Nothing much wrong that couldn't be put right by World War III spluttered one

"Nothing much wrong that couldn't be put right by World War III," spluttered one. It previewed on Broadway - "like having an operation in the middle of 42nd Street and inviting everyone to come take a look" - then opened to hideous reviews. The technical demands of the show's dozens of live TV monitors precluded out-of town tryouts. Despite that, she's surprised that the current West End revival is a virtual carbon copy of Robbins's original, right down to the sets, some of which look as if they were dragged out of storage from 1957 "No, no, no," she hoots. "Everything needs a face-lift!" It's a long way from there to 1491, by Meredith Willson, which Rivera gleefully describes as "the worst thing I ever did, just awful".Worse than Bring Back Birdie, the 20-years-on sequel to Bye Bye Birdie, which had turned her into a name-above-the-title star? "No, that one was tough," she concedes, "but I got to work with Donald O'Connor."In a miserable and dangerously eclectic score, she did her usual trick of turning at least one number into a showstopper, but none too often. At that time, that just flipped us over as dancers."Which is why, although she has worked with almost every major choreographer since Balanchine awarded her a scholarship to study ballet, Robbins remains her inspiration.

Until Jerry, we never thought we could open our mouths, or do anything except breathe Jerry made us be those people."This is no exaggeration. He kept the Sharks and Jets apart during rehearsals to build tension and rivalry, and incited people into real fights "He asked questions about our characters. He taught dancers to do unbelievable things that none of us had ever had the chance to do before. If he told me to jump off the roof, land on my left foot and take two steps forward, I would do it.

No one did a thing to stop him."OK," says Rivera, "there are some rough stories, but there are also stories out there that are lies I loved and adored him. Carol Lawrence, the original Maria, remembers him as only ever working through public humiliation.One famous rehearsal story tells of Robbins addressing the company, who watched as he backed off the stage and fell into the orchestra pit. "Remember, those were the days when you finished a show with the girls on the boys' shoulders singing a great big "O-kla-homa!!"Even just listening to the astonishing original album of West Side Story gives you a vivid impression of Rivera's impact, much of which she credits to the legendary director/ choreographer Jerome Robbins This puts her in a minority Robbins's bloodied enemies far outnumber his friends. So was it really such a good idea? "Look, if you can do Spiderwoman, you can make anything into a musical."Still, as she admits, she read West Side Story, looked at the end, and - "there's this dead body being carried out", and thought it would never work. Rivera later asked Jerry Herman to try it, but that too never happened. She played the lead role in Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo, in a converted synagogue in New Orleans."The audience were so close, phew.