“Lynda Carter sings?!!?”, was the common reaction to the declaration that I was seeing Wonder Woman in concert last weekend for her Jazz at Lincoln Center show. The answer: Absolutely! Among the powers bestowed on her television character by the Greek Gods, she’s also been granted the real life gift of lovely vocals and commanding stage presence—not to mention her maintenance of eternal youth.
Carter’s two night engagement, titled Long Legged Woman at the classy Columbus Circle Appel room had the audience literally on their feet by the night’s end. Her ecletic line-up kicked off with Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll” followed by a cover of Al Green’s soulful, “Take Me to The River”. A beautiful acoustic version of Lieber and Stoller’s “Spanish Harlem” showcased Dave Cleveland on guitar. Cleveland is just one of her many accomplished studio musicians and Carter is obviously grateful to have them. Throughout the evening, she graciously introduced each one and allowed them to share their chops in solo pieces. Carter’s back-up vocalists were also on point and helped to make their leading lady sound even better.
Toggling between new and old, She performed Duffy’s “Mercy” and the classic Patsy Cline mega-hit, “Crazy”. Continuing with the classic sound, she evoked Billie Holiday in a pensive version of “You’ve Changed.” Lightening the mood, she introduced her daughter Jessie to perform the Everly Brother’s “Dream, Dream, Dream”. It was a sweet moment and especially meaningful given the fact that her daughter made the special trip during finals from the University of Michigan.
Carter’s own Grammy winning compositions have been featured on the International hit video game, Fallout 4, and she performed a few selections including “Good Neighbor” and “Train, Train” from that.
Before the evening ended, she begged the enthusiastic audience to “Stay With Me Tonight”. Had they not had to have closed the joint, it’s a likely bet that her fans would have followed the song’s advice. The biggest surprise is not that Carter sings, but that her ease and rapport is so down to earth that one would hardly believe that she was once a superhuman.
For more information on upcoming concerts, visit http://www.lyndacartersings.com/
Lynda Carter sang in at least one Wonder Woman episode and cut her first album more than a decade ago. 2016 is a little late to be shocked by her vocal talents, but not too late to be impressed.