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| Poster for Concert |
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| Robert Cuccioli |
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| Christianne Noll |
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| Linda Eder |
Linda Eder at Town Hall with Robert Cuccoli and Christianne Noll, Oct. 13, 2012
It's been a while since I added to my blog. Last night I saw one of the most amazing concerts that I have seen in a long time. Linda Eder, who is my favorite singer on the planet appeared at the Cabaret Convention at Town Hall which Scott Siegel does every year. The title of the concert was "A New Life," one of the songs from Jekyll and Hyde which had a wonderful run on Broadway. Her invited guests were Robert Cuccioli and Christianne Noll who appeared in the show with her. I have a long history with Jekyll and Hyde dating back from the initial concept album in 1991 with Linda and Colm Wilkinson. It then leads to seeing the show in 1995 in Houston, which will probably be the only time that anyone could see the total show before many cuts were made. I then saw it on tour a few times, at the Schubert in New Haven and in Baltimore at the Mechanic right before it began its Broadway run. I have been a Linda Eder devotee from the very beginning when I saw her appear on Star Search and won that year. Since I worked for Sam Goody when the concept CD of Jekyll came out in 1995 with Anthony Warlow and Linda, I promoted the Cd in the stores, and was fortunate enough to take that trip to Houston to see the world premiere of the show. (By the way, it had been produced in Houston at the Alley Theatre five years before with Chuck Wagner in the lead roll.) So much for the history of the show. I saw it at least five times on Broadway and followed Linda's recording career ever since, travelling to Carnegie Hall, New Jersey perfoming arts theatre, a production of Camille Claudell at Goodspeed Opera house, a concert in Queens, yet another Town Hall performance a couple of years ago, and at a small theatre on 14th street where she premiered her country album. Needless to say, I am a devoted fan of Linda's.
On to the concert last night at Town Hall in NYC. Linda was in superb vocal performance throughout the evening. She did many of her memorable songs, but it was the songs from Jekyll and Hyde that made the evening so memorable. She graciously shared the stage with Robert and Christianne to perform a good deal of the most exciting songs from this show. The highlight for me was Linda and Christianne singing the duet "In His Eyes" from Jekyll and Hyde. It was spectacular. The other highlight for me was Robert's anthem of "This is the Moment." His remarks about this song becoming the singular song that people will remember him by was especially moving. And Linda also performed the song cut on Broadway, "Bring on the Men" and said that she should have put her diva foot down and insist that it not be cut. The audience roared their approval. It was an immense pleasure to see these incredible performers back on stage together, and to experience the amazing camaraderie of them working together again.
This was Linda's concert and she did not disappoint. She performed an amazing version of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." Other highlights included Patsy Cline's "Crazy" and an astonishing "Over the Rainbow" as her encore. She also performed the song "Anthem" from Chess which the audience loved. I feel that Linda is one of the most overlooked performers around.
I waited about an hour after the concert to say hello and was not disappointed. I got the chance to say hello to Robert, Christianne, and Linda before I left for home. This was an incredible night, and one that I will not soon forget.
