Bay Windows - September 2, 2004
David Valdes Greenwood

Miss Kitt - who just had a successful run at the Blue Note jazz club - still gets plenty of opportunity to revel in the love of fans who have followed her since before and after her Catwoman days, in a career that has been lauded with Tony, Grammy, and Emmy nominations. And she's sure to receive a warm welcome in Provincetown on September 5, when she performs a solo show at Provincetown Town Hall as part of the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod's 18th Annual Labor Day Auction Weekend.

In her benefit show, she plans to give the crowd what she calls "Eartha Kitt material," which blends cabaret music and "high sophisticated comedy." But she also points out that, while she may have a definitive style, no one ever knows exactly what to expect. "My manager says I have the most scary show in the business - I never know what I'm going to do next!"

She feels out every crowd, listens to the nature of the applause, and almost physically takes the pulse of the room. What she senses then determines how a note will be delivered or a verse phrased. "You have to be able to read your public," she explains.

That kind of responsiveness makes her a natural for cabaret but she has found that her approach is far less the norm in another of her mediums, the theatre (her shows include "Cinderella" and "The Wild Party"). The more formal approach of stage directors doesn't account for her spontaneity. She laughs as she recalls, "I have been in rehearsals where I have been told to hold a note and count 1...2...3. I'm sure that makes sense to directors but not to me. You have to be in the moment."

Theatre holds a special place in her heart because it was a 1978 Broadway show that marked her full comeback in the United States after a forced hiatus of a decade. After having spoken her mind about the Vietnam war during a 1968 visit to LBJ's White House, Kitt was blacklisted and found herself persona non grata. Though she continued performing, mostly in Europe, it was 10 years before Kitt made her return, in the musical "Timbuktu." As she recalls, "The audience accepted me. They gave me a standing ovation as soon as I came out."

Having been blacklisted didn't convince her to keep opinions to herself. But she's also a believer in only speaking her mind "in the right places at the right times." She doesn't do speeches in her concerts, "because people are not paying to hear my political views. I'm an entertainer first."

She does share her political views when asked, however. And her current opinions may surprise fans of her anti-Vietnam war stance. She supports the war in Iraq, despite being "against war in general," because she accepts the links to terror that the current administration have promoted. "We're going after terrorists. I don't see how you can turn the other cheek when we've been attacked. We can't just sit and wait for them to make bombs. You have to let the terrorists know we are not pacifists."

She knows that some anti-war activists claim the war was about oil and instead of arguing with that logic, she launches into a passionate attack on our nations' dependence on oil in general. "If we don't want to fight for oil, then we need to stop being so gluttonous. And if we don't want to be dependent on Saudi Arabia, we have to stop saying 'not in my backyard' when it comes to oil sources."

Kitt warms to the subject, in a monologue encompassing the RNC convention, people not walking enough, New Yorkers riding bicycles, the size of cars today, and a future in which the cars get littler and littler, a concept which makes her giggle. "The future's so funny - it makes me laugh to think of it!"

Her own future sounds a lot like her past: more work. In addition to her many concert appearances, she's hoping to create a one-woman Broadway show of her own. Before that happens, she is slated for a role in "Cherries," a film in which she and Lou Gosset, Jr, play grandparents.

She's preparing for that role at home, where she dotes on her two grandchildren, Rachel and Jason. Of her granddaughter, she says, "That one's going to be in show business. I can tell." And she sound perfectly contented when she adds, "It's nice to think that I'm going to be carried on."

Eartha Kitt performs Sunday, September 5 at 7 and 9 p.m. at the Provincetown Town Hall Theater on Commercial Street VIP ticket sales will partially benefit the ASGCC. Tickets are available through Provincetown Tickets at www.ptowntix.com or by calling (508)487-9793.

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