Linda Eder in Sunday In the Park.........

I'd love to see her on Broadway in a non Wildhorn show.

Please. None of the songs on her wonderful "By Myself" Judy Garland album are "mid-90's sweeping pop ballads". The girl can sing, and sing amazingly.

Please God, No. That would be sacrilege (literally).

Major fan, but not in Sunday. As for not being able to act, the b*tch can act. Anyone who saw her in Camille Claudel up in CT were blown away by how amazing she was. Can't fake it in a 200 (?) seat theatre. She was amazing. Don't judge her acting ability by her stint in the god-awful Jekyll & Hyde.

c'mon gang,
Give her a chance. I'm not a big fan of the ides either but she is an actress (I know this is questionable to many of you, but please for the sake of argument)and should be able to adapt to Sondheim's style. A lot of it would depend on the direction also.

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Speaking of which, she'll make a great Maria in the revival where someone suggested Donna Murphy should play Anita.
Seriously, this is not much of a good idea.
I actually like the Ethel Merman as Nelli better.

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With her voice she could sing Sondheim no question

Mr Sondheim does put his pants on the same way as we all do so stop elevating him to Sainthood status. He is a great composer we can all agree but.....

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Many people now on Broadway cannot act so we are back to square one

I would much rather her sing one than have David Hasselhoff sing one of his songs. On this we can all agree

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Fiesty, are we?

I have never heard or seen her sing a song where she connected to what she was singing. It's all vocal pyrotechnics.

Not ideal for Sondheim.

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I have to laugh when people claim she has no connection with her songs. She was so good the first night recently in OC, CA that I saw her there three nights in a row, and each and every time she sang "Smile", people next to me were wiping away tears. Seems to me you have to have some kind of connection to repeatedly produce that kind of response.So many people on these broadway boards buy into the negative crap posted about some singers/actors. I bet most of you naysayers have never seen her in concert.

This is not to say that I don't understand some of the criticism with regard to her. She has this huge powerhouse voice, (and an exquisite softer soprano too) but she generally stands there and doesn't put on much of a "performance" onstage.Unlike some of the other broadway performers, she doesnt use a lot of physical histrionics to sell songs. Hell, you're lucky to see her move around on stage AT ALL. She has this amazing voice, but the performance..or to be more precise..the ACT.. doesnt match up to her vocal abilities. Is that such a bad thing? Do we really need to see yet another performer with arms flailing up, down, left, right, running around the stage trying to sell a song? When Eder sings, the emphasis is much more on the way she phrases a lyric and on facial expression... the approach is far more understated than I'm normally accustomed to seeing from a broadway performer. Friends of mine who weren't such fans sat second row center for her last concert in OC and were struck by how much she did actually connect with the songs and how they never really noticed before how much she does act them out with tears welling up from time to time.

What I really like about Eder, outside of her awesome voice, is a PURITY I find lacking in most other broadway performers. Too many broadway singers I think are overly trained and try too hard to put on an act onstage, and its far too apparent. When I see Eder perform, and I witness my rock obsessed friend crying next to me when she sings "Smile", its a magical moment because it comes from something pure, rather than just another someone whos putting on yet another forced ACT.

Btw..how do you know shes Republican? Shes never made her political affiliation known as far as I know...and for one Republican fundraiser she was to sing at, she pulled out when she found out it was a fundraiser..

Updated On: 2/25/07 at 03:22 PM