Tony Award Countdown: 30 Years In 30 Days, Eartha Kitt Sings The Hard Truth in THE WILD PARTY, 2000

Welcome to BroadwayWorld's Tony Award Countdown: 30 Years In 30 Days, a look at some of the Tony Awards' most memorable moments from the past three decades.

Eartha Kitt was never one to back down from a fight or to avoid speaking the hard truth. After being discovered by Orson Welles while singing in a Parisian nightclub, and being cast as Helen of Troy opposite his own Faust, Kitt first captivated Broadway audiences singing the comically blasé "Monotonous" and the sexy "C'est Si Bon" in LEONARD SILLMAN'S NEW FACES OF 1952. The next year she recorded her perennial holiday hit, "Santa Baby," and when she performed all three songs in the 1954 film version of "New Faces," her unique talent and screen presence were undeniable.

But, being a woman of color, celebrity did not exclude her from the indignities and dangers of racism. Both she and the white stars who performed with her would receive threats, both subtle and direct. Kitt was an outspoken activist for the civil rights movement and was an early critic of America's involvement in Vietnam, which led to her being investigated by the CIA.

The danger to her personal safety intensified when, at a White House luncheon hosted by Lady Bird Johnson, she told the First Lady, "You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. No wonder the kids rebel and take pot."

Eartha Kitt had been absent from Broadway for over twenty years when she returned in Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe's THE WILD PARTY. Toni Collette and Mandy Patinkin were the leading players in this musical about New York's private social mixing of races and sexual orientations that took place after hours during the 1920s, but Eartha Kitt's moments in the spotlight, as a faded chanteuse who sees the truth behind the frivolity of her younger cohorts, were devastating. On the Tony broadcast, she performed an abridged version of "When It Ends," her character's anthem to the hard truth.

The American Theatre Wing's 70th Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Tony Award winner James Corden, will air on the CBS Television Network on Sunday, June 12, 2016 (8:00-11:00 PM, ET/delayed PT) live from the Beacon Theatre in New York City.

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