Two of Broadway’s biggest stars unite for ‘Just in Time’ at Van Wezel

For people who follow Broadway theater, the most exciting national tour of 2018 isn’t some big musical show. It’s not “Hamilton” or Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest show.

OK, well, maybe “Hamilton” is the most exciting. But a close second is “Just in Time,” a concert tour featuring two Broadway titans, Tommy Tune and Chita Rivera, working together for the first time.

Rivera and Tune will bring their show to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota on Wednesday.

Te tour has only 20 stops around the country announced so far, and only two in Florida,. But the seeds of the show were planted here in the Sunshine State.

“It was in Palm Beach or some other Floridian city,” Rivera said in a phone interview. “I ran into Tommy and I said, ‘How come we’ve never worked together?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know.’ It’s odd that we haven’t, considering the way our careers have paralleled each other.”

It’s not technically 100 percent true that they had never worked together. There was one brief collaboration, five years ago, at a benefit concert that Rivera performed for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

“We sang one song together, from ‘Bye Bye Birdie,’ ” Rivera said. (Rivera originated the role of Rosie in that show on Broadway and on London’s West End.)

“Just in Time” features Rivera and Tune, performing together and separately, telling stories and performing numbers from their long careers.

Tune, 78, has won Tony Awards as a performer (“Seesaw,” “My One and Only”), a director (“Nine,” “Grand Hotel,” “The Will Rogers Follies”) and a choreographer (“My One and Only,” “Grand Hotel,” “The Will Rogers Follies”).

Rivera, who will be 84 on Jan. 23, has won Tony Awards for her performances in “The Rink” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”

They are only a few years apart in age, but Rivera has been a Broadway star for a lot longer. She had been working on the Great White Way for a decade before she burst into stardom with her role as Anita in “West Side Story” in 1956. Tune didn’t make his Broadway debut until 8 years later, and had his first big Broadway hit with “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” in 1978, which he directed and choreographed.

Despite Rivera’s star status, for decades people have confused her with Rita Moreno, the actress who won an Oscar for playing Anita in the movie version of “West Side Story.” It’s been a slightly annoying, but mostly amusing, thorn in Rivera’s side ever since.

“In a way it’s odd because she’s always been L.A. and I’ve always been New York,” she said. “It started with ‘West Side Story.’ ”

The popular revue “Forbidden Broadway” even includes a song titled “Chita/Rita” that has a performer portraying Rivera and signing about the confusion, to the tune of “America” from “West Side Story.”

Now that she is in her mid-80s, Rivera said she’s aware that questions about her age will arise as this tour makes its way around the country. She and Tune asked themselves each other those questions, and they’re both confident that they are delivering a great show. They wouldn’t do it otherwise, she said.

“I always check with my daughter,” Rivera said. “My daughter is my magic mirror. She’ll let me know when it’s time to hang up my ballet shoes and move to Puerto Rico.”

Details: 8 p.m. Jan 17, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. $41, $51, $61, $71. 941-953-3368, vanwezel.org.

This story was originally published January 16, 2018 at 10:41 AM with the headline "Two of Broadway’s biggest stars unite for ‘Just in Time’ at Van Wezel."