Review: Who Is Eartha Mae?

SARASOTA — On Friday, Urbanite Theatre opened its production of Who Is Eartha Mae?, a jukebox musical celebrating the career of American singer, songwriter, and actress Eartha Kitt.

Jade Wheeler, who wrote the play and performs as Eartha, fully embodies Kitt's unique style, from her distinctive voice to each vamp and vogue, in a manner so convincing that the experience feels like being transported to a bygone era of the jazz supper club scene.

The play is structurally akin to Lanie Robertson's Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, which uses similar techniques to equally dazzling effect in telling the story of Billie Holiday.

Born Eartha Mae Keith on a South Carolina cotton plantation just ahead of the Great Depression, Kitt never knew her white father and was abandoned by her black mother at the age of five.

The man Orson Welles called the "most exciting woman in the world" was canceled in 1968 for comments she made during a White House luncheon she was invited to, where she was to discuss juvenile delinquency with Lady Bird Johnson, the wife of then-President Lyndon Johnson.

"You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed," said Kitt. "They rebel in the street. They will take pot, and they will get high. They don't want to go to school because they're going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam."

Mae went off to Europe with her young daughter in tow, the setting for Who Is Eartha Mae?, which mostly takes place in the singer's dressing room before giving us a bit of her performance in Act 3.

Pianist and musical director Catherine Stornetta provides excellent accompaniment. Kathleen Doyle's costumes are period perfect, capturing the ritz and glamour of both Kitt and the era itself. Frank Chavez's lavish set is perfectly lit by Ethan Vail.

Who Is Eartha Mae? is a radiant night of musical theater that tells the bittersweet story of an American artist who deserves to be remembered for both her talent and a life that is a testament to human perseverance. Directed by Livy Scanlon, it runs through June 21. Visit the Urbanite website for ticket and schedule information.