New York – The 1993 Best Actress Tony for Chita Rivera's (1933-2024) dazzling performance in Kiss of the Spider Woman broke the record for a Tony Award sold at auction on November 26 at Bonhams. Directly from the Broadway star's estate, the award drew enthusiastic interest from fans, achieving $70,000, more than 7x its estimate. The Tony award was the highlight of All That Jazz: The Estate of Chita Rivera, the sale of more than 250 lots of one-of-a-kind costumes, awards, photographs, and ephemera from throughout Rivera's remarkable career. The sale overall more than doubled its pre-sale estimate achieving $420,000 with white glove results, 100% of lots sold.
One of the first true triple threats, Rivera performed in more than 20 Broadway musicals over six decades and the sale offered mementos from her most iconic performances. In particular, material from the renowned original productions of West Side Story, Chicago, and The Rink soared past their estimates. This includes an original illustration for Chicago by Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003), an American caricaturist, which sold for $41,000, more than 10x its estimate, and Rivera's Best Actress Tony Award for The Rink, 1984 that sold for $26,000, more than 3x its estimate. Also of note, a West Side Story poster signed by cast members of the original Broadway production sold for $4,900, more than 9x its estimate, and there was eager bidding for Rivera's white top hat worn during her legendary performance of Chicago which sold for $2,500, 3x its estimate.
The sale also offered two exceptional paintings from Rivera's collection by Geoffrey Holder (1913-2014), the renowned actor, dancer, director, and painter. Portrait of a reclining man, 1963 achieved $24,000, a record price for a work by the artist, and Bimbims at the Window sold for $23,000, 7x its estimate.
Additional highlights of the sale include:
• The Presidential Medal of Freedom which President Obama awarded Rivera in 2009 sold for $8,300.
• A group of Rivera's performance costumes from The Visit, 2015 sold for $5,400, 5x their estimate.
• A custom red dress with gold-toned beading by legendary clothing designer Halston for Rivera sold for $4,400, more than 14x its estimate.
• A Hirschfeld lithograph of Rivera in The Rink sold for $8,300, 28x its estimate.