songwriting, by a songwriter or songwriting team that has not yet achieved significant commercial success.
