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The two-time Tony award winning actress and dancer stars
opposite Welsh actor Roger Reese ("The Life and Adventures of
Nicholas Nickleby") in the one-act musical that is due to open
at the Lyceum Theatre on April 23.
Rivera, 82, plays often-widowed Claire Zachanassian in the
musical based on the 1956 play by Swiss author and dramatist
Friedrich Durrenmatt about greed, love and revenge.
"It's a wonderful theater piece, and the theater is where I am
at home," she said in an interview.
Zachanassian returns to her poverty-stricken hometown only to
find that the man she loves, Anton Schell (Reese), has moved on,
causing her to seek revenge.
"It's funny. It's sad and sweet and affectionate and a terribly
human experience to be in," said Reese.
The show is a return to familiar territory for Rivera, who
starred in the musical when it premiered in 2001 at the Goodman
Theatre in Chicago. She reprised the role last summer at the
Williamstown Theatre Festival.
It is also the third time she has starred in a musical with a
book by Terrence McNally and music by John Kander and lyrics by
Fred Ebb. She won Tony awards for their musicals "The Kiss of
the Spider Woman" and "The Rink."
Director John Doyle reworked the play for the stage with
McNally.
"I think there is one little piece that has been taken out, but
some other pieces have been put back in, or put in," he said.
"Some new material has been written for this. So I think ... for
most people it will be a totally new show."
As for a rumor that "The Visit" could be Rivera's final stage
role, she quickly replied, "Who started that? I don't have a
clue who started that."
(Reporting by Alicia Powell for Reuters TV; Writing by Patricia
Reaney; Editing by Toni Reinhold)
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