Linda Eder

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

I'm wondering if some of the issue is her link to her (ex) husband, Frank Wildhorn, and his music. His "popera" style is not to everyone's liking (IMO his tunes are often just fine, if not always inspired, but he settles for absolutely rotten lyric writing), and he has never had a true Broadway success - so if one doesn't like HIS work, one may disregard her by association. Similar situation to Brightman's link to Lloyd Webber, except that Eder is the real deal, while Brightman (IMO) has never really been anything all that special.

 

Wildhorn hasn't had a lot of success on Broadway, but his shows have done very well financially in Germany, the UK and Asia.

 

For being a composer who's almost universally disliked by all major US critics, he's made a fortune by making some very smart business moves.

[OCClient]

Holy sh!t. She's coming to Irvine. Picked up a pair of tickets.

 

[+ purplekow]

Wildhorn hasn't had a lot of success on Broadway, but his shows have done very well financially in Germany, the UK and Asia.

 

For being a composer who's almost universally disliked by all major US critics, he's made a fortune by making some very smart business moves.

Jekyll and Hyde ran for 4 years on Broadway and though it reportedly lost money, more than 1500 performances would probably qualify as a success. Agree that his other works have fared much more poorly.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Anyone else seeing Eder during her 54 Below run in early November?

[jjkrkwood]

Anyone else seeing Eder during her 54 Below run in early November?

 

I last saw her many years ago when she played Queens college. I walked to the show from my home 2 blocks away and really enjoyed her performance. Need a date for this new show BN ?

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

I last saw her many years ago when she played Queens college. I walked to the show from my home 2 blocks away and really enjoyed her performance. Need a date for this new show BN ?

 

If we're going on a date, I need to know important things like how many G&Ts does it take to get you into bed?

[jjkrkwood]

If we're going on a date, I need to know important things like how many G&Ts does it take to get you into bed?

 

It just takes a wink and a smile, but BED ???? I'm not that kinda girl.... I like it dirty so I'd be on my knees :D

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Her opening performance at 54 Below was stellar.

 

1:45 of singing. Packed, standing-room only crowd. She brought a great 8 piece band with her. Sang some of the songs she's including in the next album.

 

Best quirk of the night: Someone in the crowd bought her a beer (she mentioned being a fan of it) and she drank from it throughout the performance.

[OCClient]

Her opening performance at 54 Below was stellar.

 

1:45 of singing. Packed, standing-room only crowd. She brought a great 8 piece band with her. Sang some of the songs she's including in the next album.

 

Best quirk of the night: Someone in the crowd bought her a beer (she mentioned being a fan of it) and she drank from it throughout the performance.

@Benjamin_Nicholas

 

I found this set list on BANDSTOURS.NET, for her 2017/2018 tour. Is this pretty much what she sang at 54 Below?

 

• 1. Not Gonna Fall This Time
  
• 2. I Will Wait for You
  
• 3. Blue Skies
  
• 4. Someone Like You
  
• 5. Good Bye
  
• 6. Ordinary People
  
• 7. Falling Slowly
  
• 8. Charade
  
• 9. Bridge Over Troubled Water
  
• 10. Mad Hatter
  
• 11. A Women in His Arms
  
• 12. The Heat of the Night
  
• 13. Vienna
  

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

@Benjamin_Nicholas

 

I found this set list on BANDSTOURS.NET, for her 2017/2018 tour. Is this pretty much what she sang at 54 Below?

 

• 1. Not Gonna Fall This Time
  
• 2. I Will Wait for You
  
• 3. Blue Skies
  
• 4. Someone Like You
  
• 5. Good Bye
  
• 6. Ordinary People
  
• 7. Falling Slowly
  
• 8. Charade
  
• 9. Bridge Over Troubled Water
  
• 10. Mad Hatter
  
• 11. A Women in His Arms
  
• 12. The Heat of the Night
  
• 13. Vienna
  

 

Nope. Totally different setlist.

 

She did keep Someone Like You, Charade and Vienna in. She also added a couple of Judy Garland medleys, Don't Cry For Me Argentina, What Kind of Fool Am I, Looking Through The Eyes of Love and others.

 

Eder has three more short residencies at 54 Below this year. I've already got my tickets for her May visit

[+ purplekow]

Reading down that set list caused me to choke up for a few minutes. Someone Like You from Jekyll and Hyde was my wife's favorite song and it was one of the reasons she returned to see the play so many times. Eder did an amazing job with that song in the play. That song became the rather unusual choice of a song to which the bride walks down the aisle at our wedding. Then again, in place of a prayer in the service, we had a friend and Broadway actor sing My Prayer, a 50's hit from the Platters. Our service was filled with eclectic music choices.

As an aside, can anyone think of another word besides eclectic that has the letter c in it three times? No success in my attempts.

[BabyBoomer]

Eccentric.

 

~Boomer~

[+ nycman]

Ecclesiastical

 

Ecchymotic

 

Echocardiographic

 

Ectocervical

 

Characteristic

 

Cachectic

 

Chicacabra

 

Oculocephalic

 

Cacciatore

Edited January 30, 2018 by nycman

[OCClient]

Reading down that set list caused me to choke up for a few minutes. Someone Like You from Jekyll and Hyde was my wife's favorite song and it was one of the reasons she returned to see the play so many times. Eder did an amazing job with that song in the play. That song became the rather unusual choice of a song to which the bride walks down the aisle at our wedding. Then again, in place of a prayer in the service, we had a friend and Broadway actor sing My Prayer, a 50's hit from the Platters. Our service was filled with eclectic music choices.

