Chita Rivera is ready to share her story…
The 89-year-old half-Puerto Rican Tony Award-winning actress, singer, dancer and Broadway legend will be recapping her illustrious career in a memoir for HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
The book, with a publication release date set for early 2023 and title to be determined, will also be published simultaneously by Harper Español.
Rivera will be writing the book with Emmy-winning TV commentator and arts journalist Patrick Pacheco.
Rivera is one of the most nominated actors in Tony Awards history, garnering 10 bids during her long career. Her credits include West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago and Kiss of the Spider Woman.
She plans to detail her associations with Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Laurents, Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse, Hal Prince, Gower Champion, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Jerry Herman, and other titans of the Broadway world.
She will also share her stories about Gwen Verdon, Elaine Stritch, Dick Van Dyke, Liza Minnelli, and Sammy Davis Jr., among others.
“I’ve long considered writing my memoirs, but I’ve never been one to look back…until now,” Rivera said in a statement. “Now it feels right, and with Patrick Pacheco, I couldn’t be more pleased to pass on my experience to a new generation. I hope my words and thoughts about my life and career resonate and readers just might discover some things about me they never knew.”
Lisa Sharkey, SVP director of creative development, HarperCollins Publishers, acquired the North American rights for English and World for Spanish, first serial, and audio from Mel Berger at WME.
The book will have Rakesh Satyal as executive editor, HarperOne Publishing Group, and will be edited with HarperEspañol editor Ariana Rosado-Fernández.
