Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life is a musical revue based on the life of Chita Rivera, with a book by Terrence McNally, original songs by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, and additional songs from various other composers' catalogs. It earned Rivera her ninth Tony Award nomination (for Best Actress in a Musical). History Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life was conceived by Chita Rivera in 2003, while she appeared in the musical Nine on Broadway. Since Rivera's next project, the Public Theater production of The Visit, had been canceled, Rivera approached that show's book writer, Terrence McNally, with the idea of a musical based upon her life. Rivera's conception was that the musical would open with her dancing to her father's music and then progress through the various stages of her career. McNally and Rivera officially announced in November 2003 that they were working on the show, and that a workshop production would be held in summer of 2004 at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in Florida. Marty Bell and Graciela Daniele were lined up as producer and director, respectively, of the workshop. In 2005, Rivera debuted And Now I Sing, a one-woman cabaret at Feinstein's at the Regency in New York City, which ran from February 22 through March 12. Though the show and its venue were both intimate, the reviews were strong. Stephen Holden, in his review for The New York Times, wrote that "her program finds a comfortable mix of sass and sentiment" and noted that in several songs ("Where Am I Going?" from Sweet Charity, for example), she "captures exactly the right tone of dazed determination." The act also marked the debut of some of the anecdotes and stage patter that would be more fully fleshed out by McNally for the Broadway revue. Later that year, The Denver Center for the Performing Arts announced that another one-woman show, Chita Rivera Dances Through Life, would debut at that theater and feature a book by McNally and direction and choreography by Daniele. However, funding didn't materialize, and the booking was canceled. It was announced in August 2005 that the revue would have a pre-Broadway production at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. The revue, now retiled Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life opened on September 10, 2005, and ran until October 23. An engagement on Broadway at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre was confirmed for November 2005 in previews.