Critically Acclaimed Broadway Star and Popular Adult Contemporary Singer Linda Eder to Perform at UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo and Different Strokes Paint Your Own Pottery Studio will present Linda Eder at 8 p.m. on April 30 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

Linda Eder's story has a fairy-tale quality to it; the ease that seems to dominate her ascension is testimony to her gifts. Her first true national exposure was via "Star Search" in 1988, where she had an unprecedented 13 weeks of success. It was also through "Star Search" that Linda first met her future husband, composer Frank Wildhorn ("Jekyll & Hyde," "The Scarlet Pimpernel," "The Civil War" and "Camille Claudel'), who then was casting for "Jekyll & Hyde." The show went on a 35-city tour before opening on Broadway in 1997. USA Today reviewed the Broadway version of "Jekyll & Hyde," describing Eder as "a captivating presence and a Streisand-esque singing voice that elevates everything it touches." Eder's performance as Lucy earned her the Theatre World Award for Best Broadway Debut, as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Critics' Circle Award Nominations for Best Actress in a Musical.

Her seven solo albums, as well as featured roles on the original Broadway Cast Albums for "Jekyll & Hyde," and the original concept albums for her husband's other stage musicals, "The Scarlet Pimpernel" and "The Civil War," have won Eder critical and popular accolades. Sometime in between, she realized a life-long dream: Eder performed three sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall to what The New York Times described as a "thunderously adoring audience." Constant comparisons to Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion and other great voices have catapulted Eder into an elite group of singers and onto television and radio shows.

Tickets for Linda Eder are $44, $39, $34, $29. Tickets are available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Center for the Arts Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations, including Kaufmann's. To charge tickets, call 852-5000; in Canada, call 1-416-870-8000. For group sales, call 645-6771. For more information, call 645-ARTS. The Center for the Arts is a TicketFast location.