She received a Tony nomination for her outrageous performance as an intergalactic evil diva in Starmites, but since then, Sharon McNight has been playing an equally brazen character -- a real one, in fact.

In Red Hot Mama: The Sophie Tucker Story, McNight plays the bawdy, bodacious comedienne, who went from vaudeville to burlesque to movies and TV in a career that spanned more than 50 years.

Red Hot Mama has played such varied venues as the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center in San Rafael, CA and two runs at the Denver Center. Now McNight will bring her Red Hot Mama to Santa Fe Stages in New Mexico, Aug. 3-19.

Tunes associated with Tucker in the show include "Some of These Days" and "I'm Living Alone (And I Like It)." Other McNight credits include Heartbeats at the Pasadena Playhouse, and a well-received cabaret act. McNight, who was nominated for a 1988-89 Tony for playing a character named Diva in Broadway's Starmites, has been likened to a modern-day Tucker and has won San Francisco's Cabaret Gold Award 6 times.

-- By David Lefkowitz