Chita Rivera @ Feinstein's / 54 Below - New York City Article

Chita Rivera
Feinstein’s / 54 Below
254 West 54th St
Through October 16

At 86, Chita Rivera may still be the world’s greatest embodiment of what we still sometimes describe as a “triple threat” performer, as an actor, singer, and, especially, a dancer. But breaking down the individual talents that she brings to a performance is a pedant’s game at best; the most important thing is that she’s a storyteller who puts all these abilities to use in her central quest to convey a narrative. Both the quality and the quantity of dancing that she does in her (mostly) one-woman show at Feinstein’s would be impressive at any age; in fact, she uses terpsichore the same way that most supper-club artists use singing and patter, as key components in her storytelling. An epic performance like Jacques Brel’s “Carousel” is, in fact, a kind of vocalized choreography - in your mind’s eye, she’s not moving all over the stage, but she’s flying to giddy heights, descending then rising up again - even though your actual eyes are telling you that she’s remaining in one place. This is her basic show, that I’ve seen many times before (and hope to continue to do so many times in the future) in which she narrates the highlights of her career on Broadway (with inside dope on West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie, Sweet Charity, The Rink, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, etc.) but always with variations - this time, the new element is the inclusion of her daughter, Lisa Mordente (the only child born of a Shark-Jet marriage, she tells us) who serves as a stand-in for the late Gwen Verdon most memorably on the two classic Chicago duets, “Nowadays” and “Class.” Of the latter, she’s got no shortage.

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