Synagogue fundraiser performer is funny and kind

Roslyn (Rozzie) Kind /Source: Stander GroupSinger Roslyn (Rozzie) Kind lives up to the meaning of her surname. In an hour-long phone call, she not only promoted her show, a Temple Sinai fundraiser (on Saturday, May 14 at the Park Theater in Cranston), she graciously shared her views on tikkun olam, her desperate desire to see peace in Israel and why she is coming to Rhode Island to help raise money for a synagogue she’s never visited. She’s coming because Dennis Byrnes, a longtime fan and Facebook friend of Kind’s, asked her!

Asked how she got into singing, Kind, nicknamed “Rozzie” by her older sister, Barbra Streisand, quipped, “I sang coming out of the womb. The first song I remember singing was the theme song to ‘Davy Crockett,’” a TV show that aired, well, years and years ago! Kind then expertly sang the lyrics, which brought back memories for this Baby Boomer. Although Kind firmly, but kindly, declined to give her age, she remembers that show, along with others from the early 1960s, and their accompanying theme songs.

As a young girl, the self-described “shy, chubby and self-conscious” Kind spent a lot of time singing in front of mirrors and creating plays at home. She never thought she’d go into show business, she said, despite recording demo records for Streisand’s recording studio, as a high school sophomore. “I went from high school to studio B at RCA,” she explained. “I signed a deal before graduation, [and] started my education in life and the arts.”

Singing may come naturally to Kind and Streisand; their maternal grandfather was a cantor in Russia.

Some time ago, Kind took time away from her Los Angeles-based career to assist in caring for her mother, who died several years ago. “My mother was born on the third candle of Hanukkah and died on Erev Pesach,” said Kind. “My mother always said, ‘It’s a blessing to be born or die on a holiday.’ My mother [who had Alzheimer’s] loved music [which can be] transcending even for people with Alzheimer’s.”

Although Kind said that she “can’t take Brooklyn out of the girl,” she has no desire to return to her hometown of Flatbush in Brooklyn. “It wouldn’t be what I remember, though it was a great place to grow up. Everyone knew everyone’s business.”

Kind, who has done bits and pieces of movies and television, also loves live performance. “I would love a TV show,” she said, “and I love to connect with people in live performances.” Regardless of the size of crowd, Kind says, “I give 100 percent. I love to make a huge audience feel intimate and, in a smaller venue, you get more intimate.”

Raised Conservative and now Reform, Kind spoke with great affection for the rabbi emeritus of her synagogue in Brentwood, Calif. Raised to practice tikkun olam, Kind just recently participated in a fundraising walk for Alzheimer’s and shared her story of helping care for her late mother.

Kind struggles to understand why Israel, which she has visited, is the recipient of so much hostility. “The one country that would give away its guts and take its enemies to the hospital; I don’t understand the hatred for Israel,” she said. “It would be so wonderful if we could forget the hate and the differences. What did we ever do to others?”

Kind says that she is lost in music of her “growing up era – the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s – Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, the Supremes and the Beatles. I went to their [the Beatles’] concert in Forest Hills, N.Y. I had Beatles stuff all over and I was a George fan,” she reminisced, laughing. “When my sister was in London performing in ‘Funny Girl,’ George came up to her and said ‘hello.’ He gave her an autographed picture – it’s one of my treasured items.”

For those who come to see Kind in concert, expect a mix. She’s likely to sing a couple of things that aren’t so well-known, show tunes, a little jazz and ballads and funny songs. “I don’t like to be labeled, I show all the facets of who I am and share them with my audience,” said Kind. “I make them laugh and forget their troubles and to have fun.”

This reporter had fun riffing with Rozzie, even on a long-distance telephone call.

For more about Kind, visit www.Roslynkind.com.

To order tickets, call the Park Theater in Cranston at 467-7275.