66 AMANDA MCBROOM

GRANDE DAMES AND DIVAS BY MAXIMILLIEN de LAFAYETTE

AMANDA McBROOM: THE ROSE OF ALL ROSES

Amanda McBroom has been called “…the greatest cabaret performer of her generation, an urban poet who writes like an angel and has a voice to match.” And WACJ calls her “The Immortal Living Legend And The Greatest Songwriter/Singer Of All Time”.

Today, Amanda McBroom is the greatest songwriter/singer/entertainer in America. She does not need more awards and additional recognition (s). She has more than enough, enough for centuries to come. Nevertheless, the readers and the editorial staff of World Art Celebrities Journal had to reveal their admiration and ultimate respect for this Super Diva; Amanda McBroom, the best of the best, the living immortal legend! So, what they did was very a propos. They elected her as the “INTERNATIONAL WOMAN OF THE YEAR”, America’s best and greatest female singer/songwriter of all time. In addition, recent international polls conducted by WACJ in 125 countries and questionnaires filled by approximately 500,000 readers and music lovers from around the globe ascertained that Amanda McBroom has been chosen as among the world’s top 30 best and greatest singers and cabaret stars of all time. Although, in 1979, Amanda McBroom became a world’s celebrity when Bette Midler sang her song “The Rose”, it was Amanda’s performance of her own song and other tunes at various events and places including the Grammy Awards, the FORD Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, The Wolftrap in Virginia, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (where she sang with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marvin Hamlisch), Carnegie Hall, New York’s Rainbow and Stars, the Golden Globes, Angel Recital Hall in Sydney, Meyer Hall in Melbourne where she headlined the Festival of the Arts and Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall in Taiwan, Pizza on the Park in London and the Tonight Show that established her as a world class and a super songwriter and singer. Her personal rendition of that song surpassed the Bette Midler version in vocal and artistic qualities. Critics and fans alike, agreed that the best interpretation of Amanda McBroom’s songs and genius creativity are by Amanda herself, no question asked. An excerpt from her official biography stated:” Amanda was born on the 9^th of August, 1946 in Burbank CA. Cabaret singer and songwriter; actress. Her father was actor David Bruce David Bruce (1914--76), who played a great many second leads in films of the '40s; her memories of him are offered in the touching countrified waltz 'Errol Flynn'. Both recordings were compiled and re-released as AMANDA by Sheffield in 1996.

In 1985 Amanda and her manager Garry George partnered in their own label GECKO RECORDS and released DREAMING in 1986. Under the auspices of Monster Cable Products, Inc. Amanda performed live at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1987. From that performance and the birth of the CD format, DREAMING became a classic around the world especially in SE Asia. GECKO releases followed including MIDNIGHT MATINEE in 1992, A WAITING HEART in 1997 and the “best of” collection PORTRAITS in 1999 released in conjunction with Hal Leonard publishing company’s release of a bound songbook of Amanda’s songs. Her love of and background in musical theatre (she starred in the New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and European productions of JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS, on Broadway in SEESAW, and in SWEENEY TODD, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and MAME) compelled her to create a musical based on her songs. HEARTBEATS made its debut in 1989 in Los Angeles and the play has enjoyed over 15 regional theater productions around the U.S. The original cast recording was released in 1994 on Varese Sarabande Records. The musical is represented by the Rogers and Hammerstein Music library.”

One single white dove does not “make the spring”…One single ray of light does not create a sun, and one single big hit does not elevate a singer or a songwriter to the firmament of stardom and altar of immortality! And the “ Midler’s Rose” was not the only reason behind the success of McBroom and her elevation to the highest artistic throne. True, very true, when Bette Midler sang Amanda’s song, the fame of the screen star launched the career of Amanda McBroom but, did not create her genius and phenomenal artistic and vocal majesty. For, everybody knows, Amanda McBroom as a singer is far better than Bette Midler or any contemporary torch and cabaret singer in America and on the face of the planet. This woman is a phenomenon. On stage, she is magic in motion, a mesmerizing diva who spread beauty, elegance, class, drama, enigma, joy, style and roaring artistic divinity around her, around her audience and beyond the infinite realm of musical perfection. As soon as Amanda appears on stage, the audience is immediately taken and mesmerized by her lyrical, nostalgic and melodic mezzo soprano voice, her strong yet welcomingly tender and warm personality, her artistic projection, the way she moves and she looks at her audience, the truthful inner feelings she expresses in the shadows and lights of her eyes and voice, the poetic forms and drawings of her hands movements, her intimate musical projection, her phrasing, her intelligent articulation and her ease in adding more warmth, joy, drama, reality and fun to words…and her way with words. Some critics have misinterpreted her stage “persona” and depicted her as a Prima Dona who tries to steal the show through accentuated theatrical mannerism but, the overwhelming majority of heavy weight critics, informed connoisseurs and millions of her fans around the globe think differently. She does not need to steal the show, simply because she is the show herself, the only show in town…As such, she appears before our eyes as a “Cabaret Femme Fatale”, a Marlene Dietrich’s Blue Angel…A sweet and tender nymph as well; a woman who graciously leaves behind her shadow a touch of her scent, so you might fantasize about how a Diva’s aroma blends with a few bars, unspoken words and the divinity of music that create the mysteries, fantasies and escapades of the world of cabaret; a world Amanda threw upon it, passion, splashes of rebellious lights and daring beauty. The cabaret of Amanda McBroom teaches you life, opens your eyes on the comforting and disturbing reality of our world, sometimes friendly and some other times troubled and troubling, for Amanda’s songs, music and lyrics are larger than life because they contain it, capture it, master it and send it free for you to catch, to sense, to feel, to challenge, to flirt with and to appreciate…This how and why Cabaret was created in first place…If cabaret is a kingdom, then consider Amanda McBroom as its reigning queen. Amanda McBroom wrote more than one great song. “The Rose” was one but a glittering bead in a rosary of one thousand shining songs and whispers. She wrote a lot. And her songs were sang by more than one celebrated motion picture star or one single famous singer.

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