Chita Rivera, during an interview in New York, on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009. (AP)

Broadway legend Chita Rivera is as big and enduring a star as they come on the Great White Way.

At a time when performers like Michael Jackson and Patrick Swayze have blinked out tragically young, Rivera is a near miracle of the show going on.

She was there in the original “West Side Story,” a real-life Puerto Rican daughter breaking ground in the 1950s. She was there in the original “Chicago” with “All That Jazz.” In “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” And she’s there today.

She started life as “Conchita.” At 76, she’s a Presidential Medal of Freedom winner.

This hour, On Point: Broadway great, Chita Rivera.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guest:

From New York City, we’re joined by Chita Rivera. Best-known for her roles in “West Side Story,” “Chicago,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” she’s a two-time Tony Award winner for best actress in a musical, and has been nominated for nine Tonys in total. President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom on August 12, and she was the first Hispanic ever to win the Kennedy Center Award in 2002. She recently starred in the Broadway and touring productions of “Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life,” and she will begin touring in January with her concert “Chita Rivera: My Broadway.” Her new solo studio album, “And Now I Swing,” will be released next month.

Watch clips from the recent production “Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life”:

from "Every Little Step"

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The smash Broadway musical “A Chorus Line” opened in 1975.

It was a monster hit – the longest-running Broadway production in history in its day. It had now-famous songs: “What I Did for Love” and “At the Ballet.” A famously unusual story – of seventeen Broadway dancers auditioning for the show.

For the 2006 revival, 3000 dancers showed up to audition. Their struggles are the subject of a new documentary.

This Hour, On Point: “A Chorus Line” and “Every Little Step.”

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

James Stern, co-director and co-producer of the new documentary, “Every Little Step.” He has produced over 50 Broadway shows and feature films. On and off-Broadway, he’s produced 16 shows, including “The Producers,” “Hairspray,” and “Stomp.” Most recently, he produced Will Ferrell’s “You’re Welcome, America.”

Adam Del Deo, co-director and co-producer of the new documentary, “Every Little Step.” He has collaborated with James Stern on two other feature documentaries, “So Goes the Nation” and “The Year of the Yao.”

Baayork Lee, actress, director, and choreographer. She created the role of Connie in the original production of “A Chorus Line.” She choreographed the 2006 revival of “A Chorus Line” depicted in “Every Little Step.” She’s co-author of the book, “On the Line: The Creation of a Chorus Line.”

In The Heights

We listen back to a talk with the creators of the Tony award- winning salsa, hip-hop, Latino smash, Broadway’s “In the Heights.”

Click here to listen to the show ]]> http://www.onpointradio.org/2008/11/in-the-heights-rebroadcast/feed 0 http://www.onpointradio.org/2008/05/in-the-heights http://www.onpointradio.org/2008/05/in-the-heights#comments Tue, 27 May 2008 15:00:00 +0000 Wen Stephenson http://www.onpointradio.org/2008/05/in-the-heights/

On the journey of American assimilation, to have your culture’s ticket punched on Broadway seems almost mandatory. Whether it’s “Fiddler on the Roof” or “Raisin in the Sun,” the Broadway embrace is a milestone.

The hottest ticket on Broadway right now may mark that moment for Latino Americans. The rap-salsa-merengue extravaganza “In the Heights” is up for thirteen Tony awards.

“By Latinos about Latinos” is the headline. It’s an all-American story to a new beat.

This hour, On Point: We talk with two of the creators of “In the Heights.”

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Thomas Kail, director of “In the Heights,” he’s nominated for the 2008 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. He is co-founder and artistic director of the not-for-profit theater company Back House Productions.

Quiara Hudes, bookwriter for “In the Heights,” she’s nominated for the 2008 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. Her play “Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue,” was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize.