Broadway legend Chita Rivera dead at 91

Chita Rivera, the dazzling Broadway star who originated roles in the musicals “Chicago,” “West Side Story” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” died on Tuesday.

She was 91.

Rivera died peacefully in New York following a brief illness, her daughter, Lisa Mordente, said in a statement.

A brilliant dancer who mastered the moves of some of the twentieth century’s greatest choreographers, including Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse, Rivera is best remembered for her performances as Velma Kelly in 1975’s “Chicago” and Anita in 1957’s “West Side Story.”

While Rivera played Maria’s protective sister in Leonard Bernstein’s “Romeo and Juliet” riff onstage, the role was played by Rita Moreno in the Oscar-winning film.

“[I] politely say, ‘I was the original Anita,” Rivera wrote in her 2023 memoir “Chita.” “That is my dress!” 

Rivera won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1984, for John Kander and Fred Ebb’s “The Rink” and again in 1993 for that duo’s “Kiss of The Spider Woman.” Her final appearance on Broadway was in 2015’s “The Visit.”

This story is developing.