Ahmanson won’t replace Chita Rivera

The June 17-Aug. 7 engagement of “Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life” at the Ahmanson Theatre has fallen victim to fundraising delays. And there is no understudy production waiting in the wings, so Center Theatre Group is offering a refund or a credit on next year’s subscription to the 35,000 Ahmanson subscribers.

The New York producer of “Chita Rivera,” Marty Bell, failed to raise the necessary $3 million in time to meet the deadlines for both the Ahmanson’s run and an earlier two-week stop in Denver, said the Ahmanson season’s artistic director, Gordon Davidson. Bell could not be reached for comment.

Davidson looked for a replacement among “everyone from Billy Crystal to Denzel Washington,” he said, referring to Crystal’s solo show and the New York production of “Julius Caesar” in which Washington stars. “It had to be a show that was ready to go,” without any scheduling conflicts for the stars, and he found “nothing suitable.”

The Rivera show was itself a replacement for a lavish British revival of “Anything Goes,” which also was canceled for financial reasons. The canceled slot is one-fourth of the subscription season, but the amount of the refund or credit could be slightly more than one-fourth of the subscription cost because the shows are valued at different prices according to the price of single tickets – and the top ticket price of the “Anything Goes”/”Chita Rivera” slot was the highest of the season.

Davidson, who is retiring from running the Ahmanson after this season, said, “I’ve done a good tap dance. It’s ironic that the last show is a no-show.”

Don Shirley