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Eartha Kitt

Saturday, March 18 • 8pm

A purrrfect evening with
“the original Material Girl” (The New York Times)

From her legendary cabaret and Broadway appearances to her deliciously villainous role as “Catwoman” on ’60s TV’s Batman to her more recent turn as Mme. Zeroni in Disney’s Holes, Eartha Kitt has vamped her way into the hearts of generations. The voice behind hits like “Love For Sale,” “I Want to Be Evil,” and “Santa Baby,” Kitt was once hailed by Orson Welles as “the most exciting woman in the world.” Last June, The New York Times wrote, “Eartha Kitt, glamorous and seductive at 78, is probably in better shape than you or me...This godmother of gold diggers seems totally up to date.”

Program Notes

The immortal Eartha Kitt makes her long-overdue SFJAZZ debut this evening, ready to win hearts or break them as the mood takes her. The voice behind hits like “Love For Sale,” “I Want to Be Evil,” and “Santa Baby,” Kitt has enticed and delighted generations of concert-goers in the persona of the ultimate vamp. Over her long and distinguished career, she has also won fame as an actress, appearing as Helen of Troy in a production of Dr. Faust by Orson Welles (who proclaimed her “the most exciting woman in the world”); as the deliciously villainous Catwoman in the 1960s television series Batman; and, more recently, as Mme. Zeroni in Disney’s Holes.

As The New York Times wrote of a June 2005 Café Carlyle performance, Kitt’s ability to generate world-class excitement onstage remains undiminished: “Judging from appearances, Eartha Kitt, glamorous and seductive at 78, is probably in better shape than you or me. As you watch the original Material Girl growling and grasping at diamonds, minks, yachts and the millionaires who can supply them, this godmother of gold diggers seems totally up to date, except that now millionaires are small potatoes; you must multiply by a thousand.

“The difference between Ms. Kitt…and her descendants,” the Times continued, “whether entertainers or trophy wives, is the keenness of her still slightly scary sense of humor and her intelligence. The scary part is when she locks eyes with a shy male admirer and undertakes a demanding examination of his occupation and financial assets, coldly working her wiles until she breaks into brittle laughter.”

Singing in ten different languages, Eartha Kitt has performed in over 100 countries and was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. She has also authored a four-volume autobiography, including Confessions of a Sex Kitten (1989) and Rejuvenate! (It’s Never Too Late) (2001).

— Matthew Campbell