Emotional stylings from a fine talent
Jeremy Vincent, The Australian – Friday October 29, 1999
Amanda McBroom With Joel Silberman at Myer Mural Hall
Amanda McBroom seems to have done most things in the world of entertainment. she has performed on stage and television, she writes songs for others and sings them herself. Hers is a versatile talent that is well focused in the intimate surroundings of the Myer Mural Hall, a venue dusted off annually for this kind of event.
In a change from past years, this cabaret appearance is not so much about show as about communicating. It is a personal, emotionally driven concert that wormed its way somewhat gingerly into the hearts of the audience. McBroom’s best-known song, The Rose, made famous by Bette Midler, has become a standard, but in this part of the world the songwriter’s many other considerable efforts go mostly unheralded.
She has a rich lower register and her diction, an all important part of her craft, is exemplary. There are vocal hints of Barbara Cook, Linda Ronstadt and even Judi Connelli peeping through. She excels in the comic patchwork afforded her and accompanist Joel Silberman in songs such as The Gallery, a tribute to London’s telephone booth sex industry advertisements, and the witty The Australia Song. Here her writing skill is marvelously compact and clever.
