
Playing May 29, 2026 to June 21, 2026
“When I go back to the dressing room, I take off the makeup and I’M NOT ‘EARTHA KITT’ ANYMORE, I’M EARTHA MAE AGAIN.”
​
The sharp-witted, glamorous, incomparable Eartha Kitt commands the spotlight. But backstage in her dressing room, in the quiet between songs, she peels back the glitz to reveal Eartha Mae: a girl from the South Carolina cotton fields, orphaned by her mother until an audience adopted her
Told through both story and song, Urbanite Theatre's first-ever musical production unearths the complex truth behind the icon: "I'm a dirt person. I trust the dirt. I don't trust diamonds and gold."
​
In WHO IS EARTHA MAE?, Jade Wheeler, playwright and performer, brings to life a powerful woman in search of happiness and the roots she never forgets.​
​​
Presented in partnership with The Hanover Theatre Repertory in Worcester, MA.
Located in the heart of downtown Sarasota, Florida, Urbanite Theatre is a professional non-profit theatre. We produce thrilling new works in the region's most intimate venue: a 65-seat fully flexible black-box theater. The result is a highly immersive experience that challenges one's perspectives and demands conversation.


