Kitt Moran is hardly the first entertainer to include the classics Alfie and Watch What Happens in her repertoire. However, she's probably the only singer ever to have the song's composers - Burt Bacharach and Michel Legrand - accompany her on the piano while she performed the numbers. Most performers would regard moments like those as once-in-a-lifetime experiences. For Kitt Moran, though, it's become all-in-a-night's-work for the singer who was personally selected in 1992 by Merv Griffin, who at the time owned Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, to become the first and only chanteuse-in-residence at Atlantic City's flagship casino gourmet restaurant. "When you work for Merv Griffin, you learn very quickly that he can walk into the restaurant, unannounced, with a party of friends that reads like a Who's Who in Hollywood," Kitt says. To that end, Kitt has performed for, sung with and been accompanied by an impressive list of stars: Vic Damone, Rosemary Clooney, Jack Sheldon, Frankie Randall, Buddy Greco, Johnny Hartman and - naturally - Merv Griffin himself. Kitt's close encounter with Bacharach came in December 1994, when the composer, who was performing in Atlantic City with Dionne Warwick, was Griffin's dinner guest. Moran admits to being "slightly nervous" when she discovered her tableside singing would bring her face-to-face with her favorite composer. "I decided it would be fun to pay tribute to Burt by hauling out my secret weapon, which is a medley of Bacharach songs," she recalls. She sang the medley as she casually strolled past Griffin and Bacharach, then capped the number with eight bars from the ending of Alfie. Bacharach applauded enthusiastically then motioned for Kitt to come a little bit closer." If you can change your key," he said quietly, "I'd love to accompany you on Alfie."Before Kitt could even speak, Merv answered on her behalf. "Of course she can," he said. "She can sing in any key." Moran's longtime accompanist, Lisa Tee, relinquished the piano.
A hush fell over the plush French dining room as customers put down their forks and spoons Bacharach and Moran, who'd never worked together and who'd known one another for all of 10 minutes, performed Alfie as though Bacharach had written the song exclusively for her. "My God, but that was a beautiful moment between Burt and Kitt," Griffin would say later. "We've had some wonderful times in that room with Kitt and other stars, but this was probably the most magical night of all." If that moment was the most magical, then Moran's duet with legendary French composer Michel Legrand in 1996 was the most electric. Legrand was performing at Resorts in 1996, and on the eve of the Blizzard of the Decade, Legrand sat down at the piano and not only accompanied Kitt but also sang harmony as she sang Watch What Happens from the motion picture "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg." As an encore, Legrand and Moran performed one of his best-known songs, The Summer Knows, which was the title song from the movie "The Summer of '42." Realizing that she treated the songs tenderly and with the respect they deserved, Legrand rose from the piano, hugged the chanteuse and with Gaelic enthusiasm planted a kiss on her hand. The musical path that led Kitt Moran to her position in Atlantic City is as eclectic as it is well traveled. Before settling in Atlantic City in 1994, Moran sang in many of the most popular and exclusive clubs in New York City, including Michael's Pub, the Village Vanguard, The Blue Note, Gulliver's and Trumpets.She opened shows for the likes of Jay Leno, Rodney Dangerfield and Jackie Mason and performed with Buddy Greco, Jack Sheldon and Teo Macero's "Sax Off 5th Avenue." She also performed with Rahsaan Roland Kirk, who was so smitten with her voice that he gave her his song Bright Moments, which was originally intended for Sarah Vaughan. For Teo Macero, she recorded Impressions of Charlie Mingus and Teo's Vocalists and also sang the title song for a film titled "Walls and Bridges."
