Theater News

WNET/Thirteen to Rebroadcast Chita Rivera Great Performances Special

”Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin’ to Do” features interviews, archival footage, and new filmed performances.

Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin' to Do, a PBS Great Performances special looking back on the Broadway legend's career, will be rebroadcast on July 21 on WNET/Thirteen.
Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin' to Do, a PBS Great Performances special looking back on the Broadway legend's career, will be rebroadcast July 21 on WNET/Thirteen.
(© David Gordon)

First aired nationally on PBS in November 2015, the Great Performances special Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin' to Do will be rebroadcast on Friday, July 21, at 9pm on WNET/Thirteen only.

The hour-long special is a retrospective of the Broadway legend's career, and features interviews, archival stage and TV clips, and new filmed performances of numbers from Rivera's concert repertoire, including "A Boy Like That," "America," "A Lot of Livin' to Do," "All That Jazz," and "Nowadays." The new performances were filmed at The Appel Room.

Among the interview subjects are John Kander, choreographer Graciela Daniele, director John Doyle, original West Side Story star Carol Lawrence, playwright Terrence McNally, entertainers Dick Van Dyke and Ben Vereen, and Rivera's daughter, Lisa Mordente.

A 10-time Tony nominee, Rivera was most recently seen on Broadway in Kander and Fred Ebb's The Visit. She earned Tony Awards for her performances in Kander and Ebb's The Rink and Kiss of the Spider Woman, and she is known for originating roles in Bye Bye Birdie, West Side Story, and Chicago, among other classic Broadway musicals.

Rivera was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2009. She received the coveted Kennedy Center Honor in Washington, D.C., in 2002 and she is the first Hispanic woman ever chosen to receive the award. In May 2013, she was appointed to a special Kennedy Center Honors Advisory Committee.