As an aside, can anyone think of another word besides eclectic that has the letter c in it three times? No success in my attempts.

Someone Like You does get me a bit verklempt.

 

Cryptococcus gives you 4 C's and a coc!

[bostonman]

Much like Andrew Lloyd Webber, I feel that Wildhorn is a deft tunesmith who often gets brought down by ineffective lyric writing. "Someone Like You" is credited to both Wildhorn and the certainly talented Leslie Bricusse (i.e. they may have collaborated on the lyric instead of it having only been Bricusse) - but I feel this is a prime example of the problem. The tune soars easily in "popera anthem" fashion - but what about the rather obtuse use of "someone" in the lyric?

 

I think it's one thing to say, colloquially, "I've always wanted to meet someone like you," and we know what is meant by that. But to extend the phrase and have "someone like you" love "someone like me" seems to me way too cutesy and also, literally, nonsensical. It's a case of a sweeping tune carrying the sentiment of a song that really has very improbable lyrics. (It's also full of cliches, which also get covered over in the rich sauce of Wildhorn's tune. A good sauce can disguise lots of bad meals, lol.)

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Much like Andrew Lloyd Webber, I feel that Wildhorn is a deft tunesmith who often gets brought down by ineffective lyric writing. "Someone Like You" is credited to both Wildhorn and the certainly talented Leslie Bricusse (i.e. they may have collaborated on the lyric instead of it having only been Bricusse) - but I feel this is a prime example of the problem. The tune soars easily in "popera anthem" fashion - but what about the rather obtuse use of "someone" in the lyric?

 

I think it's one thing to say, colloquially, "I've always wanted to meet someone like you," and we know what is meant by that. But to extend the phrase and have "someone like you" love "someone like me" seems to me way too cutesy and also, literally, nonsensical. It's a case of a sweeping tune carrying the sentiment of a song that really has very improbable lyrics. (It's also full of cliches, which also get covered over in the rich sauce of Wildhorn's tune. A good sauce can disguise lots of bad meals, lol.)

 

Agree totally.

 

It's the lyrics to his songs that have always killed them. However, no one writes a more guilty-pleasure key change- or, multiple key changes, as it were- than Wildhorn

 

As for Eder, she sings his songs so well, that I usually forget how god-awful the lyrics are. For a second, I'm able to put aside the hypercritical part of my theatrical brain and just focus on the sound she makes. It's intoxicating.

Edited January 31, 2018 by Benjamin_Nicholas

[bostonman]

As for Eder, she sings his songs so well, that I usually forget how god-awful the lyrics are. For a second, I'm able to put aside the hypercritical part of my theatrical brain and just focus on the sound she makes. It's intoxicating.

 

And it's funny that I can't quite extend this part of the comparison to Lloyd Webber as well. Sarah Brightman, who was so "uniquely qualified" to play Christine in the American premiere of The Phantom Of The Opera (remember that ploy?) tends to be such a bland singer.

 

Eder is infinitely more enjoyable.

[+ purplekow]

While the lyrics to Someone Like You do not soar to the heights of the music, within the context of the show and to a lesser extent outside of it, the meaning is clear, even if not obviously stated. That someone like you, in this case Dr. Jekyll, a successful Victorian era doctor, could love someone like she, a street prostitute, is surprising to her and worthy of her rejoicing in it. They are people of two different backgrounds who are able to get beyond that and fall in love. It is not an unusual story, at least in fiction, but it is surprising nevertheless. Most people meet and fall in love with others who are more like them in background than they are different. In this case, she is singing about the reality of those differences being overcome, though it is not clear that they really have been as Dr. Jekyll has quite a few other issues going on.

[bostonman]

Context understood. But look at the full lyrics. So unbelievably unspecific. It could really fit any number of stories and characters.

 

If you’re really going to write a song about people from disparate backgrounds falling in love against the odds, then write it. This isn’t a song that does that. The subject has to resonate in something other than the title.

[+ purplekow]

For those of you who do not know the song:

[+ purplekow]

I think that may be part of the point, that this is not specific to this story. This is a story that could happen to anyone at any time and that if it does, it is surprising and worthy of rejoicing. I will concede that the music adds drama and accentuates the telling of the story and that if the lyrics were paired with a lesser melody, they would not carry the song.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

And it's funny that I can't quite extend this part of the comparison to Lloyd Webber as well. Sarah Brightman, who was so "uniquely qualified" to play Christine in the American premiere of The Phantom Of The Opera (remember that ploy?) tends to be such a bland singer.

 

Eder is infinitely more enjoyable.

 

Brightman: Holy fuck has she been replaced with so many other more capable singers and actresses.

 

As the original NYT review stated, 'she still simulates fear and affection alike by screwing her face into bug-eyed, chipmunk-cheeked poses more appropriate to the Lon Chaney film version.'

... Thank you Frank Rich

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Eder's current run at 54 Below has been well-reviewed. I saw her new show last Friday night.

 

She did a fair amount of material from the new album, as well as the tried-and-true stuff she's known for. After a long while of being mainly a big stage, symphony performer, Eder is becoming very comfortable in a small room. It's interesting to see.

 

http://theaterpizzazz.com/linda-eder-celebrates-broadway-and-song/

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Eder is back at 54 Below for another round of sold-out shows.

 

A couple of highlights...

 

 

[Merboy]

She's a wonderful singer. Her album, "It's Time", is superb - every track is great, its one of the few albums where every song is good (others would be Cher's "Believe", Audra McDonald's "How Glory Goes", Sarah Brightman's "Harem", and Melanie C's "Northern Star")