Tribute to Chita Rivera on Broadway, where she reigned

Chita Rivera created several memorable Broadway characters that are now considered part of the canon, including the role of Velma Kelly in the original production of “Chicago.” So when the cast of the long-running Broadway revival took the stage at New York's Ambassador Theater on Tuesday night, just a few hours after her death was announced, it was only natural that they would pay tribute to her.

After the performance, the cast gathered on stage as Amra-Faye Wright, who now plays Kelly, remembered Rivera as a “Broadway giant” who stood up for other dancers.

“I still feel like an impostor in the role because it belonged to Chita Rivera,” Wright said as cast members dabbed their eyes. “She created it. She starred in the original production of 'Chicago' and she lives on in our hearts, on this stage, in every performance. We love you, Chita.'

On Instagram, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the composer, writer and actor, shows described Rivera as “The Pioneer for 🇵🇷 on Broadway,” used a Puerto Rican flag emoji, and called her “an absolute original.”

Miranda was one of many who emphasized the symbolic importance of Rivera's Puerto Rican heritage. Rita Moreno, who won an Oscar playing Anita in “West Side Story” (the role that was Rivera's breakout performance on Broadway), paid tribute in an emailed statement, saying, “I remember seeing her for first saw in 'Mr. Beautiful” and exclaiming, “Oh my god, who IS that?” When I found out that this amazing creature was one of my people, I crowed with pride.”

And Representative Nydia M. Velázquez of New York, the first Puerto Rican woman elected to the House, posted on social media that Rivera “was proud of her Puerto Rican heritage and helped pave the way for other Latina artists.”

Many of Rivera's fellow leading ladies — the women most celebrated by Broadway fans — also paid tribute to her.

“I always thought she would live forever,” Audra McDonald wrote on Instagram. “She was more than life and life itself.” Laura Benanti called Rivera “the brightest star in the galaxy, the hardest worker in the room, the funniest and warmest person at every table.” And Bernadette Peters said in an emailed statement: “She was an amazing talent and a vibrant, fun person. She was a great star until the end.”

Actor Harvey Fierstein remembers starting as a fan — he remembers seeing her as a child in “Bye Bye Birdie” — and then bonding after she came to see him in “Torch Song Trilogy.”

“She was so exciting on stage — she was funny, she was dramatic and she could do it all,” Fierstein said in a telephone interview. “She was a mentor to me, a great friend and one of the people I loved most. She was a nice girl, but she was also the hardest working woman ever – she loved it, and she would do more if she could.