Greg In Hollywood catches up with Lynda Carter who returns to Catalina Jazz Club this week

Lynda Carter is returning to the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood this week and I’ll be there to see her on opening night Thursday.

And I’ve had to make peace with the fact that she’s not going to sing the hit song she had in the late 70s called Toto (Don’t it Feel Like Paradise).

I loved the song, played it all the time and it made me think of Lynda as a singer when most people were thinking of her as Wonder Woman.

“I get so many requests for Toto,” she told me when we chatted a few days ago. “I may try and resurrect it.”

It’s clear she’s over it even if I’m not!

But one thing I do know: her show will be terrific.

I saw her at the Catalina last year and she was so good, so fresh, and so in sync with her band and back-up singers who she’s been touring with regularly in recent years.

Lynda began her career as a singer but her television success as Wonder Woman overshadowed that. Still, she made five CBS variety specials in the 70s and 80s showcasing her musical gifts.

She’s had other series (Partners in Crime, Hawkeye), played Rita Hayworth in a television film, starred in Chicago on London’s West End, and appeared in such feature films as The Dukes of Hazzard, Sky High and Super Troopers.

But in recent years, she’s been focusing on her original love: music.

“Right now, this is what I’m doing mostly,” she says. “I’ve been offered some wonderful roles but they have fallen into the middle of performing. I’m really enjoying what I’m doing right now. It’s very exciting and it’s challenging.”

In 2009, Lynda released At Last, her first new album since 1978’s Portrait. She followed that up in 2o11 with the release of Crazy Little Things which is a mix of standards, country, and pop tunes.

She kicks off what she calls a “mini tour” with a three night run at Catalina Jazz Club on Thursday, March 14, and will continue on at Jazz at Lincoln Center and The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

“We work on ways of fine-tuning the show and making it fresh,” she says. “Catalina is always our first stop.

Because Lynda does not look much different than she did during the Wonder Woman years, it’s hard to believe that she is 61. I met her in her dressing room after one of last year’s shows and saw her up close: she really does look that good.

“We all just do the best we can,” she says. “I think it’s hereditary. My mom when she died didn’t have hardly any wrinkles. It’s the Hispanic part. My dad, who is black Irish, doesn’t have many either. As you get older, you start seeing little things happening and you try and take care of yourself. The rest of it is on a wing and a prayer.”

At whatever age, Lynda has been able to count on the loyalty of her gay fans.

“One of the people who I admired very much as a young singer was Bette Midler and how she got her start in the bath houses. I thought I’d really love to have that audience, they are such a cool group. Very loyal fans, so enthusiastic about your work. I hoped someday that would be me. When someone told me I (had a gay following), I was thrilled. It was a measure of success. It’s crossed over as well to lesbians as well.”

She points to her most famous role in which Wonder Woman was the secret identity of Diana Prince.

“I think the reason is the secret self. It really is about the secret self. You had to sort of hide in a way. It’s the transformation into acceptance into who you are. It’s about being strong and you’re not going to get bullied.”

Lynda Carter From The Heart runs Thursday through Saturday at Catalina Jazz Club , 8:30 pm shows For all information go to www.lyndacarter.com

(Photos: Karl Simone)