Such Good Friends: Amanda McBroom with Michele Brourman at The Pheasantry, London.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
‘The Rose’ is still blooming, as ageless and fragrant as its creator Amanda McBroom who rounded off her Pheasantry set with the classic hit song made famous by Bette Midler that changed her life. But there’s far more than one arrow in McBroom’s quiver and, in a programme flawless in conception and hypnotic in execution, a full house at the famed Chelsea cabaret room got the full package and gave it a standing ovation.
One of the great storytellers in song, the singer-songwriter was accompanied by her “little sister” Michele Brourman, all 4ft 10 of her but a giant at the piano, a fine performer herself and McBrooms’s faithful collaborator for half a century.
It was a night of big anniversaries as McBroom and her 90-year-old husband George Ball, himself a mighty musical theatre name in Los Angeles in his time, were celebrating 50 golden years together too. They met working on the same show and there he was in the front row marvelling at his wife’s pitch-perfect contralto, subtle and controlled as she ran through a beautifully balanced show that had something for everyone. Whether you wanted to laugh or cry – or just sit there in awe of an artist at the very top of her game – this was an evening for the connoisseur, a masterclass of preparation.
Not shying away from politics, the satire on the peccadilloes of politicians on both sides of the Atlantic provided the hilarity for ‘A Voter’s Prayer’, the witty words of ‘Find My Phone’ struck a chord with the absent-minded and the humour of ‘Congratulations’ got the second half off to a lively start.
But it was the serious songs where McBroom could show off her considerable acting chops that really clicked for me – ‘Information Please’ co-written with Ann Hampton Callaway, and two she wrote herself, ‘Wheels’ and ‘For Nothing’, the latter bemoaning there’s so much wrong with the world “that the only thing we cannot do is nothing”.
The unusual ‘Information Please’, based on a true story from an old Reader’s Digest, is about an inquisitive boy who forges a lasting connection with a telephone operator in the days of rotary phones. McBroom loves songs with a plot and her words captivate.
A personal highlight was to hear her sing for the first time in public ‘This Far’, a song about love and a life together which she and Brourman graciously composed as our 50th wedding anniversary present. The words have had pride of place on our wall for almost six years now. How time flies!
Brourman’s work on the piano was as outstanding as ever and McBroom stepped back leaving her accompanist to go solo on ‘Help, Thanks, Wow’, the three words apparently you need to get you through the day, as a taster for her own show The Joy of the Ride at The Pheasantry.
The evening wasn’t confined to McBroom/Brourman compositions but there was still a very strong female influence. The magnificent ‘Southbound Train’, by Julie Gold, saw McBroom’s voice at its best; there was a mash-up of songs by the Bergmans; and ‘Come in From the Rain’ was from the pens of Melissa Manchester and Carole Bayer Sager. But the pick was Carol Hall’s ‘It’s Only a Broken Heart’ – in other words “get over it – you haven’t lost your dog and it’s not root canal”. A choice collection and every one a winner.
Jeremy Chapman
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