Jerome Robbins, to me, is the genius of a lifetime.
— Chita Rivera
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.
You really have to be in touch with your soul and spirit and your imagination - it keeps you in shape, and it makes you like yourself a bit more.
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.
You really never know what the next day brings you.
Absolutely, I'll always be a dancer.
I was from Washington, D.C., and then I came to New York and got the scholarship for the ballet.
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.
You have to have the lows in your life so you can deal with them.
We're going to Puerto Rico, where we're gonna close. And we're so excited, we can't see straight.
Southern California, they have been amazing. They're totally with us.
My hairdresser and I found ourselves shopping at Bloomingdale's with nothing to do for days.
I'm not comfortable with just me, me, me. That's boring.
I was busy welcoming a new experience. I had never done a movie before.
I can tell you where my Tonys are. They're in a beautiful place in my living room, in a glass cabinet.
'Spiderwoman' was wonderful. I think that show is a very important piece of theatre.
You get the best out of people by allowing them to do their best work.
You always want to please your choreographer, director. Dancers are just that way.
I just broke up all the furniture in the house. My mother had to get rid of me. So she put me in dance class.
I don't think you know how much you can do until you try.
Mother never said to me, 'Stay out of trouble.' She didn't have to!
Redheads have a lightness, a craziness, a kookiness. Think of Lucille Ball.
The person who does that role better than anyone else is the person who should get that role, regardless of their background or heritage.
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.
Theatre is immediate gratification.
Somebody told me once I wasn't Latin enough, and that made me laugh.
It's communication - that's what theatre is all about.
I'm an old-fashioned girl.
I have to make this love affair believable enough. It's very European.
Beauty is not everything!
I've never been bored in live theater.
You have to be passionate about things in your life.
I'm very competitive. I do like to win.
I have a very young outlook.
Why not travel, why not see the rest of the world, why not experience life? It's beautiful! Phenomenal!
Outside of my own home, England is my second home.
'Chicago' is all about precision.
I think Lin-Manuel deserves absolutely everything that he's getting. He is an extremely gifted guy, a very fine human being, and loves the theater. Loves it.
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.
San Francisco has just blown us all away. I also understand Angels in America didn't do well there.
I've played American, Italian, Greek, French. I've been really lucky that way.
I'd like to get the word out there, the word has to be spread.
I have been very lucky, I have only had one bad experience.
After about 15 minutes, you feel that you're winning them over.
