Kitt

She's difficult to categorize -- and proud of it. In a career spanning more than five decades, Eartha Kitt has been a member of the first major African-American dance troupe, an international cabaret singer (performing in 10 languages), an author of three autobiographies, and an actress with theater and screen credits ranging from Helen of Troy in Orson Welles' stage production of "Faust" to Catwoman on the 1960s ABC-TV series "Batman." People magazine dubbed her "one of entertainment's most enduring -- and enigmatic -- icons."

Halfway up Monkey Hill it's raining mangoes. Chartreuse ones, yellow ones, some a delicate apricot-orange. The roadsides are awash in mangoes."Go on, try one," says Marilyn Savery, my guide for the day. "They're great."On cue, something crashes through the jungle canopy and thuds to the blacktop a few yards behind us. A mango. The color of a lime.A couple of others by my feet look riper and less smushed. I pick one up. It's roughly the size of a goose egg. I've eaten a mango before, but never one that just dropped from a tree.

The shoe fits. Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote "Cinderella" for television, but the theatrical touring version now at the Mechanic Theatre suits this 1957 musical as perfectly as a dainty foot gliding into a custom-made glass slipper. The production - adapted for the stage by Tom Briggs and directed by Gabriel Barre - isn't just a charming diversion for the kids at holiday time, however. It's also got a dash of sass and sophistication, as well as a new theme about the Fairy Godmother's relationship to Cinderella, which contributes an added level of poignancy.

Martyn Lawrence-Bullard left his home in England for Los Angeles 20 years ago, determined to be a movie star. The acting thing didn't exactly work out. But in one of those delightful turnabouts in life, he is now the interior designer to the stars. Ed Norton, the Osbournes, Cher and Kid Rock top an eclectic list of clients. Lawrence-Bullard has made the Architectural Digest and Elle Decor lists of top designers. He is a principal on Bravo TV's "Million Dollar Decorators. " He has a new book, "Live, Love & Decorate," with a foreword by client Elton John.

Dorothea Freitag, a Broadway composer and Baltimore native, died of a stroke Thursday at University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, Va. She was 80.Services will be at 7 p.m. today at Lindsey Harrisonburg Funeral Chapel, 473 South Main St., Harrisonburg, Va.Miss Freitag was a pianist, musical director, arranger and composer for Broadway shows, including "Mame," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Golden Boy" and "West Side Story." She coached stage and television performers, including Carol Channing, Sammy Davis Jr., Angela Lansbury, Leontyne Price, Leslie Uggams, Johnny Cash, Eartha Kitt, Stevie Wonder, Carol Burnett and Liza Minnelli.

On November 1, 2003, MYNNA F. SHULMAN (nee Fox) beloved wife of the late Dr. Leon M. Shulman, devoted mother of the late Miles Fox Shulman, loving sister of Florence Fox Kitt and the late Sara Glazer, Esther Flehinger and Bonnie London. Also survived by loving nieces and nephews and dear friends. Services and interment will be held at the Beth Tfiloh Congregation Cemetery, 5800 Windsor Mill Rd., on Monday November 3 at 12 noon. Please omit flowers. Family at home (Annen Woods) 30 Stirrup Ct (21208)

Romance novels have taken on a different shade, and tonight Baltimoreans can meet some of the publishers and writers of uniquely African-American heart-stoppers."

Switchfoot -- Rams Head Live / Since the release of its 2003 double-platinum hit The Beautiful Letdown, Switchfoot has been steadily proving itself. Drawing inspiration from talents such as U2, Michael Jackson, the Beatles and Miles Davis, the band prides itself on diversity and instrumental experimentation. The group performs with the Florida band Copeland at 7 p.m. Sunday at Rams Head Live, 20 Market Place, Baltimore. Tickets are $22.50 -$25. Call 410-244-1131 or go to ramsheadlive.com.

NEW YORK - Goodbye, Elmo. Goodbye, Jackie Mason. Goodbye, "Let's Get Ready to Rumble for Safety!" The recorded announcements in New York's taxicabs reminding passengers to buckle up and get a receipt are going the way of the subway token, after the Taxi and Limousine Commission concluded that they were more annoying than helpful. "They will be going away in the very near future," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said yesterday on his weekly radio show. "We haven't found anybody that likes it." The news angered entertainer Eartha Kitt, the Catwoman on the Batman TV series, who warned millions of passengers: "Cats have nine lives - gggrooowwwlll!

On August 15, 2003 BARBARA THERESE MORRISON CONROY, beloved wife of the late John Dillon Conroy and devoted mother of Dana Conroy Rosenfield and her husband Jim, Gregory Morrison Conroy and his wife April, Cynthia Hyland Bauer, Susan Burdett Conroy, John Donovan Conroy and Terence Clark Conroy and his wife Kim. Dear sister of Mary Elizabeth Sullivan and the late Matthew Morrison. Loving grandmother of Jordan and Evan Bauer, Jamie and Kitt Rosenfield, Devin, Quinn, Ryan, Erin, Shane and Remie Conroy.