Chita Rivera has always been considered a triple threat — singer, dancer, actress. Now, she's a triple threat who is threatening in the world premiere of the John Kander-Fred Ebb-Terrence McNally musical, The Visit, opening Oct. 1
at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. - playbill.com
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Brilliant veterans
Chita Rivera and John McMartin paint those colors with their own brilliant shadings. At 66, Rivera still moves like the dancer she is, and her regal presence establishes the commanding figure Claire must be. But it is Rivera's ability to convey Claire's twisted brand of enduring love that ultimately defines her performance.
Broadway veteran McMartin exudes the naive charm of a simple man who took the expedient route when his life came to a fork in the road many years before. His grappling with the stunning reality he now faces is so genuinely human in McMartin's portrayal.
The strong Kander and Ebb score, filled with melody and intelligent, economic lyrics, eschews big production numbers for waltzes, a tango and first-rate Broadway show tune material. The music is steeped in irony.
"Yellow Shoes," a catchy tune with a pop hook, begins as an easy-going tap number that builds into a frightening, ominous pounding. "Love and Love Alone," a darkly bitter solo for Claire with a Sondheimian attitude toward romance, crystalizes the new romantic underpinning in the musical version of "The Visit."
Ann Reinking's choreography is balletic for the young couple, and solid, unflashy Broadway dance for the rest. It serves the show well.
Fine ensemble work characterizes the cast. Steven Sutcliffe's schoolmaster, an independent thinker by nature and a tormented member of the town majority, is particularly affecting.
Director Frank Galati makes dramatic use of a stage elevator - Rivera's first entrance is spectacular - and designers Derek McLane (set) and Susan Hilferty (costumes) keep the production visually exciting.
Broadway, with all of its current uncertainty, is not on "The Visit's" future itinerary at this moment. It should be.
-Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Oct. 4, 2001.
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