The third issue contained interviews with Jekyll & Hyde's Linda Eder, Scarlet Pimpernel's Gilles Chiasson, and even more from Rob Evan. The issue also contained The Great Jekkie Demographic Survey and a report from Theater Patrons Care's Scarlet Pimpernel weekend to benefit BC/EFA. Here are some excerpts:

We spoke with Linda Eder when she had already been with J&H on Broadway for a year.

Linda with Kevin, the wig guy

What do you hear most often at the stage door?

"God, she's tall." [Laughter.] I still hear -- people are always comparing me to Streisand and they always ask me if it bothers me, and of course it doesn't bother me, 'cause I'm a huge fan and she's a huge influence. But I hear, when I start to sing, [whispered] "Sssou sssie sssie-sssa." The "s"-sibilance, because they're saying, "Sounds like Streisand." There's three s's in a row, and I always know when that's what they're saying.

Do you anticipate coming back to Broadway?

Yes. Frank's already writing another one for me, which is called Havana. And it's looking really good. The neat thing is I would be a performer. I'd be performing what I do live in concert on the stage and then be within a musical. And if that works, it's going to be the best of all worlds. And it's doing the kind of material that's on my album.

We spoke with Gilles Chiasson, Scarlet Pimpernel's original Armand (and a member of the original cast of Rent) and asked what interested him about doing Pimpernel...

Many things about it. First of all, I had felt it was time to leave Rent. I felt that I was ready, that my experience there was starting to evolve. We all felt, when we started, that we were on a mission, because Jonathan [Larson] had died, and we felt that we had this responsibility to say the things that he wanted to say that he wasn't around to say anymore. And as people started to leave the show, it started to become a "show." Which is what it was; it always was that. And it was just because of the experience that the original fifteen of us had that made it more than that, like a family and an obligation, in the best sense of the word. So, as new people started to come, they were just doing a "show." It's not a judgment. It's just that I reached the point where I thought I should leave before it made the transition into being a "show," because that would allow me to keep my experience intact. And then once I made that decision, I had a couple of auditions and I got offered this. I was really grateful for the opportunity to do this, and to do a role -- to play one person from beginning to end. It's like a dream come true, to play a role in a Broadway show. And the play is fun. It was funny -- at first, I was all like, "It's got to be about something." It took me a month or so, to adjust to the fact that this was a show about people having a good time. And entertainment. And once I stopped wanting it to be something other than what it was, I was able to start enjoying it myself. And realize that it has its own integrity.

NEWSFLASH: Stay tuned to find out what Gilles thought about performing in his second Wildhorn musical, Civil War, as he was gracious enough to give us a follow-up interview for our Summer '99 issue.

In this issue's Rob Evan excerpt, we asked ...

Do you have a favorite part of the show?

I get lost in singing "This is the Moment." I get lost in it, and I love that song. I really love singing that song. I hope that there's not a time that I've done the show so much that I don't enjoy singing it anymore, because I still love to sing it. And then I love doing "Dangerous Game," I love doing that. And I like doing the "Confrontation" I love doing it, but you get tired, so it's something you have to psych yourself up for. I like killing Linda. I like that. Once you've unlocked the dark side, and you truly have to arrive at that, then it's totally an outlet fr you - all your frustrations and everything - it's a great outlet.

Frank Wildhorn.
Photo by Barbara Morrow