Linda Eder in new musical reading @ Lenape

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 10:12pm

Broadway's Linda Eder to star in "The Seduction of Shelia Valentine"

Marlton, NJ: Broadway and Concert star Linda Eder to star in a One Act Reading at Lenape Regional Performing Arts Centers new musical comedy titled, The Seduction of Sheila Valentine on Saturday August 9th 8:00pm. This show, also penned by Jack Murphy and Vincent Marini, will replace The Day Before which will be moved to a later date. The remainder of the cast will be announced shortly but tickets can be purchased now for only $15.00! Tickets are expected to sell-out within days, so we encourage you to get your tickets today.

The show will feature approximately 10 actors and a six piece band. Again, this will only be a reading of Act I.

The Seduction of Sheila Valentine, set in the late 1950s, is about two forty-something, once-famous actresses who find themselves too "seasoned" to play the young romantic leads and too vain to play anyone else. They are reduced to working in Dubuque, Iowa at the John Wayne Dinner theater performing in a sad rip-off of Oklahoma called My Oh My Oh Iowa. Just when it seems things could not possible get any worse, their long lost agent drops in on them on his way to deliver a script to his newest young star. The script he is carrying bears the title, The Seduction of Sheila Valentine. It was penned by a hot young writer/director who is all the rage in the New York theater scene. Through a series of macinations the two women get their hands on the script and they both conclude, independently of course, that the role of Sheila Valentine is their ticket back to the "Big-Time." One Role of a Lifetime + Two Desperate Actresses = Big Trouble!

For tickets and information visit: http://www.sjtheater.com or call 856.983.3366

*edited by PB Ent.

Updated On: 7/18/06 at 10:12 PM

[ObliviuSMaddiEPonine]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 10:15pm

Cool cool! Linda Eder's a vocal powerhouse!

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 10:19pm

Ah, Linda What a voice. This is going to be interesting.

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 11:23pm

Linda mentioned this in a recent interview about a piece she was attached to and her hopes if it coming to Broadway

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 12:05pm

Here is some more information:

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/101001.html

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 12:12pm

I hope she finally finds the right role that vaults her career. Talk about a great voice that hasn't yet found the right role!?!?

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 2:04pm

who is the composer for the piece? I guess Ms. Eder and Mr. Wildhorn still get along, as they both are working recently with Mr's. Marini and Murphy (WAITING FOR THE MOON and FOR THE GLORY).

[TheBoyfromChi]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 2:09pm

It's hard to believe she hasn't found a great vehicle yet.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 2:38pm

Since Linda Eder is such a gifted comedianne...

[Peter]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 3:14pm

Actually if youve ever seen her live in concert, she has a great sense of humor and has the crowd in stitches at times. How would you know she isnt a "gifted comedienne" anyway based on one broadway role in a not so good drama?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 4:06pm

Well, you have to be a good actress to be a good comedianne, and Linda Eder has yet to impress me in the acting department in any show I've ever seen her in. I'm glad to hear she is engaging in concert, but that's not the same as being funny with written dialogue in a book musical.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 4:21pm

I would venture to say most roles she has played heretofore were written for her voice and not her acting ability. Frankly, can you reference one remotely well-written female in a Wildhorn show?!?!? You could blame the various librettists as much as the actress herself. The heavy-handed "sexual" Lucy from HYDE is hard for any actress to pull off convincingly. Even the very funny and adept Lauren Kennedy was saddled by clumsy writing for Daisy in WAITING FOR THE MOON.

She did get good reviews at Goodspeed for CAMILLE CLAUDET, though that was not, obviously, a comedy. I saw a shortened concert version in NYC following that production with many of the same leads, and there was actually quite some charm to Ms. Eder's performance, which indeed had lighter moments. Her voice was wonderful to hear in the score as always. Let's hope with better material she might find more acceptance for her less-investigated acting ability.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 4:41pm

I'm sorry, I don't buy that arguement. Think of all the many incredible actors who have managed to give extraordinary performances even with terrible material: Carolee Carmello in LESTAT, Angela Lansbury in PRETTYBELLE, Chita Rivera in just about every other show she ever did in her entire career...

Linda Eder is just not a good actor. She actually winked at the audience during the middle of "A New Life" when I saw it. True she might train and get "better" but I do not believe she will ever be a great actress. Even if she were doing "good" material.

And I actually have seen several other people play Lucy in J&H who more than rose above the material to be moving and believable in the role. People have done far more with far less.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 5:16pm

well, you're certainly entitled to expect the worst. I just don't find that much fun, personally.

[Peter]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 5:16pm

"Linda Eder has yet to impress me in the acting department in any show I've ever seen her in."
any show??? shes been in one broadway show to my knowledge. I also saw her in Camille Claudel in CT and the overall consensus and my impression was that she showed a great deal of improvement in the acting department. I always amazes me how telling some people are. We're not even talking about an out of town tryout here, we're talking about a reading of Act 1 of a show that may never even have that tryout. For her one broadway performance in a show loathed by most critics, she has gone on to sellout Carnegie 4 times, has a loyal fan base most stars could only dream of and has recorded like 9 albums. This tells me she did something right and she should be on broadway again. Noones forcing you to see this READING or the broadway show, but something tells me you'll be there if/when it comes to broadway.
Updated On: 7/21/06 at 05:16 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 5:43pm

I've seen her do:

J&H and SVENGALI in Houston and J&H Broadway.

