Interview: Chita Rivera

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

Chita Rivera is a pistol. When I interviewed her for the "House Call" column in today's Mansion section of The Wall Street Journal, she was elegant, earthy and downright funny (go here). Chita, of course, is a two-time Tony-winning dancer, actor and singer and a Broadway legend. She was the original Anita in West Side Story (1957), and it's tough to say her name without hearing the slinky strains of Cool, Tonight or America from the famed musical. She's also a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Kennedy Center Honor.

Here's Chita being honored in 2002 at the Kennedy Center...

Chita and I also talked about her legs. I asked her about the blurring speed of her steps and she laughed, explaining where that strength came from. Here's Chita on the Judy Garland Show in 1960. Watch those legs...

During our chat, Chita spoke of her family living room in Washington, D.C., as an obstacle course. She was constantly hurdling the furniture until one day she accidentally came down on the coffee table and broke it. That was the last straw. Her mother sent her to the Doris Jones School of Dance in Washington so she could channel her energy. Which she did. Then Chita won a scholarship to George Balanchine's School of American Ballet, which, in turn, led to her winning a part in the traveling cast of Call Me Madam.Much bigger roles followed. If not for that coffee table, we may never have seen Chita in a single role. Chita is currently staring in The Visit.

Also, in the Review section of this weekend's WSJ, I interview author Kazuo Ishiguro for the "Playlist" column on his favorite song—Leonard Cohen's I Can't Forget (go here). Ish's latest book is The Buried Giant.

Used with permission by Marc Myers