There’ll be few rear-view glances when, at 83, Chita Rivera makes her Carnegie Hall debut on Monday, November 7. The show is titled “Nowadays,” after the song written for her and Gwen Verdon by John Kander and Fred Ebb for the musical “Chicago.” And, for added contemporary emphasis, she is being joined onstage by a roster of dynamic male stars, including Andy Karl, Alan Cumming, Brandon Victor Dixon, Javier Munoz and Steven Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.The inclusion of Van Zandt demonstrates the wide appeal of Rivera, whose fans include President Barack Obama. In 2009 he bestowed on her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an award to place on a crowded mantle next to a Kennedy Center Honor, two Tony Awards (“The Rink” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman”) and numerous other accolades.Despite the celebrity, Rivera has always been the special favorite of “gypsies,” the affectionate term given to the chorus kids who form the ensemble of musicals. That’s because the legendary star has never strayed beyond the image of herself as a celebrated version of one of them, titling her 2006 biographical show, “Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life.”She recently spoke to BLOUIN ARTINFO about the ups and downs of her extraordinarily gifted career, her amazing resilience, and why one should never tangle with “gorilla Chita.”Why the title “Nowadays”?It’s kind of perfect for the way this has fallen into place, not pushing any issue. I’m sentimental about New York and how good it’s been to me and I love that it’s me today, not yesterday and not tomorrow and to have a guy like Stevie Van Zandt on the stage with me? I’m both excited and nervous.Why nervous?Well, I thought, “What in the heck could Stevie find interesting about some Broadway broad?” But he and his wife always came to my shows. And my daughter Lisa [Mordente] said, “Mom, why don’t you ask Stevie?” And when I called him, he got that knowing chuckle in his voice and said, “Wow, this is different. Yeah. Why not?” And I can hardly wait to hear him bang on his guitar. That would kind of kick it!So Chita Rivera is in a kick-ass mood these days? Yes. [Laughs.] And the two guys from “Hamilton.” Javier Munoz and Brandon Victor Dixon, bringing yesterday into today by my singing “America” from “West Side Story” in the original manner and then rapping it. I want it to be interesting.“Interesting”? That’s a pale word. You leave “interesting” in the dust.[Laughs] Well, I am feeling invigorated! I’ve got a brand new knee. You know, I‘ve been hit by a cab, had multiple surgeries, I have so much metal in me that I play symphonies when I go through metal detectors. But with the help and gifts of other people, I’ve been able to tell stories, go beyond myself, dig deeper and find out more and more who I am. You become all the roles you play. You become them and they make you stronger.When you’re in a show, the central gathering spot for the cast becomes your dressing room. How do you play godmother? Just to be whoever the heck I am. It’s a safe place for all of us, to share our energy, our love, our support and then go from there. It feels good. Because there are times when you can really feel down in this business.And what happens when the “family” gets dysfunctional? You just close the dressing room door. Although I’ve discovered through this long life that you‘re made to feel better if you just try to keep the door open despite what might be happening outside it.Has that happened to you? Well, one time when I was doing “Bye, Bye Birdie,” I was feeling bad and really grumpy. And I closed my door. And Charles [Strouse, the composer] went out and got a little statue of a gorilla and put it in front of my door to express the “gorilla Chita” that was on the other side of the door. And that just made me laugh. Humor. Humor will get you out of any crap you’re in. I still have that gorilla to this day.What else has gotten you through the rough times? Well I don’t know if I’m being Mary Sunshine but being a dancer, being physical, helps us get away from things that are kind of dark. We just keep moving through it all. It’s liberating that way. And thank God because I just don’t like being down and dark. I don’t like it at all. The other side of me? I can be a godmother with a gun! And knives. And the whole thing. [Laughs.]Gorilla Chita? Yes. Because gorillas win. I don’t fight to lose. I fight to win.How do you suppose you’ll be feeling as you wait in the wings at Carnegie Hall? “What the heck am I doing here?” [Laughs] No. No matter what stage it is, the feeling that’s always with me: Let me belong. Let me do it right. Let me do the show that I want to do and please let it satisfy the audience.Do you remember the first time you went to Carnegie Hall? I studied in that building. I must’ve first seen it when I arrived in New York from D.C. with my mother and my ballet teacher, Doris Jones, to go to the School of American Ballet. When we walked into the school, I remember seeing a gorgeous, tall, long-legged Balanchine ballerina pass by me and it scared me. I was not that! And Miss Jones said, “Don’t you worry, Chita. Don’t even look. Stay in your lane. Stay in your lane. Be yourself.” That was the best advice I ever got.
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