When Linda Eder was growing up in Brainerd, MN, all she knew about Broadway was what she heard on her treasured recordings. Without the visuals, there was no context, no roles meant for men or women, young or older characters. She interpreted the songs in her imagination. She created Broadway, her way.
Now, after starring in the Broadway smash Jekyll & Hyde, selling out concert halls around the country to stunning reviews and recording six solo records of her own, Linda has decided to record BROADWAY MY WAY. A collection of her favorite songs from musicals ranging from classic to one from her upcoming show, Camille Claudel, Eder offers her take on a range of familiar songs, performed with some unfamiliar twists
Linda knew she wanted to be a singer by the time she was eight. She sang everywhere she could – as long as that “everywhere” didn’t include other people. “I’ve always been shy,” Linda says, laughing. “When I sang as a child, it was to the cows and horses on my family’s farm. I thought of my voice as a toy.” Linda came to regard Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and Eileen Farrell as her early teachers, and over the years her shyness abated as her confidence grew. “I’m most at home on stage or in the studio – or actually at home,” she says now.
Home is Westchester, in upstate New York, where Linda lives with her husband, composer Frank Wildhorn, their three-and-a-half year old son, Jake, and a menagerie that includes dogs, cats, and her prized horses. Unlike most singers of a similar genre, who spend most of days of most years on the road, Linda stays in Westchester to whatever extent she can, generally performing 50 concert dates a year, in addition to charity engagements, and only in the United States. She singles out one cause in particular – the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Asked to sing the national anthem at a New York Jets game, Linda found a way to involve Evelyn Lauder and the BCRF. Along with Lia Edwards, wife of the Jets’ head coach and Mrs. Lauder participated in the pre-game coin toss as well as took the field when the Jets presented a $25,000 check to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation at halftime. “Singing has always been gratifying for me, but being able to lend my voice to so worthy a cause adds an entirely new dimension to that gratification,” Linda says.
Given the aforementioned, it’s ironic that when discussing Linda Eder, the word “diva” always makes an appearance. Yet – with the notable exception of her magnificent three-octave voice – there’s absolutely nothing about Linda that justifies what’s come to be associated with Divadom. She’s down-to-earth, tremendously devoted to her family, and quite clearly more comfortable in jeans than in jewels. Linda Eder, one of the most acclaimed singers of her generation, considers herself “an equestrian who happens to sing.”
In contemplating BROADWAY MY WAY, Linda’s interpretation becomes as relevant as the performance. Critics nationwide have described Linda’s style as “passionate,” “vibrant” “warm” and “glorious,” while Daily Variety, reviewing a Los Angeles show, called her interpretations “honest and pure… Eder is an artist who possesses the kind of individuality that marks a great, enduring star.” Her voice has been described with equal fervor: The Los Angeles Times wrote “A voice like Linda Eder’s is rare, the sensitivity to use it to its fullest rarer still,” while New York’s Daily News succinctly stated “she’s simply one of the most spellbinding singers of our time.”
“I’m not someone who focuses on technique,” Linda comments. “I think only about the emotion of the song and the lyric, the way that it makes me feel, the way that it makes the audience feel. It’s all about communicating emotionally, and if I’m concentrating on the emotion, than my performance can only be honest.”
Linda’s story has a fairy-tale quality to it; the ease that seems to dominate her ascension is testimony to her gifts. Although she’d performed at her father’s restaurant while a teenager and done some nightclub work, her first true national exposure was via “Star Search,” where she had an unprecedented 13-weeks of success. It was also through “Star Search” that Linda first met her husband-to-be, composer Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Civil War and the upcoming Camille Claudel), who was then in the planning stages for the theater version of Jekyll & Hyde. In 1990, the show premiered in Houston, with Linda performing the pivotal role of Lucy. The show went on a 35-city tour before opening on Broadway in 1997. USA Today reviewed the Broadway version of Jekyll & Hyde, describing Linda as “a captivating presence and a Streisand-esque singing voice that elevates everything it touches.” Linda’s performance as Lucy earned her the Theatre World Award for Best Broadway Debut as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Critics’ Circle Award Nominations for Best Actress in a Musical.
Since leaving Jekyll & Hyde, Linda’s recorded the following albums: her self-titled debut, released on RCA, AND SO MUCH MORE (Angel), and IT’S TIME, IT’S NO SECRET ANYMORE, CHRISTMAS STAYS THE SAME and GOLD on Atlantic. Sometime in between, and not too long ago, she realized a life-long dream: Linda performed two sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall to what the New York Times described as a “thunderously adoring audience.” Linda can also be heard on the original Broadway Cast Albums for Jekyll & Hyde, and the original concept albums for her husband’s other stage musicals, The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Civil War. “We bring out the best in each other,” Linda says of collaborating with Frank, “He’s writing for me, and I’m singing for him.”
“I'm from a small town in northern Minnesota,” Linda says, “I didn't see a Broadway show until around 1987 so I have no idea why it's so natural for me to sing Broadway songs. I play around with material all the time, but whenever I sing something from theatre it feels like slipping back into my jeans and tennis shoes. I live in my jeans. The songs I picked to record are all favorites that I tried to do “my thing' with.”
Comments Linda, “GOLD is just special. It is as good a song as anything I have ever sung or heard. It is that great theatre song that so encapsulates the show it comes from and yet can completely stand alone. It moves people because it's about the basic question we all will ask ourselves at some point in our lives. Did I make a difference?”
With the release of BROADWAY MY WAY, which will coincide with a return engagement at Carnegie Hall, Linda Eder has truly come into her own. She’s following her heart – but she’s also made tangible a dream that started when she was a small child. She’s recorded a document of her aspirations, filtered through years of performing and perspective. Now is Linda’s time. And, she’s doing it her way!
