Linda Eder to perform at Performing Arts Center

In its first 10 years, the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center has had its fair share of notable performers and this year’s summer lineup is no exception. Taking the stage this Memorial Day weekend is Linda Eder, the former Broadway performer and solo artist whose talent is so revered by fans that she is simply referred to as “The Voice.”

While perhaps best known to general audiences for her role in the ’90s as Lucy Harris in Broadway’s “Jekyll and Hyde,” Ms. Eder began her career several years earlier in a town far from the musical productions of midtown Manhattan.

Ms. Eder said that when she was a child in Minnesota, she was afraid to sing in front of people, but if she was alone she “was always singing.” Eventually, she decided to audition for the school choir. It would be a decision, she said, that “changed her life.” She began working as a professional musician at 19, as part of a duo, and never looked back.

“I started out in clubs in my hometown of Minneapolis,” Ms. Eder said in a recent interview. “Then in 1987 I auditioned for ‘Star Search’ and went undefeated. Broadway happened after all of that.”

Her turn on “Star Search,” singing segment after segment for a record-breaking 12 weeks, marked the beginning of her solo career and opened up an array of new opportunities, including her star-making turn as Ms. Harris.

“I like variety and I had always sung show tunes in my act, so it was a natural fit,” Ms. Eder said of her stint on Broadway, where she appeared in almost 900 performances.

While her work on Broadway might have brought her acclaim among theatergoers, it has been Ms. Eder’s ongoing solo work that has helped to build a loyal fan base from those who appreciate her particular style of music: traditional standards on some albums and more popular tracks on others.

A recent foray into popular country music, on her latest album “The Other Side of Me,” has even allowed Ms. Eder to work on her writing, a skill she finds more difficult to use in the standards genre.

“I have done several standards albums and although I have collaborated on some songs, it is not a style that comes naturally,” she said. “Now that I have made a pop/country album, I find myself writing all the time. It’s much more natural for me.”

Although she may find working on standards a more trying process, singing them is certainly less difficult for someone with Ms. Eder’s vocal talents. On her album “By Myself,” Ms. Eder pays tribute to one of her greatest vocal influences, Judy Garland, by performing an album’s worth of traditional standards originally performed by the legendary singer. Ms. Eder described the experience as “wonderful, strange, enlightening.”

“Some people think you shouldn’t sing the music of an icon,” Ms. Eder said, “but people crave that music, they miss it, miss hearing it live. I know I do. So it was really fun for me.”

Touring and performing live is all about the audience, Ms. Eder said, and she looks forward to her concert in Westhampton Beach. Although she has performed on the East End before, at Guild Hall in East Hampton, this weekend will mark her first time on the PAC stage.

“I love the Hamptons,” she said. “The beaches are great and it’s a very relaxing and beautiful place. I have a lot of friends there and I love to visit.”

On Saturday night as the crowd shuffles in, Ms. Eder will be going through the motions of her pre-show preparations, which include a sound check and dinner backstage with the band.

“It’s a fun time for us to hang out and tell funny stories,” she said. “The guys have a million!”

Once she takes the stage, it is time for the audience to sit back and enjoy the unique show.

“I hope they get the rush that music can give people,” Ms. Eder said of Saturday night’s audience. “I hope it’s emotional and uplifting and I hope that when they leave they are very glad they made the effort.”

“We live to please and we are rewarded with energy from the audience,” Ms. Eder said. “There is nothing quite like that.”

Linda Eder will perform on Saturday, May 24, at 8 p.m. at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $75, $100 or $125. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 288-1500.