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RACHEL REEB: Linda Eder's acting resume is brief. Years ago, she appeared as Mother Superior in Brainerd High School's rendition of The Sound of Music. Now she's on Broadway playing a prostitute who falls for Dr. Jekyll only to be murdered by his evil counterpart, Mr. Hyde. Along the way, she delivers some of what critics call the most memorable songs New York Theater goers have heard in years.

[LINDA EDERSON, "SOMEONE LIKE YOU"] If someone like you. Found someone like me. Then suddenly nothing would ever be the same. My heart would take wing. And I'd feel so alive.

RACHEL REEB: While Eder is a novice actress, she's a seasoned singer, having recorded three solo albums and four musical soundtracks. Her singing career got a jump start when she was discovered on television Star Search 10 years ago.

Eder caught the attention of composer Frank Wildhorn, who was looking for a theatrical soprano to showcase his music. The Eder-Wildhorn pairing led to her tailor-made role in his musical Jekyll and Hyde. The two plan to marry in November.

Sitting on a park bench in New York City's Central Park, Eder says she's been very lucky.

LINDA EDER: I'm in a position that I think a lot of people would give their eye teeth to be in. To have writers writing for me, to do my first experience on Broadway in a lead role, I've met the right people along the way. And I love where I am, and what's happened, and what I've been able to do and enjoy getting here.

RACHEL REEB: Eder toured the country for six years with Jekyll and Hyde before the show finally made it to New York for the Broadway production in this spring.

LINDA EDER: I am definitely a different bird from what you normally see here. I'm not a New Yorker. I don't approach this as a craft because I didn't have the dancing and acting and singing lessons. So I have a ball up there now. I don't have any of the nerves I used to have. And I finally feel like I know what I'm doing. I finally feel like I'm singing exactly the kind of music that I should sing.

RACHEL REEB: 20 years ago, when she auditioned for the choir at Brainerd high school, Eder says she was so painfully shy she could hardly sing out loud. Her former choir teacher, Tom Rosin, who now directs a Twin Cities choral group, says once Linda got over her fear of performing, there was no stopping.

TOM ROSIN: Her voice that came out was very different than the one that she was displaying in class. In fact, she loved it when she heard it, and she was embarrassed when she heard it. So she can do the big belting out of a huge song and yet she has the ability to go into her upper register to get way up in the stratosphere, which is a unique combination. It's not found very often.

RACHEL REEB: New York theater critics singled Linda Eder out for praise amidst lukewarm reviews for Jekyll and Hyde. They describe her voice as big, gliding, and Streisandesque with an amazing range, which goes from full-throated belt to low, pure tone sweetness. Eder was nominated for best actress in a musical by Outer Critics and Drama Desk, but overlooked by the more prestigious Tony Awards. She says she's learning to put it in perspective.

LINDA EDER: And I have seen myself praised to the moon, which I shouldn't be, and just dragged through the mud. And then it's just by people, individual people, and you realize everyone's tastes are so different.

So in a way, it's been good for me. It's strengthened me, and it's made me realize it doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter. You just have to do what you do and hope you find that audience. And we didn't need the New York critics to tell our audience what to. They're telling the critics what they like.

RACHEL REEB: Jekyll and Hyde, which is outselling all the other new shows on Broadway, rolled into New York with a near army of devotees from its years on the road. They have their own fan club and maintain an internet website with all the latest Jekyll and Hyde information. Recent postings rave about Linda Eder's appearances on Lederman and Rosie O'Donnell.

Following every Broadway show, the fans dubbed Jackie's crowd the stage door on West 45th street, waiting for the performers to sign autographs or pose for snapshots. 37-year-old Paul Martin, a salesman from Westchester, New York, stands ready with a red felt tip pen and a large Jekyll and Hyde poster.

PAUL MARTIN: I've seen the show nine times. I'll see it tomorrow night. I'll see you two times on Saturday, and I'll see it for the rest of the time that's open. Linda Eder blows the roof off the place. Her voice is just out of this world.

RACHEL REEB: New York University theater student Heather Bijou has seen the show eight times. She says the music and Linda Eder are the main attractions.

HEATHER BIJOU: You see around a lot that people are saying Linda Eder she's been discovered. She's the brightest talent. And I do think we're going to see more of her, both in recording and maybe in shows too.

RACHEL REEB: An older woman standing nearby, who says she flew in from Arizona to see Jekyll and Hyde, raves about Linda Eder's voice.

SPEAKER 1: It's as clear as a bell. It's beautiful. They stand and cheer. They love her.

RACHEL REEB: On opening night, Linda Eder broke down and sobbed into her hands during the curtain call. She says she was overwhelmed by the audience reaction. A month into the run, when the crowded theater erupts during her final bow, Eder seems more accustomed to the standing ovation and cheers. She says she realizes she could become a big star, a possibility that excites and scares her.

LINDA EDER: It's really my goal is to be happy. And this business doesn't make you happy. It makes you happy for brief periods of time while you're performing. But otherwise, it's not going to do it for you. You have to make your life something else. And I'm lucky because I can do that.

RACHEL REEB: Eder will spend the next year on Broadway in Jekyll and Hyde, then plans a concert tour. She wants to return to Broadway as the star of Wildhorn's newest musical, Svengali. Linda Eder says she hopes success will allow her time to do what she loves, riding her horses and gardening at home in Minnesota.

I'm Rachel Reeb for Main Street Radio.

[MUSIC PLAYING]