Breaking: KISS ME, KATE, AIN'T TOO PROUD & More Earn Chita Rivera Awards Nominations!

Nominations for the 2019 Chita Rivera Awards were announced today. In keeping with the mission of the Chita Rivera Awards, nominators considered shows and films that opened during the 2018-2019 theater season.

The 2019 Chita Rivera Awards will be presented on May 19, 2019 at 7:30pm at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Place off Washington Square Park), and produced by Joe Lanteri, Founder and Executive Director of the New York City Dance Alliance Foundation, Inc. in conjunction with Patricia Watt.

Tickets to the Chita Rivera Awards are available to the general public at www.ChitaRiveraAwards.com

The mission of the Chita Rivera Awards is to celebrate dance and choreographic excellence, preserve notable dance history, recognize past, present and future talents, while promoting high standards in dance education and investing in the next generation.

At this year's Chita Rivera Awards, dancer, choreographer and theater director Graciela Daniele will receive the third annual Lifetime Achievement Award, and Flody Suarez, Jeffrey Seller, and Cher (producers of The Cher Show on Broadway) will be honored with the Ambassador for the Arts Award honoring their contribution to the convergence of theater, film, and television. George C. Wolfe will be presented with the SDC Director Award for exemplary collaboration with choreographers on Broadway.

The Chita Rivera Awards nominees reception will take place this Monday, April 29, 2019 at Bond 45 (221 W. 46th Street).

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2019 Chita Rivera AWARD NOMINATIONS

BROADWAY NOMINATIONS:

Outstanding Choreography in a Broadway Show:

Warren Carlyle, Kiss Me Kate
Denis Jones, Tootsie
David Neumann, Hadestown
Casey Nicholaw, The Prom
Sergio Trujillo, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of The Temptations

Outstanding Male Dancer in a Broadway Show:

Corbin Bleu, Kiss Me Kate
Rick Faugno, Kiss Me Kate
James T. Lane, Kiss Me Kate
Jeremy Pope, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of The Temptations
Ephraim Sykes, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of The Temptations

Outstanding Female Dancer in a Broadway Show:

Ashley Blair Fitzgerald, The Cher Show
Gabrielle Hamilton, Oklahoma!
Amber Gray, Hadestown
Leslie Kritzer, Beetlejuice
Angie Schworer, The Prom

Outstanding Ensemble in a Broadway Show:

Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of The Temptations
Hadestown
King Kong
Kiss Me Kate
The Cher Show
The Prom

OFF-BROADWAY NOMINATIONS:

Outstanding Choreography

Joshua Bergasse, Smokey Joe's Cafe
Raja Feather Kelly, If Pretty Hurts, Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka
Rick and Jeff Kuperman, Alice By Heart
Lorin Latarro, Merrily We Roll Along
Shea Sullivan, Neurosis, A Musical That Gets in Your Head

Outstanding Male Dancer

Brennan Caldwell, Neurosis, A Musical That Gets in Your Head
Zachary Downer, Alice By Heart
Brendan Henderson, Cleopatra
Jelani Remy, Smokey Joe's Cafe
Wesley Taylor, Alice By Heart

Outstanding Female Dancer

Emma Degerstedt, Smokey Joe's Cafe
Mia DiLena, Alice By Heart
Irina Dvorovenko, The Beast in the Jungle
Dionne D. Figgins, Smokey Joe's Cafe
Naomi Kakuk, The Beast in the Jungle

Outstanding Ensemble

Alice By Heart , MCC Theatre
Fiddler on the Roof, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene
If Pretty Hurts, Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka, Playwrights Horizons
Smokey Joe's Café, Steven Baruch, Mark Routh, Richard Frankel, Tom Viertel
Twelfth Night, The Public Theater

FILM NOMINATIONS:

Theatrical Release

Isn't It Romantic - (Release date, February 13, 2019, Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth) Choreographer: Christopher Gattelli; Assistant Choreographer, Jon Rua

Mary Poppins Returns - (Release date, December 19, 2018, Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda)
Choreographers: Rob Marshall & John DeLuca; Co-Choreographer, Joey Pizzi; Associate Choreographer, Tara Nichole Hughes, Assistant Choreographer: Marlon Pelayo

Shine - (Release date, October 6, 2018, Alysia Reiner, David Zayas)
Director of Choreography: Anderson Cruz, Choreographers, Charlie Garcia, Osmar Perrones, Grisselle Ponce

