Once Scorned, Now Rich and Seeking Revenge Chita Rivera Stars in ‘The Visit’ at Williamstown
Ben BrantleyAugust 8, 2014: Chita Rivera knows how to bide her time. Portraying the much-married, well-widowed Claire Zachanassian, a billionaire for whom patience is a vicious virtue, Ms. Rivera holds calm and queenly sway over the macabre frenzy of The Visit, John Doyle’s newly revamped version of the 2001 John Kander and Fred Ebb musical at the Williamstown Theater Festival. Both the actress and the character she plays demonstrate that waiting can be a fine art. How they do so defines the essence of that controlled charisma we call star power. For long stretches of this mixed-signal-sending adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s 1956 play about the wages of sin in a capitalist world, Ms. Rivera is often required to stand stock still and radiate the sense that everyone will come to her. She must also make us believe that when and if she chooses to stir, it will not be an anticlimax. That she is not mistaken in either assumption makes this Visit an essential visit for anyone who cherishes the rare and endangered species of the Broadway musical goddess. And there’s no fault to be found within the rest of a top-line cast, led by Roger Rees as Anton, Claire’s desiccated love interest, and featuring the accomplished likes of Judy Kuhn, Jason Danieley and David Garrison in supporting roles.
READ THE REVIEW