‘Memory’ Touches

Anyone who heard the wizened outcast Grizabella sing “Memory” in the Los Angeles production of “Cats,” might be astonished to actually meet the singer who immortalized her. With her whiskers off, Kim Criswell comes off more as the bouncy antebellum Scarlett O’Hara (she has a touch of her native Chattanooga in almost everything she says) than someone who’s seen eight of her nine lives used up.

Now that Criswell’s no longer in “Cats”--or any other musical for that matter--the New York-based actress is experiencing a certain creative renaissance in her life. After a decade of singing lead roles in the original casts of such Broadway musicals as “The First,” “Nine,” “Baby” and “Stardust,” the 33 year-old performer is so seriously considering taking one of the TV and film opportunities being offered her now that she’s become an Angeleno for good.

But Criswell’s not all smiles when it comes to talking about more personal reasons for settling down in her Silver Lake cottage.

“New York has lost its vitality in the theater world,” she explains, “in large part, due to AIDS. We’ve lost Michael Bennett and Charles Ludlam and I’ve lost so many friends. There’s still a bit more life force in L.A.”

So Criswell’s made a mini-career of appearing in AIDS benefits across the country, and a tradition of singing “Memory” in them, including at the AIDS Benefit for Being Alive at the Wilshire Ebell Theater on Fridayin Los Angeles.

“The figure I play in ‘Cats,’ ” she says, “is not unlike a person with AIDS. Just listen to the lyrics: ‘Touch me, it’s so easy to leave me alone.’ ”