The Van Wezel Hosts Tom Wopat and Linda Eder, 2/24

Showcasing one of the greatest contemporary voices of our time, Linda Eder's diverse repertoire spans Broadway (Jekyll & Hyde),standards, pop, country and jazz. Tom Wopat first came to public attention in the late '70s as the freewheeling Luke Duke on the legendary TV series The Dukes of Hazzard, and has starred many times on Broadway including roles in City of Angels, Guys and Dolls and as Frank Butler in the revival of Annie Get Your Gun. An Evening with Linda Eder and Tom Wopat  is a delightful journey through some of our most beloved show tunes and standards, with two of the best, Fri. Feb. 24 at 8 PM.

Linda Eder recently crowned her two-decade recording career with a new album, Now, which reunites Eder with Broadway and pop composer Frank Wildhorn, marking the musical return of this legendary team after six years. Eder's unprecedented TV success on the 1987 season of Star Search led to a leading role on Broadway as Lucy Harris in Jekyll & Hyde, for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination. Eder launched her recording career in 1991 with her self-titled debut album and soon established a vital niche as America's most popular and acclaimed new interpreter of pop standards and theatrical songs with such releases as And So Much More, It's No Secret Anymore, Broadway My Way, By Myself: The Songs of Judy Garland, country pop blend The Other Side of Me, and Soundtrack. Recently, she was featured on two PBS specials including Clay Aiken's "Tried & True" and "Hallelujah Broadway."  The concert stage remains the mainstay of Eder's career. Linda has performed at many prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Wolftrap and the Ravinia Festival.

Tom Wopat's background as a classically trained vocalist is a far cry from the car crashes and simple humor that gained him popular notoriety on The Dukes of Hazzard. In fact, Wopat is that rare renaissance performer equally adept at music, stage and screen – a singer who can truly act and an actor who can truly sing. Within weeks of his arrival in New York in 1977, Wopat appeared off-Broadway in the hit musical, A Bistro Car on the CNR, later assuming the title role of The Robber Bridegroom at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. Upon his return to New York, Wopat made his Broadway debut in Cy Coleman's I Love My Wife and followed that by starring as Curly in an off-Broadway production of Oklahoma! After starring in Dukes from 1978 to 1985, Wopat resumed his theatrical career in 1986 with Carousel at the Kennedy Center. Returning to New York in the early '90s, he starred in the Tony® Award-winning musicals City of Angels and Guys and Dolls. In February of 1999, Wopat created the role of Frank Butler to Bernadette Peters' Annie in the Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun, garnering a Tony nomination. Other Wopat screen roles include parts in TV movies, a leading role in Cybill(CBS), and a recurring role in Home Improvement (ABC) in 1998. Wopat has recorded several albums of standards and Broadway tunes.