At Long Last, Is Linda Eder Finally Broadway-Bound Once More?
At Long Last, Is Linda Eder Finally Broadway-Bound Once More?
With the exception of two separate Holiday concert stints in 2001 and 2004, Broadway's most exquisite singing voice since Barbra Streisand may very well be on track to return to the Great White Way for the first time since her only acting role as Lucy in 1997's Jekyll & Hyde musical. Eder will star in a reading of the first act of a completely original tuner, The Seduction of Sheila Valentine by Jack Murphy (Swing! and Civil War) and Vincent Marini. The reading will take place at 8:00 pm, Saturday, August 19 at the Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center in Marlton, New Jersey.
While stunningly shut out of the Tony nominations for her Jekyll & Hyde turn, Eder received a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical and won a 1997 Theatre World Award. Although Eder has widely toured in concert throughout the country (and I loved all three performances I caught), sadly, she has not been back on Broadway where she belongs. In fact, Eder fans were apoplectic when Camille Claudel -- her last musical that was supposed to land her on Broadway -- fizzled in 2003 after its only staging at Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Connecticut. Not long after that, she separated from husband Frank Wildhorn, who had written both Jekyll & Hyde and Camille Claudel.
Fast forward to the summer of 2006 and The Seduction of Sheila Valentine: Eder will portray one of two once-famous actresses approaching middle age "who find themselves too 'seasoned' to play the young romantic leads and too vain to play anyone else" and end up performing in a knock-off of Oklahoma called "My Oh My Oh Iowa."
While the second act isn't ready for this musical, Eder's second act on the Great White Way is long overdue. I'm hoping this materializes into something special for the Minnesota native.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
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Labels: Broadway, Camille Claudel, Jekyll And Hyde, Linda Eder, Musical, The Seduction Of Sheila Valentine
posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, July 21, 2006
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