Before her passing in 2024, Broadway legend Chita Rivera was originally attached to appear in the film adaptation of Kiss of the Spider Woman, which hit theaters earlier this month. 

“There’s a role that was written for Chita in the movie, and Chita knew about it and she was going to do it,” producer Tom Kirdahy shared in an interview on the Marks & Vincenteli podcast. The Broadway legend would have played Clemencia, a village woman who appears in the movie within the movie, as told by the character of Molina.

Rivera, who originated the roles of Ingrid Luna, Aurora, and the Spider Woman in the Broadway production, passed away in January of 2024, only a couple of months before filming began. Because of this, the part instead went to Broadway choreographer Graciela Daniele, Rivera’s longtime friend with whom she had worked in shows like Chicago and The Visit.

Kirdahy shared that he, director Bill Condon, and composer John Kander were all in agreement that Daniele should take on the role. In a full circle moment, Kirdahy asked her to play the part after she sat behind him at Rivera’s funeral. “That role was cast at Chita’s funeral… We were howling, which Chita would have loved,” the producer recalled.

In her career as a director/choreographer, Graciela Daniele has earned 10 Tony Award nominations and six Drama Desk nominations. Credits include Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, Annie Get Your Gun, Marie Christine, Once on This Island, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, and Dangerous Game, and many more. Most recently, she choreographed The Visit on Broadway. In 2021, Ms. Daniele was the recipient of a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Bill Condon’s new adaptation is based on the acclaimed 1976 novel Kiss of the Spider Woman by Argentinian writer Manuel Puig and the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name by the multiple Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally (Master Class, Ragtime) and composer/lyricist team John Kander and Fred Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago). The original musical debuted on Broadway in 1993, going on to win seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score. Several of the performers also took home awards, including Chita Rivera.

A theatrical icon and one of Broadway’s greatest triple-threat talents, Chita Rivera is one of the most nominated performers in Tony Award history, having earned 10 nominations, won twice and received the 2018 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.

Her most recent starring roles include The Visit, the final John Kander/Fred Ebb/Terrence McNally musical directed by John Doyle and choreographed by Graciela Daniele on Broadway; the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood; the Broadway and touring productions of The Dancer’s Life, a dazzling musical celebrating her spectacular career, written by Terrence McNally and directed by Graciela Daniele and the revival of the Broadway musical Nine with Antonio Banderas.

She trained as a ballerina (from age nine) before receiving a scholarship to the School of American Ballet from the legendary choreographer George Balanchine. Chita’s first appearance (age 17) was as a principal dancer in Call Me Madam.

Her electric performance as Anita in the original Broadway premiere of West Side Story brought her stardom, which she repeated in London. Her career is highlighted by starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, The Rink (Tony Award), Chicago, Jerry’s Girls, Kiss of the Spider Woman (Tony Award), and the original Broadway casts of Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, Seventh Heaven and Mr. Wonderful.

On tour: Born Yesterday, The Rose Tattoo, Call Me Madam, Threepenny Opera, Sweet Charity, Kiss Me Kate, Zorba, Can-Can with The Rockettes. Chita was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2009 and received the coveted Kennedy Center Honor in 2002.

In 2019, Chita performed her solo concert at London’s Cadogan Hall; in 2018 she was honored as a Living Landmark by the New York Landmarks Conservancy; in 2016 she headlined at Carnegie Hall and in 2015, Great Performances aired their special Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin’ To Do, a retrospective of her extraordinary life and career nationally on PBS. 

Chita Rivera Photo Credit: Stephen Mosher

Graciela Daniele Photo Credit: Walter McBride