Chita Rivera - Oh my God!

Atta Girl, Chita, Gosh oh mighty, can you believe it? Not one act, but II!

The first thing on everyone's mind who sees the The Dancer's Life is, "How old is she?"

And you realize that - Yes that strong agile woman flickering about the stage could very well be your mother/grandmother depending on your age, but amongst the young cast that surrounds her, they barely flinch a whisker.

But those of you in the know about Broadway history (which leaves me on the out) must be familiar with Chita Rivera on some level, whether it's from "Kiss of the Spider Woman" or "West Side Story" or perhaps "Nine," "The Rink," "Bye Bye Birdie," "Sweet Charity, "Can-Can," Mr. Wonderful," The Visit," or okay, maybe from a little show called C H I C A G O? Her bio reads like a who's who marathon.

I can pretend to know all this because I was invited to catch a glimpse of a mighty stage legend perform her living memoir aloud and in person. Like sitting down by the fire and tuning into an episode of "This is Your Life," I found out a good deal of this performers profound everlasting life.

Sprinkled throughout the evening were topics that were probrably once headlines, describing the things that might have happened and people who were there to help make them happen in such a way that she wants us, her audience, to know how important they are for her when recanting her life, that she may just want to hint at these surfaces long past that required some scratching at, a gentle whisper, a provocative tease and only a slight tug at the giant curtain that masks her truest identity.

But the audience here at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre at 236 W. 45th St seemed to like her story and warmly accepted the way she chose to tell it, all except, I have to say, a couple of sparkly folks I spoke to during intermission and the jazzy fella I sat next to. They felt it wasn't as telling as it could be.

But to this my thoughts on this show and their initial response can best be summerized by Winston S. Churchill who said, "History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it."

And Marcelo says, check it out for sure, the stage setups are amazing, a visual sensation, especially this hypnotic screen that shields the orchestra that set up in a hollywood square type arrangement. It's wild, I'm out the door go to the www.thedancerslife.com