At first glance and in photos, actress Jade Wheeler doesn’t much resemble Eartha Kitt, the actress-singer-activist she portrays in Who Is Eartha Mae?, now onstage at Urbanite Theatre in a partnership with Hanover Theatre Rep in Massachusetts. But over the course of about 70 minutes, she will have you believing that she is Eartha, in a one-woman show Wheeler also created.

Hopefully, even younger audience members won’t need to be reminded of who Kitt was, thanks at least in part to yearly playings of her hit song “Santa Baby” and perhaps her appearances as Catwoman on the old TV show Batman. But there’s a lot more to Kitt than that, from her hardscrabble beginnings in South Carolina to her entry into show biz via the Katherine Dunham dance company and the apparently enthralled Orson Welles, who cast her as Helen of Troy in his version of the Faust tale.

Hardscrabble barely begins to describe Kitt’s childhood, where she was often hungry, banished by her mother’s boyfriend, who thought she was too white (Kitt bore mixed heritage), and even abused by an aunt once she moved to Harlem while still a child. A “yella gal” who faced racism here at home for years, Kitt often found more success abroad, especially after rankling President Lyndon B. Johnson with remarks about the Vietnam War at a luncheon where she supposedly made First Lady “Lady Bird” Johnson cry.

We get to meet Kitt backstage in her dressing room just prior to a performance. (She’s backed by musical accompanist Catherine Stornetta, who does a terrific piano rendition of some of Kitt’s songs prior to Wheeler’s arrival onstage.) At first she’s anything but glamorous, with her hair covered and bedroom slippers on her feet. This down-to-earth Eartha, she reminds us, is the real one, not the slinky creature bedecked with jewelry and wearing a more revealing costume out front.

But Kitt was such a distinctive presence, with such a memorable voice, that she seems born to the spotlight. Wheeler, directed here by Livy Scanlon, carries Eartha’s creation of herself along for us, from the lonely, abandoned child to the self-confident performer, while delivering musical numbers in multiple languages and using her body (especially her hands) to replicate Kitt’s signature physical style. We also get to know Kitt as the mother of a daughter from a brief marriage and as a supporter of LGBTQ rights—naturally enough, since she knew all too well what it meant not to have equal rights.

It's impressive how much background Wheeler packs into this short show, without it ever feeling forced; one might actually long for a little more time in Kitt’s world. The piece, which Wheeler has been working on for several years, could perhaps evolve to include more. But the glimpse we have here, complete with fun songs like “An Englishman Needs Time,” “Just An Old-Fashioned Girl” and “I Want To Be Evil” certainly demonstrates Kitt’s unique talents.

Who Is Eartha Mae? continues through June 21 at Urbanite. For tickets, call (941) 321-1397 or go to urbanitetheatre.com.