Chita Rivera Awards to Honor Ben Vereen with Lifetime Achievement Award

The 2025 Chita Rivera Awards will honor Tony Award-winning performer Ben Vereen with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his lifelong commitment to dance in the theater. The annual awards will take place on May 19 at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

Spanning four decades, Vereen’s Broadway credits include Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin (Tony Award), Jelly’s Last Jam and Fosse. He joined Wicked as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 2005. He also appeared in Sweet Charity on stage in Las Vegas and in the subsequent movie version.

“We are thrilled to honor Ben Vereen with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Joe Lanteri, the founder and executive director of the New York City Dance Alliance Foundation, in a statement. “Over his unprecedented career, Ben has starred on stage and screen, performed around the world, and has been a public speaker and humanitarian for causes close to his heart including black history and continuing education.”

The nominations for the 2025 Chita Rivera Awards will be announced on April 29. The Outstanding Dancer in a Broadway Show category will be gender-free for the third year running, with twice as many nominees as the former gendered categories and two winners to be announced.