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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/33839/full/33839/rae-of-sunshine-tv-icon-brings-cabaret-act-to-town/ <br /><br /> <b>Rae of sunshine: TV icon brings cabaret act to town</b> <br /> Wednesday, November 21, 2007 | by dan pine <br /><br /><p>The trademark red bouffant may have faded to white, but actress Charlotte Rae has a few facts of life she'd like to stress: She's alive and kicking, she's touring the country with her new cabaret act, and — in one for the "Who knew?" record books — she's Jewish.<br /><br /> Best known for all time as Edna Garret, the motherly housekeeper/chaperone from TV's "Diff'rent Strokes" and "Facts of Life," Rae likes to remind fans of the shows that she has a lot more stage and screen experience than that. At 81, the Tony-nominated Broadway veteran is coming to the Bay Area to play a string of shows at S.F.'s famed Plush Room.<br /><br /> Unlike so many cabaret shows, which are basically all Gershwin all the time, Rae prefers the off-the-beaten-track numbers. Like Sheldon Harnick's "Gabor the Merrier" and Cole Porter's "When I Was a Little Cuckoo."<br /><br /> "I have a collection of things that were never heard before," Rae said from her Los Angeles home. "Some are risqué, but they're delicious and delightful."<br /><br /> An important part of Rae's show is her autobiography. In between songs she tells the tale of a Jewish girl from Milwaukee who went on to become an international TV icon.<br /><br /> Born Charlotte Rae Lubotsky, she grew up in a strongly Zionist household. Understandable considering her mother was a girlhood friend of Israeli prime minister Golda Meir. She became a leader with the Pioneer Women, a pre-Israel Zionist organization, while her father became an early supporter of Israel. He even helped set up the country's first tire manufacturing plant.<br /><br /> But young Charlotte had other, more theatrical, things on her mind. She started attending the theater as a kid, seeing stars like Ethyl Barrymore and Helen Hayes when they would swing through Milwaukee.<br /><br /> She became a professional singer/actress, launching her career as a nightclub singer in the early 1950s. Rae went on to many plum stage roles, from Mrs. Peachum in a 1954 production of "The Threepenny Opera" to Mammy Yokum in the original Broadway production of "Li'l Abner."<br /><br /> She received Tony nominations for her roles in "Pickwick (1965) and "Morning, Noon and Night" (1968) and a 1973 Obie nomination for her work in Terrance McNally's "Whiskey."<br /><br /> Superstardom came in the form of the loveable Mrs. Garrett on "Diff'rent Strokes" and its spin-off, "Facts of Life." She played the character from 1978 to 1986, dispensing wisdom and laughs. Today the shows live on in reruns and on DVD.<br /><br /> The "Facts of Life's" classic theme may have been "You take the good, you take the bad," but for Rae, playing Mrs. Garret was nothing but good. <br /><br /> "We really worked very hard to give the shows quality and not go into things like sex as a sport, or things that are very misleading to young people," Rae says. "We had a social responsibility and we kept to it, which made me very happy."<br /><br /> Fans approach her all the time. Rae says they usually want a hug, and she always complies.<br /><br /> Rae is proud of the Jewish continuity in her family. Her sister, Mimi Guten, has written a musical, "Bar Mitzvah," that Rae says anyone, Jewish or not, could enjoy. Her niece, Keri Guten Cohen, is an editor with the Detroit Jewish News.<br /><br /> Meanwhile, Rae is looking forward to singing for her Bay Area fans. And if any of them show up expecting the Mrs. Garret of old, well, she has a surprise for them.<br /><br /> "My hair is white and I don't use Botox," she said. "I'm 81, and there you are."<br /><br /> <br><br /><br /> <b.Charlotte Rae</b> performs 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, Nov. 27-Dec. 1, and 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, at the Plush Room Cabaret in the York Hotel, 940 Sutter, S.F. Tickets: $40-$45. Information: (415) 885-2800 or online at <a href="http://www.TheEmpirePlushRoom.com">http://www.TheEmpirePlushRoom.com</a></p>

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