Broadway star Chita Rivera’s cabaret show Chita Sings, which was due to take place at the Wyndham’s from 10-22 September, has been cancelled.
Producer Keith Turnipseed said “Due to a variety of factors outside our control, we are postponing our production of Chita Sings at Wyndham’s theatre. While this is disappointing, we are planning to bring Chita Rivera back to London, and look forward to rescheduling her appearance in the near future.”
Rivera has been working in the West End and on Broadway for more than 50 years. On Broadway she played Anita in West Side Story in 1957, which she recreated for the subsequent London production and the 1961 film version. She starred in Bye Bye Birdie (which she reprised 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), and in recent times, her autobiographical show Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life. She has won two Tony Awards, for Kiss Of The Spider Woman and The Rink, and been nominated nine times. Rivera’s last West End appearance came in 1999, when she played Velma Kelly in Chicago – a role she created in the original 1975 Broadway version.
Chita Sings was scheduled as part of The American Songbook In London series, about which Turnipseed commented: “We are excited about the planning now underway to bring a series of cabaret productions to the West End in 2008.”
JFC