Book NewsChita Rivera Memoir Sets 2023 Release Date; See the Cover Art
The three-time Tony Award honoree penned the book in collaboration with journalist Patrick Pacheco.
By
Logan Culwell-Block
August 03, 2022
As previously announced, three-time Tony honoree Chita Rivera has written a memoir with journalist Patrick Pacheco as co-author. Set to release April 25, 2023, from HarperOne, CHITA: A Memoir will be available both in print and as an audio book, with both editions set to release simultaneously in English and Spanish. The memoir will cover the West Side Story and Chicago star's early life and long Broadway career. All editions are available to pre-order at HarperCollins.com.
The project is not Rivera and Pacheco's first collaboration; Pacheco was credited with "biographical research" on Rivera's 2005 autobiographical solo show, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life.
Take a look at the upcoming release's cover art:
With a more than 60–year career on Broadway, Rivera is perhaps best known for creating the roles of Anita in West Side Story, Rose in Bye Bye Birdie, Velma in Chicago, and Aurora in Kiss of the Spider Woman, winning Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical Tony Awards for Spider Woman and The Rink. She was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2018, recognizing a career that also includes performances in Nine, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and, most recently, The Visit.
Rivera is closely associated with the writing team of John Kander and Fred Ebb, having starred in their musicals Chicago, The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and The Visit, but the memoir will also cover working with such theatrical luminaries as Stephen Sondheim, Bob Fosse, Dick Van Dyke, Arthur Laurents, Gwen Verdon, Leonard Bernstein, Liza Minnelli, and Hal Prince.
Lupita Nyong'o, Katrina Lenk, Jelani Alladin, and more were on hand to celebrate the October 31 opening night of Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. Jacobs' new musical.