Laura Bell Bundy, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Kerry Butler spoke about hosting the 2025 Chita Rivera Awards ceremony and their Off-Broadway show “Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now!”
The mission of the Chita Rivera Awards is to celebrate dance and choreographic excellence, preserve notable dance history, recognize past, present, and future talents, while promoting high standards in dance education and investing in the next generation.
This awards show was presented at NYU Skirball Center in New York City. The Chita Rivera Awards are produced by Joe Lanteri, the founder and executive director of the New York City Dance Alliance Foundation Inc., in conjunction with Patricia Watt.
Hosting the 2025 Chita Rivera Awards
On hosting the 2025 Chita Rivera Awards, Kerry Butler remarked, “We are so excited. We are going to have so much fun.”
“To host the Chita Awards feels nerve-wracking and amazing,” Laura Bell Bundy said.
“It’s great, I mean, we have cards to read,” Tony winner Marissa Jaret Winokur jokingly laughed.
‘Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now!’
These ladies wrote and directed this musical themselves, and Andrew Byrne serves as their musical director and their pianist. Jo Huling played the drums and Skylar Volpe was the bassist.
Laura Bell Bundy, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Kerry Butler created the roles of Amber Von Tussle, Tracy Turnblad, and Penny Pingleton (respectively) in “Hairspray,” which was the winner of the 2003 Tony Award for “Best Musical.”
Ever since, all three women have become fixtures of the stage and screen, starring in such titles as “Beetlejuice,” “Mean Girls,” and “Legally Blonde,” among others. In this vivacious musical, the trio cover songs from “Hairspray” along with new mashups, medleys, and parodies, all of which are real treats.
On the critical, commercial success and warm reception of their Off-Broadway show, all three ladies concurred, “It was the best feeling ever!”
