Chita Rivera

Chita Rivera, the fire-and-ice dancer, singer and actress who leapt to stardom in the original Broadway production of “West Side Story” and dazzled audiences for nearly seven decades as a Puerto Rican lodestar of the American musical theater, died on Tuesday January 30 2024. She was 91. Chita Rivera originated some of the most legendary roles on Broadway, including Anita in West Side Story, Velma Kelly in Chicago, and the title role in Kiss of the Spider Woman (the latter two are both Kander and Ebb works). Rivera won three Tony Awards, including one for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre. She was the first Hispanic woman and first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honor, and in 2009 received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The death was announced in a statement by her daughter, Lisa Mordente. In 1957, Ms. Rivera married Anthony Mordente, a dancer in “West Side Story.” They divorced in 1966. In addition to her daughter, Lisa, Ms. Rivera is survived by three siblings, Julio, Armando and Lola del Rivero.