Swimming with Men - (Release date, December 7, 2018, Rob Brydon, Rupert Graves) Choreographer: Caroline Pope

The Nutcracker and The Far Realms - (Release date, November 2, 2018, Misty Copeland)
Choreographer: Liam Scarlett

Documentaries

Ballet Now - (Release date, July 20, 2018; Tiler Peck)
Director: Steven Cantor

Bathtubs Over Broadway - (Release date, November 30, 2018; Tribeca Film Festival Award Winner prior and other festivals, Chita Rivera, Martin Short, etc.)
Director: Dava Whisenent

Hot to Trot - (Release date, NY, August 24, 2018, nationwide rollout to follow)
Director: Gail Freedman

If The Dancer Dances - (Release date, July 24, 2018, Dance on Camera Festival)
Director, Maia Weschler

Moving Stories, Lives Transformed By Dance - (Release Date, August 11, 2018, Battery Dance Festival, MoMa)
Director: Rob Fruchtman, Wilderness Films, Producer

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Productions nomination count:

Broadway:

Kiss Me Kate - 5
Ain't Too Proud- The Life and Times of The Temptations - 4
Hadestown- 3
The Prom - 3
The Cher Show - 2
Beetlejuice - 1
King Kong - 1
Oklahoma! - 1
Tootsie- 1

Off-Broadway:

Alice By Heart - 5
Smokey Joe's Café - 5
If Pretty Hurts, Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka - 2
Neurosis, A Musical That Gets in Your Head - 2
The Beast in the Jungle - 2
Cleopatra - 1
Fiddler on the Roof - 1
Merrily We Roll Along - 1
Twelfth Night - 1

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Nominators consider outstanding choreography, featured dancers and ensembles in Broadway and Off Broadway shows, as well as outstanding choreography in film during the theatrical season. The Off Broadway and Film committees make nominations and name winners in those categories. Broadway nominees are designated by the Broadway nominating committee and winners selected by the Broadway awarding committee.

The 2018 Awarding Committee includes: Chair: Sylviane Gold; Gary Chryst, Anna Kisselgoff, Robert LaFosse, Donna McKechnie, Wendy Perron, and Lee Roy Reams

Broadway Nominating Committee includes: Chair: Wendy Federman; Melinda Atwood, Caitlin Carter, Don Correia, Gary Chryst, Sandy Duncan, Mercedes Ellington, Sylviane Gold, Jonathan Herzog, Anna Kisselgoff, Robert La Fosse, Joe Lanteri,, Donna McKechnie, Michael Milton, Mary Beth O'Connor, Laura Penn, Wendy Perron, Lee Roy Reams, Andy Sandberg, and Randy Skinner

Off Broadway Nominating Committee includes: Chair: Jonathan Herzog; Deidre Goodwin, Scott Jovovich, Robert La Fosse, and Michael Milton

Film Committee includes: Co-Chairs: Jonathan Herzog and Rex Reed; Wilhelmina Frankfurt, Joanna Ney, Mary Beth O'Connor, Andy Sandberg

Tickets for the Chita Rivera Awards are currently on sale and can be purchased at www.ChitaRiveraAwards.com or by calling 1-855-NYC-5678. Ticket prices are as follows: $100 for a balcony ticket to the Awards ceremony, $300 for a par-terre ticket to the Awards ceremony, $500 for an orchestra ticket to the Awards ceremony and admission to the pre-show red carpet cocktail party and VIP reception, and $5000 for 10 Orchestra tickets to the Awards ceremony, admission for 10 to the pre-show red carpet cocktail party & 1 table at the VIP reception. www.ChitaRiveraAwards.com

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. A versatile actress/singer/dancer, she recently starred in 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 new 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 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. Her current solo CD is entitled And Now I Swing. Her most treasured production is her daughter, singer/dancer/choreographer Lisa Mordente.

The NYC Dance Alliance Foundation, Inc. (NYCDAF), founded in 2010 by Executive Director Joe Lanteri, is committed to broadening performing arts awareness while advocating education and high standards of excellence in dance. The Foundation invests in the next generation of professional performers by offering scholarships for secondary and college education. To date, over 250 talented teenagers have shared in nearly $2.5 million awarded directly through NYCDAF. Those recipients are represented in 42 of the most prestigious university arts programs in the country. Many have since graduated and are now represented on Broadway, as well as concert dance companies based in NYC and around the world. www.NYCDAFoundation.net

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