Review: Amanda McBroom SUCH GOOD FRIENDS At Birdland Such Good Storytelling

During the curtain call of Amanda McBroom’s latest show, Lorna Dallas, seated at the next table, turned to me and said, “THAT was a Master Class!”  She was, of course, right.  In fact, I had thought the exact same words, even writing them down on my notepad.  It was a Master Class.  I thought I might say that in my review, maybe even use it in the headline.  But once Lorna Dallas said it, I couldn’t, anymore.  I couldn’t use the term anymore because when I say it, it’s just an outsider’s opinion.  But when a respected artist working in the medium describes another cabaret performer’s efforts with such bold verbiage, it ceases to be opinion and becomes fact.  Lorna Dallas said it, and Lorna Dallas should know, so the appraisal stands:  Amanda McBroom’s Birdland performance on September 18th was, in fact, a Master Class.

Now let me tell you why.

The industry of cabaret and concert is filled with performers of varying genres, all of them valid, all of them valuable, and the genres change and grow with the years.  Cabaret artists of the long past were highly theatrical, creating nightclub acts that leaned into the presentational - two of my favorite examples are the albums The Nancy Wilson Show and The Persian Room Presents Diahann Carroll (if you don’t know them, please get to know them).  Young people working in cabaret today frequently place a good deal of focus on merely being able to out sing anyone in the world who comes up short of being Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, or Patti LuPone.  And that’s fine.  That’s their aesthetic. But there was a time when cabaret shows had to evolve from the theatricality of Edith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich into something more accessible, a time fueled by the more natural, down-to-earth aesthetic of the Nineteen Seventies, and that evolution became the cabaret style of the Eighties, a style that honored the presentational while becoming relatable.  Amanda McBroom was one of the architects of modern-day cabaret.  

The Rules:  Be yourself but don’t be self-indulgent.  Be authentic but never cringey.  Be big enough to wow but on a plane where you can touch.  And, above all, put the story first.  Always tell the story.  That’s Amanda McBroom.  And it has been Amanda McBroom since she and some other women built modern-day cabaret - women like Marilyn Maye, Sally Mayes, and Karen Akers, all of whom were at Birdland on Monday, to cheer Amanda on, particularly Miss Sally, who appeared in the show with her old friend.   Now, to be fair to the fellows, there were men who worked hard to help bring the art form of cabaret into modern times, helping it to make the transition from crooner past hippie to artist, and those boys were wonderful - some of them are the stars that will be seen at the Cabaret Convention next month.  But there is little point in denying the power of the women when it comes to pointing out the popularity of the industry.   It is that power and popularity that renders Amanda McBroom a consistently sold-out act, wherever she plays.

And wherever she plays, her longtime collaborator and best friend Michele Brourman is sure to be found.

For their Birdland show, Amanda and Michele decided upon the title SUCH GOOD FRIENDS (one of their collaborations), and although friendship wasn’t a theme of the show, it was certainly in the room.  The theme for the eve, it turned out, was female songwriters, and it was completely by accident.  Ms. McBroom explained to the full house that while choosing songs for the show that amounted to no more than “songs I like to sing,” she realized that every selection was a song written by a woman.  And so began the curation of compositions by the likes of Carol Hall, Dorothy Fields, Marilyn Bergman, Lori Lieberman, Karen Gottlieb, Julie Gold (whose “Southbound Train” was a highlight, with Gold, herself, watching from mere tables away) and McBroom herself, sometimes with Brourman, sometimes with Ann Hampton Callaway, and sometimes all on her own.  Amanda also made sure to let a great deal of her spotlight spill over onto Michele, with anecdotes about their decades-long friendship, about their collaborative efforts, and about how much she admires her best mate.  There was even (as well there should have been) a little solo action for the Musical Director par excellence when Amanda took a seat to watch Michele perform her newest composition, the marvelous “In Love In New York” - a song everyone should want to sing but that this writer is happy he saw, first, in the hands of its award-winning creator.  As sets go, as song collections go, this was a pretty complete offering, with numbers ranging from the witty (“Find My Phone”) to the pretty (“It Might Be You”), from the filled with humor (“Congratulations”) to the fraught with feeling (“Wheels”), and therein lies the key to the Master Class.

In between the musical offerings of the evening, Amanda had stories to share, opinions to impart, and anecdotes that entertained… but once Michele’s magical fingers began the opening strains of a new song, Amanda McBroom the woman was Amanda McBroom The Actress.  There is a craft to telling the story inside of a song that lasts three, four, maybe five minutes.  The craft of storytelling differs from singer to singer, with each storyteller leaning into the gifts that make them most uniquely their self.  Amanda McBroom has some tools in her arsenal that run her ahead of the curve, for she is not just a singer, she is not just a storyteller - she is a songwriter, so she has an inner voice that is more in tune with that which the songwriter is trying to communicate, particularly (but not exclusively) when that songwriter is herself.  She is an actress, and a damn fine one, and, so, is able to drive into the emotion in songs like the devastatingly beautiful “Information Please” (or this writer’s personal favorite of the night, “Dance”) with more intention than some other singers might even know is possible.  Intention.  That is one of Amanda McBroom’s special gifts.  There is no move made, no word spoken or sung, no raised eyebrow or tear-brimmed eye, no intake of breath or shifting of weight that is not fully intentional.  Nothing is random.  That is the mark of a great storyteller.  Amanda McBroom steps on stage and takes all the parts of herself - The Singer, The Songwriter, The Storyteller, The Actress, and The Woman - and she presents the true essence of modern-day cabaret in each and every new monologue, be it prosaic or musical.  Every moment is a new story - like one of those monologue plays or a musical revue.  Windows open up onto the story, and when the story is done, the curtain is drawn so that the attention can be reverted to the next window.  That is what makes an Amanda McBroom show a Master Class.

Amanda McBroom and her friends are what makes it a party.

With Michele Brourman by her side, there is a reasonable expectation that there will be casual conversation allowing the audience to get a glimpse of the woman who spent the quarantine in gardening boots until her bestie told her to get back to work and tell the stories.  With Ritt Henn on the bass, there is a certainty that the musical program will rise to a new level of excellence.  And with Sally Mayes appearing as guest artist, there is a blanket of comfort in the air (Mayes, one of the greats and one of the great interpreters of Carol Hall, performed “It’s Only A Broken Heart, reminding all why she needs to come back with her own show #bighint).  This is cabaret.  It is cabaret as it was, cabaret as it is, cabaret as it was meant to be - and the reason it is so good is because Amanda McBroom built it.  She made it what it is, and that is why she is most qualified to teach this Master Class.   The next time class is in session, one might suggest that everyone enroll.

Find great shows to see on the Birdland website HERE.

Amanda McBroom's website is HERE and Michele Brourman's is HERE.

Ritt Henn has a YouTube channel HERE and Sally Mayes has a website HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

From the Lorna Dallas Facebook page (used with her permission):

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