Broadway Musicals Legend Chita Rivera dies at 91

On Tuesday, January 30, 2024, beloved Broadway actress Chita Rivera—best remembered for her part in Bye Bye Birdie—passed away. The news was confirmed by her daughter Lisa Mordente. She stated that her mother passed away after a brief illness, as reported by BBC. She was 91.

A memorial event for Rivera will "be announced in due course," according to the family, but his funeral will "be private."

Rivera was deeply committed to HIV and LGBTQ+ advocacy, working with organizations such as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Any donations in her honor should be donated to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, per the family’s request.

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Chita Rivera’s personal life

Chita Rivera was born as Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero in Washington, D.C. in 1933. She left her hometown to attend the School of American Ballet in New York City after trying out for renowned choreographer George Balanchine. When diversity and inclusion in the theatre were major problems in the 1950s, Rivera was one of the few Puerto Ricans and Latinas working in the field.

During her seven-decade Broadway career, Rivera became well-known for her groundbreaking and critically acclaimed portrayal as the original Anita in the 1957 production of West Side Story. She collaborated with Broadway greats such as Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim as well as choreographers Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins both during the production and in her career.

She received ten Tony nominations, and two of the nominations were granted—one for The Rink in 1984 and another for Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1993—for Best Actress in a Musical. She was granted the Tony's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Rivera became the first Latina to be given a Kennedy Centre Honour in 2002, and President Obama gave her the Presidential Medal of Freedom seven years later.

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Chita Rivera’s health struggles

Rivera, who began ballerina training at the age of 11, had a setback to her career in 1986 when she was hurt in a car accident in Manhattan caused by a taxi. With 12 fractured limbs on her left leg, she required two surgeries and several months of recuperation.

For many, the injuries would have meant the end of their career, yet Rivera managed to resume dancing almost a year after the incident.

However, she never fully recovered.

In an interview with The New York Times in 1993, she said,

“You’ll never see me in ballet slippers again because I don’t have my Achilles’ tendon.”

She also said,

“I can’t do the full stretch. But I don’t have any pain anymore. The only problem is that my leg sets off metal detectors at airports.”

Chita Rivera's sudden passing has shocked the theatre industry.