In the late 1970s, Chita Rivera, assisted by two male dancers, presented an act at Manhattan’s Cafe Luxembourg (which boasted a cabaret room then) that was, by wide consensus, the act of the year. At the time it reminded not a few attendees of the breakout act Kay Thompson, assisted by the Williams Brothers (Andy Williams included), opened at the Plaza Hotel’s Persian Room in 1948.
Now something like 40 years on, Rivera is presenting an act that by wide consensus is likely to be considered the act of 2019. (It’s returning after a March stay.) Sometime during it, the mesmerizing onetime chorus dancer points out that, at 86, when she lifts a leg to knee level, she would have been lifting the shapely limb way over her head in earlier days.
That adjustment and a vibrato wobbling riskily on sustained final notes are the only concessions to age Rivera makes during a rousing backward gaze at her musical comedy career. To the contrary, if Rivera demonstrates anything in her testament to advancing years, it’s that many natural powers don’t diminish over time but can and do remain gloriously intact.
A general note on Rivera as a dancer-turned-dancer/singer-turned-dancer/singer/actor is that though she’s supple as a willow in the wind, she seems to have a spine of steel supporting a body and psyche that at times are inclined to be strong and unforgiving and at other times inclined to be goodtime girl. The qualities still radiate from her. There’s grit in the soles of those dancing shoes.
If you ask this reviewer, the highest of many high points during the 85-minute turn (and turn and turn again), is her singing “Where Am I Going?” from Sweet Charity. No one (this includes Gwen Verdon, the original Charity) has acted Dorothy Fields’ lyrics with such unflinching self-examination. When Rivera sings “What’s in this grab bag that I call my mind?” she looks desperate to find an answer.
And she isn’t even moving her feet, which, to be sure, she does plenty as she saunters through her “I’m a lucky girl” career. Though she stresses her collaboration with lyricist Fred Ebb and composer John Kander (six of their songs in a juicy selection for 13), she reprises hot numbers from, among others, West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie (“A Lot of Livin’ to Do,” cheerfully implying she still does), The Rink, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, and Chicago. For the latter, which she uses to open and close her reminiscence (before an encore), she even repeats much of Bob Fosse’s oh-so-understated movements and—get this!—blithely throws in an impersonation of co-star Verdon.
By the way, another of the highest high points is a challenge only she is asking herself to meet. It’s ”Carousel,” the madly accelerating Jacques Brel waltz (“La valse a mille temps”), for which Eric Blau and Mort Shuman supplied the English translation. The revue in which it was introduced and in which she appeared is, of course, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.
Between numbers and often when introducing them, she talks of talented pals Leonard Bernstein, Liza Minnelli, Cy Coleman and Roger Rees with whom she co-starred in The Visit, the musicalization of Friedrich Durrenmatt’s tragedy. The banter comes across as amiably off-hand, spontaneous. The music throughout is played by musical director Michael Croiter on guitar and percussion, bassist Jim Donica and Gary Adler at the piano—all three in synchronicity with Rivera’s nonstop swing and sway.
Rivera’s encore—the standing ovation(s) rightly demands it—is the Jerome Kern-Johnny Mercer “I’m Old-Fashioned.” Rarely, if ever, has old-fashioned looked so new-fangled, so freshly minted, so star-in-the-musical comedy firmament.
Chita Rivera opened May 27, 2019, at Feinstein’s/54 Below and runs through June 4. Ticket and information: 54below.com
