A biography for Chita Riverahasn’t been written yet.
“I have been very lucky, I have only had one bad experience.”
“When you're in a big theater, you want to reach the very top of the place. Up to the highest seat, so that each person feels like you're talking to them. There's really no difference when you're in a smaller place; you just don't overdo it. It becomes far more personal.”
“I can tell you where my Tonys are. They're in a beautiful place in my living room, in a glass cabinet.”
“I have to make this love affair believable enough. It's very European.”
“You can feel whether an audience is tightened up and pulled back. Of course the opposite is an audience like we've been having in LA, which is fabulous.”
“The show did go on, but came very close to not going on at all.”
“Cabaret is a much more up close and personal experience, which I enjoy very much. This is a tremendous difference to being in a large theatre, doing a book show, where there is more separation. But both have equal importance.”
“My hairdresser and I found ourselves shopping at Bloomingdale's with nothing to do for days.”
“I was from Washington, D.C., and then I came to New York and got the scholarship for the ballet.”
“You have to have the lows in your life so you can deal with them.”
“Why not travel, why not see the rest of the world, why not experience life? It's beautiful! Phenomenal!”
“Somebody told me once I wasn't Latin enough, and that made me laugh.”
“Redheads have a lightness, a craziness, a kookiness. Think of Lucille Ball.”
“You always want to please your choreographer, director. Dancers are just that way.”
“After about 15 minutes, you feel that you're winning them over.”
“I'm very competitive. I do like to win.”
“'Spiderwoman' was wonderful. I think that show is a very important piece of theatre.”
“You take a plug and put it in a socket, and that's what the theatre is-it lights up right away. You speak, and they respond immediately.”
“I'm not comfortable with just me, me, me. That's boring.”
“I've always had a crazy sense of humor. So the ballet probably wouldn't have been enough for me. I had to clown around a little bit more.”