Chita, Not Forgotten...

I think most theater-goers would agree, at least the New Yorkers amongst us, that Chita Rivera is an icon of the Broadway stage. About a month ago I had the pleasure of attending “Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life,” her almost-one-woman show that opened on December 11 and closed on Sunday, February 19 after 72 performances. Admittedly the show wasn’t great (although SHE was) and should have had a solid six-month run just from loyal New Yorkers. So where is this missing audience? I have a theory that breaks my own heart, so be warned, it’s liable to hit a bit too close to yours.

I read fairly recently that during the plague years of the 80’s and 90’s nearly 80,000 New Yorkers died of AIDS. This is an awful fact and now here’s my theory about Chita and her show (don’t forget the following statistics are made up out of whole-cloth by me). Out of this 80,000 let’s guess that 60,000 of them were gay men. Of these gay men, 40,000 were patrons of theater in general and Broadway in particular. Go ahead, play with these numbers as you wish but my meaning is clear; there are 30,000-40,000 people missing who should be filling up the empty seats. Although all shows miss this constituency it is the ones like Chita’s and Bea’s and, somewhat, Elaine’s successful foray onto the Broadway boards that reap the consequences. If you aren’t able to reference these names, don’t worry, they were probably before your time. Off-Broadway and Off-Off probably suffer even more.

The next time you go to a Broadway show, take a stretch at intermission (presuming there is one, these days you can never be sure) and count noses. Don’t just look for gay men; look for gay men OF A CERTAIN AGE. Go ahead, don’t be shy, everyone has a certain amount of Gaydar that can be utilized for this little “game.” When I did it at Chita’s show, which was a Saturday night and therefore had few empty seats, it was resoundingly clear to me that there were very few singles or couples (or a gang) of men in their 50’s and 60’s. In the second act, despite the joy of seeing Chita’s performance up close (4th Row Center Orchestra) my heart sank into my shoes and leant more poignancy to the second act than I had counted on. Those tears in my eyes weren’t all from my adoration of the star.

Chita is taking her show on the road and the tour-cities will be announced soon but it’s a shame she has to seek out her audience so soon instead of basking in her glory as a Broadway diva in the city where she became one. Will she be missing her constituency (my contemporaries) on her tour? Depends on the city I suppose, but wherever she goes she deserves our respect and high regard.