Former 'Dallas' actress presents a new kind of pop

Most people know Audrey Landers as the actress who played Afton Cooper on the hit television series “Dallas” throughout the 1980s, but few know she’s also a seasoned singer and songwriter.

Thanks to a collaboration with the The Pops Orchestra, this Sarasota resident is about to share her musical talents.

“Music was actually my first love,” Landers says. “I think music is just a part of me, and it’s been a way of emotional expression and a creative outlet.”

Landers’ career began at the age of 11, when she started writing songs. As teenager, she recorded country music in Nashville and acted in soap operas in which her character often turned into a singer.

She then went on to study music at Juilliard before she landed her breakout role as Afton.

About 18 years ago, Landers performed with her children’s educational music program, “The Huggabug Club,” at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. She fell in love with the city’s beauty and decided to raise her young twin boys in Sarasota.

Landers has resided in Sarasota since, but she hasn’t performed for her local friends. That’s one reason she is thrilled to perform with the Pops as part of its Season of Celebrities.

“It’s a different kind of excitement when you’re working with that full orchestra behind you,” she says, reminiscing on her orchestral performances on Bob Hope specials. “All the pieces and you, you all move together like a school of fish.”

Landers will perform everything from country music to a jazzed-up version of “Over the Rainbow,” with many songs from the “Great American Songbook.”

The star is also excited to perform for her fan club presidents coming in from Dallas, Germany and the Netherlands, who she says are used to her pop-rock style that has defined her successful European music career.

“In Europe, I’m a pop star. Here … it’s pop in a very different sense,” she says. “I’m doing a nice mix up of all my favorite kinds of music with this wonderful embellishment of a 42-piece orchestra.”