Interview: Linda Eder on her New Album, Tour & the '06 Tonys

Vocalist and Broadway veteran Linda Eder is touring with material from her new album "By Myself, The Songs of Judy Garland". She returns to Mohegan Sun's Cabaret Theater for a three-night engagement, June 2-4, 2006. She spoke with BroadwayWorld.com's Randy Rice on May 22, 2006.

Randy Rice: Thanks for taking the time to speak with me. I know that you had been performing for well over a decade by the time "My Favorite Broadway, The Leading Ladies" was released, but for many of us, who only occaisonally get to Broadway, it was the first time we had a crystal-clear understanding of who you were. I remember my friends and I looking at each other after your number and saying, "Who the hell was that?" and then hitting the rewind button. It was an incredible performance.

Linda Eder: It was an incredible evening. Carnegie Hall has always been the pinnacle for me. Maybe it was because it was the only place in New York famous enough for me to know, growing up in Minnesota. I had vowed to myself that I would not go to Carnegie Hall until I was asked to sing there, and I didn't. I walked in from the stage door, so the first time I saw the inside of Carnegie Hall it was from the stage. It was incredible to be there that evening with all of those women. I mean, wow.

RR: Soon after "My Favorite Broadway" was released you played Skullers, which is a little jazz club in Boston, and a couple years after that I saw you at Boston's Symphony Hall. Two very different places, what sort of room are you most comfortable in?

LE: Well, I played little clubs for 6 1/2 years before "Star Search" so there is a certain familiarity to those sorts of rooms, but I can play any room they ask me to play. If I had to pick my absolute favorite, it would be, of course, an 1800-seat, Broadway-style theater.

RR: I know that you have been in Mohegan Sun's Cabaret before; I think that is a terrific room.

LE: It is a wonderful room, with a nice feel. I am looking forward to being back there.

RR: August 14, 2003 was the date of the blackout that affected the Northeast; much of the Northeastern U.S. had no electricity. You were in East Haddam, CT at the Goodspeed Opera House with "Camille". I read that, even in a blackout, "the show must go on".

LE: Well, it was pretty surreal. Of course, it was like 1,000 degrees, and everyone is sweating and so slick that we are practically slipping off of each other. I enjoyed the experience of that show so much. The cast. The material. The time a show is at Goodspeed is so intense, because you are workshopping the material, constantly changing it and there is only three weeks of rehearsal. You wonder if you are really ready to present the show, and of course you aren't ever ready, but you do it anyway. That evening, during the blackout, it took the onus off of us to be perfect, so we were more relaxed. We did the first half out of costume, in our slips. Then miraculously, the lights came back on and we did the second half in full costume.

RR: Your latest album is "By Myself, The Songs of Judy Garland". Why did you do an entire album of music associated with Judy Garland instead of just doing a song or two, as you had in previous albums?

LE: The label brought me the idea of doing a tribute album to Judy. The writers always get the tribute albums, I mean, they deserve them, but I thought it was a great idea to do a tribute album to Judy. She is the reason that I am singer. I said that if I did the album, I wanted to do it in her style. We used arrangements very similar to the arrangements she sang off of. When we veered, I still made sure we had that "live" feel, true to something that she would do. "Judy at Carnegie Hall" is Judy at her best.

RR: I am sensing a trend. "Vienna" was a big hit in the gay clubs as a remixed dance track, as was "Never Dance". You released "I Am What I Am" from your last album, "Broadway, My Way" as a remix single, and now, "The Songs of Judy Garland". Is it safe to say that you and gay folks have a "mutual admiration society"?

LE: Well, when you do what I do, all this live performance, you can always gauge an audience. I love having lots of gay folks in the audience. No question. They are not afraid to be appreciative. They can really rev up an audience and create magic. I am always asked why I think gay folks like the kind of music I sing, and I don't really know the answer. I think that folks are drawn, like me, to the vocals, lyrics and stories.

RR: Do you have any new projects in the works?

LE: Of course! I am working on a new album. It will be a pop album, just to mix things up again. I am collecting songs. I have only picked about four of the songs. I will probably go into the studio to start recording at the end of the year.

RR: What can the audience expect to hear when they see your show at Mohegan Sun in a couple of weeks?

LE: After I released my last album I was doing lots of material off of it. I just finished a run at Feinstein's in New York City and I learned some new material for that. I will probably sing a mix of songs from the last album with some old favorites and a couple of new arrangements from the Feinstein's show.

RR: One last question. Do you have any Tony predictions or favorites?

LE: I have been so busy touring that I haven't been able to see much lately, but I am betting on "The Drowsy Chaperone", because my friends can't stop talking about it.

RR: Thanks so much for your time and my best wishes on your tour.

LE: Thank you. Take care.