Review: Linda Eder Captivates the Crowd at 54 Below

A high-spirited medley opened Linda Eder’s cabaret performance at 54 Below on Wednesday March 25, beginning with “The Best Is Yet to Come,” followed by “The Man I Love,” and ending with the swinging “Just in Time.” Saxophonist David Mann delivered the first of many solos toward the end of the medley and featured throughout the evening. With Billy Stritch at the piano—also serving as musical director—Ms. Eder was in supremely capable hands (literally) all night.

After a genuinely warm welcome, she embraced the romantic “I Will Wait for You” from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, ending with flair and an impressively sustained note. Dressed in black pants, a stylish jacket, and a silvery, sparkling top, her long, relaxed hair completed a look that felt both elegant and comfortably unforced.

Turning to the composer most closely associated with her, she offered Frank Wildhorn’s “Till You Come Back to Me,” an up-tempo delight that again showcased Mann’s saxophone. She followed it with the 11 o’clock number from Camille Claudel (lyrics by Nan Knighton), a dramatic ballad that highlighted the musical’s emotional weight and its focus on the turbulent life of the French sculptor. Despite a 2003 premiere at Goodspeed Opera House, the piece has yet to reach New York. Eder mused whether its somber ending—where the title character is unjustly committed to an asylum—might be a barrier to a Broadway run. “Too depressing?”

Perched atop the grand piano, she joined Stritch for two duets: Louis Armstrong’s signature “What a Wonderful World” and Irving Berlin’s “Stepping Out With My Baby,” from the Fred Astaire film Easter Parade. The latter featured a solo ending from bassist David Finck.

Eder joked that many of the songs she longed to perform were written for men, teasing the audience with snippets of “If I Were a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof and “Maria” from West Side Story before settling into “What Kind of Fool Am I?” from Stop the World – I Want to Get Off. The performance built to one of her signature sustained notes, earning the biggest applause of the evening—or at least, up to that point.

Paying tribute to Eydie Gormé, she sang “What Did I Have That I Don’t Have?” from On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Noting Gormé’s influence, Eder then welcomed emerging vocalist Gianna Grosso, a student of hers during the pandemic, for a duet of “In His Eyes” from Jekyll & Hyde, which drew enthusiastic cheers.

Remaining in that musical score, she followed with “Bring On the Men,” a quintessential cabaret number that had the audience clapping along and gleefully responding “NO!” to its playful refrain “Is that a crime?” By the end, Eder laughingly marveled at having once performed it eight times a week.

Shifting gears, she cooled the room with the tender “I’ll Be Seeing You,” from the 1938 musical Right This Way, later immortalized by artists such as Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Michael Bublé. She then acknowledged the profound influence of Judy Garland with a medley including “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “The Trolley Song,” “San Francisco,” and “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart.” Breathless at its conclusion, she quipped, “I need oxygen; I’m getting old,” before scanning the largely older audience and joking that "surely someone had a tank to spare!"

Returning once more to Jekyll & Hyde, she delivered the quiet ballad “Someone Like You.” With lyrics that speak of transformation through love, the moment felt almost personal—an unspoken exchange of gratitude between performer and audience. At the end of which, she admitted, “A girl from Minnesota, getting to be here onstage, singing for my job…” The sincerity of that sentiment resonated deeply.

She closed by rocking through “Son of a Preacher Man” and indulging another long-held wish of performing “I, Don Quixote” from Man of La Mancha. Met with a well-deserved standing ovation, she playfully bypassed the ritual exit—“Don’t make me walk off and on again for the encore. I’m here already”—and ended with Stephen Sondheim’s “No One Is Alone” from Into the Woods. It was an apt and moving conclusion: “Someone is on your side. No one is alone.” As the final notes lingered, the audience seemed to exhale together—unified, reassured, and, for that moment, not alone.

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Learn more about the artist at lindaeder.com

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