Amanda McBroom

Join the mailing list

Facebook Youtube Twitter

  • Home
  • About
    • Biography
    • Ah, Youth
    • The Rose
    • Amanda’s Song Library
  • Store
  • Media
    • Media
    • Reviews
  • Events
    • Concerts
    • Master Classes
  • Film & Animation
  • Buried Treasures
  • Contact

Reviews

Cabaret Review

Daryl H. Miller, Los Angeles Times

Responding to sustained applause toward the end of her joint performance with Amanda McBroom at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre on Sunday, Ann Hampton Callaway pumped her fist and shouted, “Diva power!”

That power was strong as these well-matched singer-songwriters… McBroom from Los Angeles and Callaway from New York… shared the outdoor stage. In joint numbers, their dusky mezzo-sopranos twined gorgeously, while in solo sets Callaway’s jazz stylings and boisterous personality provided a distinct yet complementary contrast to McBroom’s elegance and emotion.

For her set in the first half of the nearly 2 3/4 hour show, Callaway mixed standards with her own compositions, accompanying herself on piano and, between numbers, delivering a near-stand-up comedy routine on everything from the hillside’s chirping crickets to Barbra Streisand, for whom she wrote lyrics to the wedding song “I’ve Dreamed of You.”

Perhaps the most complete fusing of her talents came in a rendition of a Harold Arlen rendition of a Harold Arlen-Johnny Mercer tune, from her current, Tony nominated Broadway turn in “Swing!” Over honky-tonk piano, she sang with satin smoothness… slipping into a bluesy growl now and again… about that “two face,” “worrisome thing” who’ll leave you to sing the “Blues in the Night.”

From Callaway’s songs of yearning romance, the program turned to McBroom;s eloquent perspectives on womanhood, from a tearful calling out in the night for mama, in her song “The Portrait,” to the swept-away feeling of a guilty, later-in-life romance… which she introduced as what Gertrude might have replied to Hamlet… in “In His Hands.” Her frequent composing partner, Michele Brourman, matched her mood for mood on piano.

At concert’s close, the singers swapped tales of love that transforms yet torments because it goes unconsummated. McBroom poured her heart into “Best Friend,” with Callaway listening in tearful silence before responding with “Where Does Love Go.”

Pages: Previous Review Next Review

Archives

  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • April 2020
  • December 2019
  • May 2019
  • January 2019
  • March 2018
  • July 2017
  • December 2016
  • October 2016
  • June 2016
  • March 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • July 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • November 2014
  • June 2014

Sheet Music

  • Lead Sheets
  • Piano / Vocal Arrangements
  • Uncategorized
  • Wedding and Anniversary

Your Cart

Upcoming Concerts

Upcoming Concerts

For concert bookings please contact garrygeorge@pacbell.net.  

See More »
Find Amanda On
FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE | TWITTER

Copyright © 2025 Amanda McBroom · amcbroom.com · All Rights Reserved · Site Designed & Developed by Willhouse

Copyright © 2025 · Amanda McBroom on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in