Amanda McBroom

Amanda McBroom’s name first came to the attention of the music public when Bette Midler’s version of her song "The Rose" hit number one all over the world in 1979. But it was Amanda’s performance of her own song on the Golden Globes, Grammys and The Tonight Show, along with her many live appearances, that launched her career as a singer and songwriter, and that convinced growing audiences that the best interpretations of McBroom songs are by McBroom herself.

That opinion was solidified when Amanda released her two LP’s on the prestigious direct-to-disc Sheffield Labs label. In collaboration with pianist Lincoln Mayorga, Growing Up In Hollywood Town and West Of Oz were called "striking and complete artistic successes" by Billboard Magazine. She has four albums on her own Gecko Records label, Dreaming, Midnight Matinee, A Waiting Heart, and Portraits, which have enjoyed worldwide popularity. She also recorded a live album for DRG Records of her appearance in New York at Rainbow and Stars, Amanda McBroom Live from Rainbow and Stars.

Many of her compositions have also been recorded by such artists as Barry Manilow, Judy Collins, Barbara Cook, Anne Murray, Betty Buckley and The Manhattan Transfer. She composed several songs for the television series Cop Rock and most recently was the lyricist for the musical films Land Before Time III, Land Before Time V, Land Before Time VI and Hercules and Xena. She has been the recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award for Songwriter of the Year.

Amanda has an extensive background in musical and dramatic theatre, including starring 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 leading roles in such varied venues as The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, ACT in San Francisco, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and the Pasadena Playhouse. In New York she has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Russian Tea Room, Rainbow and Stars, and as the headliner for two sold-out engagements at Piazza on the Park in London.

She also has frequently appeared in the medium of television, in everything from Star Trek: The Next Generation to her most recent appearance at the Kennedy Center in the NBC special From the Heart.

Her original musical, HEARTBEATS, had its world premiere at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego in the summer of 1990. Since then, it has had successful productions at Theatre Three in Dallas, Texas, the Cleveland Playhouse, the Goodspeed Opera House, the Mechanic Theatre in Baltimore, and the Pasadena Playhouse, a production in which she also played the leading role.  The original cast recording was released in 1994 on Varese Saraband Records.

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