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Although she embraces a variety of musical styles, Kitt Moran followed a fairly standard course that led her to where she is today. She was born in New Jersey and began performing professionally at age 10, performing children's roles in operas like "Carmen" and "La Boheme," which she sang in French. She fronted her own band in high school performing pop tunes and also appeared in regional theater productions .After high school, she attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, where she studied music and acting. While singing in a bar in Newark, N.J., Kitt met musician Mike Moran, a keyboardist who had his own trio and was looking to make it a quartet by adding a singer. In short order, Mike's trio became Kitt's backup band, Mike became Kitt's husband. It was Mike who broadened Kitt's musical horizons by exposing her to standards and jazz, which helped define the style she has today and led her to gigs at places like the Blue Note and Gregory's in New York City. She became a recording artist in the early 1980s when she released a single titled Well, Anyway (the B-side was What Do You Want For Christmas?). The record received extensive jukebox play in New York City. In 1981, Kitt and Mike teamed up to write and record an album of original music titled Planetary Anthem, which became a cult hit on college radio stations and still receives enough airplay that Kitt and Mike continue to collect royalties. In 1988, after purchasing Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, Merv Griffin decided to change the format of the casino's Rendezvous Lounge - which he renamed Mr. G's - to make it more like a nightclub and less of a Top 40 lounge. Griffin booked his longtime television foil and trumpeter, Jack Sheldon, and comedian Marty Brill and was looking to add a singer to the mix. An entertainment executive for the casino had been prospecting through the ranks of jazz singers in New York and was steered toward Moran. Kitt was invited to submit a videotape, which was personally screened by Griffin, who had the final say in all entertainment decisions at his hotel.
"I later learned that the moment he heard my tape, he immediately decided that I was the one he wanted to open his new room," Kitt recalls. "He gave me six weeks of work." The six weeks lasted several years. In 1992, Griffin wanted to complete the French experience in Le Palais, the casino's gourmet dining room, by adding a singer who would stroll from table-to-table a la Marlena Dietrich in one of her films. In January 1993, Kitt left the lounge, took the escalator up one flight and began alternating in the room with an elderly violinist, who had been a fixture in the room since it opened in 1978. Seven weeks into the experiment, the violinist became ill and Kitt pinch-hit for him. When the musician died soon afterwards, Kitt was given a 46-week-a-year contract and has been there ever since. Even when Sun International purchased the casino from Griffin in 1996 and began to making sweeping changes throughout the property, they realized they didn't need to fix what wasn't broken and extended Kitt's contract. Kitt continued her recording career during the 1990s by releasing an album titled Love Touches. In addition to receiving airplay on jazz stations, the album was also picked as CD Of The Week on the Voice of America radio network, which is heard globally. Her recent album, When Love Calls, capitalizes on the success of Love Touches and consists of five original songs plus nine American standards. One of the original tunes, the Latin-flavored Atlantic City Tonight, has become Atlantic City's unofficial anthem. Kitt's next CD, tentatively titled "Portrait in Black & White" will be a Brazilian flavored album, featuring Ron Carter, John Pizzarelli, Harry Allen, and Toots Theilemans, with a full orchestra and an authentic Brazilian rhythm section. Grammy and Tony Award winner Don Sebesky will produce and arrange the project.In 1998, Kitt launched a parallel career as the host of a weekly radio program specializing in the sort of sophisticated music she loved to sing.
"Music On A Sunday With Kitt Moran" ran for 31 weeks on WRDR-FM and featured songs and interviews with stars. The show quickly built up a large and loyal audience and ended only when the radio station was sold and its format changed to Spanish language programming. During her eight year run at Resorts, Kitt Moran took advantage of some down time in the restaurant to make her debut at Bally's in Las Vegas. She has also performed at the Trump Taj Mahal, The Sands, Harrah's, and Caesars in Atlantic City. It's more than just her stunning looks and her hypnotic, mesmerizing voice that's made Kitt Moran one of Atlantic City's most popular entertainers. It's her interpretation of a lyric that sets her apart from other artists who sing similar material."It's a singer's responsibility to put lyrics over and tell the story of the song in words," she says. "A lot of singers are afraid to get into the dramatics of a song, but I've always considered the dramatic part just as important as the music itself. I can't do a song if it doesn't mean something to me. It has to evoke something in me so that I can draw that same feeling out of somebody else." Show less
