Watching "The Wizard of Oz" on a shag carpet in Brainerd, Minn., a star was born.

Vocalist Linda Eder recounted Judy Garland's inspirational role to her artistic career at Heinz Hall last night. Accompanied by Marvin Hamlisch and the Pittsburgh Symphony Pops, Eder brought quintessential songs from Garland's career to life with her solid and nuanced performances.

Eder's renditions were not imitations of Garland's style but homage to the creative life Garland led. Because Eder's song choices spanned Garland's entire career, the audience was given snapshot vignettes into various points of Garland's life. Eder captured the introspective intensity of "By Myself" and the boisterous bravado in "Zing Went the Strings of My Heart."

Eder's voice has an extraordinary dynamic range. Her ability to draw out a song's melismatic ending was particularly artful. The endings to "It's All For You" and the original composition "The Rainbow's End" were especially well paced. In addition to the songs from Garland's oeuvre, Eder performed selections from her own Broadway musical, "Jekyll & Hyde."

The program repeats tonight at 8, tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 2:30.