Eartha Kitt at Newport, 2005, photo copyright Sue Auclair
Eartha Kitt at Scullers in the '90s; copyright Sue Auclair
The first time I met Eartha Kitt was in the mid '90s when she was booked at Scullers Jazz Club, a little club I had been one of the founders of in Boston. I had never worked with Ms. Kitt before and was eager to see her perform.
She was very nervous before her show. You could NOT speak to her!
What amazed me was that she was willing to do several interviews on camera in the afternoon, including a live shot on the 5 pm newscast on WBZ TV with host Joyce Kulhawik. There were at least 3 other camera crews on hand as well, New England Cable News, WHDH TV and WLVI TV.
Before each interview, Eartha was sullen, quiet, and seemed to be uneasy, but once the lights and the cameras were rolling, she completely transformed! She growled, she hissed, she purred, she drank a little Dom Perignon [that was her favorite!] and she wowed everyone! I had not seen her in action before, but THIS was amazing.
Hours later, it was show time, and Ms. Kitt came down to the club in a slinky black gown, her makeup and hair were flawless. She traveled with a professional stylist to each concert. She looked fantastic.
I went to hug her before the show, already feeling close to the diminutive singer, but was immediately rebuffed! "Don't TOUCH me!" she ranted. It was then that I realized that she was going through some heavy mental preparation and before a show, you dared not get near her!
After the band vamped through an uptempo tune, the club announced, "Ladies & Gentlemen, Ms. Eartha Kitt!" and the band went into her opening song. She walked brazenly onstage and immediately captivated every single person in that room with her magic. She was in control. No one dared to move or speak, Eartha was in charge!
Her show was tight, hotly scripted like a 75 minute little Broadway show, complete with jokes, dancing, monologues, and high kicks. She tortured the man in the front row, ogling him and making him embarassed, while the audience laughed. She employed the services of our young and handsome club manager, Miguel, who played the role of the young waiter that she desperately wanted to seduce with a bottle of Dom Perignon.
Eartha packed the club nightly with rave reviews and standing ovations. She was a prize and we gradually became friends. We had lunch, champagne, and on another occasion, two large glasses of really fine wine on her birthday when she was in town for a Broadway show.
Over that wine, we compared notes about life, she talked a good deal about her difficult and painful childhood and how that had shaped her life. She was a real life Cinderella . . . abandoned by her mother and raised by a step family who abused her, but she still became the princess of the world.
Then in 2005, my other client, the Newport Jazz Festival, had a last minute opening slot at the Newport Casino's Friday night kickoff concert. Danny Melnick and I convinced George Wein to bring in Eartha Kitt for a Newport debut.
George was reluctant since he had thought of her as an artist who worked in small clubs, and he worried that she wouldn't sell enough tickets at the 3000 seat Newport Casino venue.
But I knew we could make it sell out, since I knew that Eartha understood the meaning of publicity. Further, she was in the New England area on the day of the Newport press conference and I knew that I could get her to come to the event to announce her appearance.
Wein finally relented and Eartha was booked. I went into third gear as we had only three days to plan what would become a media explosion. I located video from the old Scullers shows and edited it and sent it to all the TV outlets in Boston, Providence and APTN. I hired a stretch limo [white of course] and had her driven to Newport for the media event. Clearing one key TV interview with her PR firm for Associated Press Television Network, I greeted Eartha outside and brought her to her dressing room. We HAD to make her happy, so food, tea, whatever she needed was brought in on a dime. I raced all around like a crazy woman!
After the announcements of the lineups for the jazz and folk festivals were almost finished, producer Danny Melnick said, "And now, we have a surprise, we have our opening artist here today to meet you. Here's Eartha Kitt!"
The crowd of writers and journalists and producers went wild. Eartha strutted up to the podium and GROWLED! This was her trademark from the Catwoman role in the Batman series. The media roared. They loved her and, again, Eartha was in charge!
She told a few stories--she mentioned that she had danced at the very first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954 with the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra and she said she loved having heard the great Billie Holiday sing. She adored her.
She said her goodbyes, the crowd cheered and George Wein leaped to the podium and gave thanks to the sponsors including the CEO of Dunkin' Donuts, who was in the audience. Well, when Eartha heard this, she came back and said, "Wait a minute! You OWN Dunkin' Donuts???" "grrrrrrrrr!"
"Well," she said, "I have a little story to tell you. When I was 16, I was a member of the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe in New York and I made $10 a week. $5 went to the rent, and $5 went to Dunkin' Donuts!"
What a coup! She now had Dunkin' Donuts in the palm of her hand!
Tickets went on sale the next day and there was an immediate rush at the box office. The TV stations all ran tape, the papers put her on their covers. The Mayor declared "Eartha Kitt Day in Newport." Eartha was already a hit.
Friday, August 12, 2005 was opening night of the 51st Newport Jazz Festival and Eartha hit the stage with a roar.
Special lighting was brought in by my pal Len Schnabel of DesignLight to accentuate her show to the large audience.
A packed crowd gave her standing ovations and CBS Sunday Morning captured parts of the show. It was a huge success. Afterwards, she gave a riotous interview to Reuters Television over a glass of red wine. Newport toasted Eartha in a big way.
The two photos above are my shots, the first is Eartha at Newport during the standing ovation in 2005. The lower one is a photo from one of her Scullers shows. Both are copyright, Sue Auclair
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