Her acting was not good in any of them. You can disagree with me of course, but I don't believe you can make somebody a "good" actor. You can make somebody "better" but in terms of greatness, I think you either have it or you don't. Linda Eder is a great singer. She will never be a great actress. Neither will Madonna. No matter how hard she tries.

If they are going to make a "quasi" musical ripped off of James Kirkwood's play LEGENDS - I'd rather see a real legend like Bernadette Peters or Patti LuPone who actually has comedic talent than Linda Eder.

Just my two cents.

[Peter]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 5:58pm

I just find it funny how youve already formed a conclusion about a performance in a show before the first words of its first reading are even uttered. I'd rather review a performance once the final product is finished myself. Thats what I dont get about Linda Eders critics here...if I dislike someone or something, nothing would get me to waste even one minute of my time on it, but you find the need to endlessly tell us over and over again how bad you think she acts, even though this FIRST READDING has yet to take place. Once again..very telling to me.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 6:03pm

part of the point is that Eder has not attempted a comedy as of yet, nor a piece that is more modern (closer to her own natural expression). Would that folks would write new pieces for Peters (as opposed to Merman re-treads) or LuPone, of course. Yet, there is no reason to wish ill on this project because one pines for others they grace with their presence.

For instance, one might presume that there were fans thinking the mighty Michael Bennett should stick to choreography (after disliking TWIGS or SEESAW) and not continue directing---how great that he did.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 6:03pm

If Madonna were to announce she was starring in a new movie, would we have to wait for it to be released to know she would be bad in it?

I'm happy to give people the benefit of the doubt. But you can also look at somebody's track record. Linda Eder is NOT an acting novice. It's not like I'm judging her without having ever seen her act. I have.

P.S. She attempted being funny in SVENGALI. She wasn't.
Updated On: 7/21/06 at 06:03 PM

[Peter]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 6:13pm

Svengali was by all accounts a BAD show..and this was like 15 years ago FCS....Jekyll&Hyde was also a BAD show, but even still propelled her to a certain kind of success most broadway stars would be happy with. Camille Claudel on the other hand was a better show done just a couple years ago,that still needed work but showed quite a bit of growth with Lindas acting. So by all means, take more of your time here protesting someone you hate over and over and over again for a role in a musical that may never even see an out of town tryout. Im sure some other wannabe actor/singers will join in on the jealous flaming (I know you cant resist redhotinnyc2).
Updated On: 7/21/06 at 06:13 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 6:18pm

Peter,

I don't hate Linda Eder. As I have said, I think she is a great singer. I adore her records. It is her RECORDS and her appearances on star search that launched her career and made her a wealthy woman. Her acting has always been a strange aside that recalls more than anyone, Sarah Brightman, who ALW somehow (and soley) thought should be the next Sarah Bernhardt.

I wish her and the project no ill will. I just wish she would stick to concerts.

[Peter]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 6:28pm

"It is her RECORDS and her appearances on star search that launched her career and made her a wealthy woman."

Star Search played a part, but a small role IMO. Its not as if her recording career took off right after her performance on that show. It wasnt until J&H that her recording career actually took off (over ten years after Star Search)and then she started performing at Carnegie. Do you really think she got the Carnegie gigs just because of Star Search?
Updated On: 7/21/06 at 06:28 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 6:38pm

Her Carnegie Hall gig is the result of her record sales. And yes, I believe her record sales had more to do with support from powerful players in the recording industry (including her husband) who supported her AFTER her appearances on STAR SEARCH than through her appearance in J&H. She had several albums out before she came to Broadway with that show anyway, and it would be foolish to think she sold the volume of records she did because of exposure in the pre-Broadway tours of J&H.

[Peter]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 6:59pm

Certainly Star Search played a role. But people were known to jump to their feet when she sang in J&H and these are the majority of people who filled Carnegie Hall.
She then added to her fan base after J&H with her tv specials. The way I see it..Star Search helped get her record deals, but without her broadway exposure, its really debatable whether she would have the success she now does. Her earlier ONE solo record pre-Jekyll didnt sell well and this was hardly broadway..it was pop, and although her post Jekyll records are certainly nothing huge, their sales exceed the sales of her one before Jekyll and have given her a comfortable level of fame.

Updated On: 7/21/06 at 06:59 PM

[elphaba.scares.me]

Posted: 7/21/06 at 10:25pm

Linda Eder has the right combination of a beautiful voice, a presence people like onstage and off, and (for a while) a collaboration with a songwriter who wrote perfectly for her instrument and made broadway music in a pop-like style that sold records and earned her legions of fans. She also happened to come along at a time when Celine Dion was making zillions of dollars singing in a similar style, and there was room in the market for a Broadway/jazz version of Celine.

I agree that she's not really an actor, but she will get the chance to act because she's got so many loyal fans. To be fair, it's hard to get better at something unless you do it a lot with people who are better than you are, and it seems like she's prioritized making records and doing concerts, which is her right.

I doubt we'll be seeing her Medea, but perhaps she could still do well in a musical written for her.