Live: Whoopi Goldberg for the Ages

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/11/2001 at 01:00 PM EDT

Whoopi Goldberg wants to set the record straight, reports PEOPLE. Appearing at Harlem's world-renowned Apollo Theater Tuesday night, the performer launched her first live tour in 10 years and offered an evening of candid observations about the state of the country, the differences between the sexes, and herself. "I am at the Apollo Theater, honey!" she told the crowd, which included Harry Belafonte, Star Jones, Joy Behar and Lauren Hutton. "It took a long time, and black folks were mad at me for a long time, saying I wasn't black enough to play the Apollo. Don't times change?" Still, some things don't, such as Goldberg's pointed point of view. "I had an interview with a lady from The New York Times," said Whoopi. "I am 45 years old, and I will be 45 until November, when I turn 46. But some newspapers have me older, dammit. Some of them had me up to as old as 70. I just want to get it on the record. I am 45." (According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, Goldberg, whose birth name was Caryn Elaine Johnson, was born on Nov. 13, 1955, making her 45.) Another candid Goldberg observation: "It took me 15 years to let people know I was straight." Noted supermodel Hutton, 57, who was walking without crutches following her serious motorcycle crash last October: "Whoopi should be a national treasure. She shouldn't have to pay taxes."