Broadway community honors Chita Rivera's impact: "She blazed the trail"
NEW YORK -- Two-time Tony Award winner Chita Rivera is being remembered across New York City.
The Broadway legend died Tuesday at age 91.
Rivera set the bar for performers from the moment she stepped on stage as a teenager and throughout her six-decade career.
A crew member at the current Broadway production of "Chicago" told CBS New York that Rivera would still sometimes pop in to watch a show and support the next generation of artists.
A triple threat -- Rivera danced, acted and sang her way into our hearts as the original Anita in the 1957 Broadway musical "West Side Story." Rivera made her Broadway debut in "Guys and Dolls" in 1950 and would go on to appear in 18 Broadway shows, including "Bye Bye Birdie" and the 1975 production of "Chicago," in which she starred as Velma Kelly.
"She blazed the trail for all the women you see on Broadway today," said Rob Bowman, the current conductor and musical director for "Chicago."
Bowman worked with Rivera on "Kiss of the Spider Woman" in 1993, for which she received her second Tony Award.
"Her love and her joy and passion for what she does just went through all of us," Bowman said.
Tuesday night, the current cast of "Chicago" paid tribute to the musical's original star.
"Paving the way for women of color, I think that is such a testament to who she was as a person and the giant she was, not only in the industry but also pop culture in general," fan Geia Asperas said.
"She was one of the early rebels and icons of feminists and really set the bar," fan Andrea Macaluso said.
Rivera was born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero in Washington, D.C., and raised by a single mother after her Puerto Rican father died. She won a scholarship at a young age to study ballet in New York.
In her memoir, Rivera wrote that she remains a dancer in her soul. She spoke to CBS Sunday Morning last year.
"I discover the rhythm. I discover the beat. I discover my heartbeat," she said.
Rivera eventually turned in her ballet slippers for the lights of Broadway.
In 2005, she spoke to CBS New York's Dana Tyler about her show "Chita Rivera: the Dancer's Life."
"I'm honoring my family, I'm honoring all the people I've ever worked with," Rivera said.
At the age of 82, Rivera's final show was the 2015 Kander and Ebb musical "The Visit."
"At the final performance, she had laryngitis and, against all odds, went on. Remember, this was a musical, and she went on and gave quite literally one of the most brilliant performances I've ever seen," said "The Visit" producer Tom Kirdahy. "She was the first to arrive in the building and the last to leave, so everyone who got to work with her became a better artist."
She was a legend on stage and the screen.
Rivera turned 91 last week and is survived by her daughter, Lisa Mordente.
Rivera was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Tony in 2018. She also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and was the first Hispanic woman to receive a Kennedy Center Honor.
