Amanda McBroom: “The Rose” by any Other Name

The pop chestnut “The Rose” sold a million copies for Bette Midler, who sang the ballad in the 1979 movie of the same name and took home a Grammy award to boot. But it was Amanda McBroom that wrote the song that has become a classic, one that Conway Twitty covered for a No. 1 country hit, and that Westlife rode into the top of pops in the U.K., to name just a few. 

“The Rose” also launched McBroom from a musical theater actress and budding pop singer into a much-cherished cabaret star, not to mention record company owner. So you’d think it’s the one most people know her for. 

Nope. 

That would be her role that came a decade later as JAG Captain Phillipa Louvois in a single episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called “The Measure of a Man.” 

“I get much more fan mail from that than from anything else that I’ve ever done in my life,” McBroom said with a laugh from her longtime home in Ojai. “I’m actually going to a Star Trek convention in Las Vegas for the first time this year, because the episode is considered really high cotton in the Star Trek world, and it’s the subject of an entire day.”

Nowadays, cabaret is completely her calling card, not parts on TV shows – though of course she wouldn’t turn down a guest shot on The White Lotus. Although she has traveled and performed all over the world, surprisingly, after nearly 30 years in Ojai, McBroom is just now making her Santa Barbara debut in a benefit concert for the Center for Successful Aging (CSA) at the Marjorie Luke Theatre on March 30. 

“Nobody had asked me before,” she said. “I’m just delighted to finally stick my foot in your door.”

Q. You got popular doing musical theater and are now known as one of the great cabaret-style singers, one who does standards and show tunes but also many of your own songs. How did you get started composing?

A. My husband [George Ball] and I were on the road doing one of the national tours of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well. One night when he was working, I picked up my guitar because I was something of a folkie, and something came out. I didn’t know if it was anything. But I played it for George when he got home and he said, you just wrote a song and it’s really good. I just kept on doing it as a hobby. I never intended for it to be a profession. 

Apparently, good songs just come to you. That was the case with “The Rose,” right?

Yes. I was driving on the 101, and a song called “Magdalena” came on the radio. One of the lines said, “Your love is like a razor. My heart is just a scar,” which I thought was great. But then I realized that I don’t think love is a razor. What do I think love is? And the next thing I know there it was, the whole song. I didn’t write it, it wrote me. I always say I’m just the window that happened to be open when this one wanted to come through. It’s like there’s some huge pool of inspiration floating around in the sky above us, and every once in a while it finds a way in.

Did you pull off the road to write it down?

No, I just kept reciting the words over and over to myself while I was driving. And then when I got home, I ran past my husband who was watching football and sat down at the piano. Maybe 20 minutes later, it was done. I played it for him, and he simply said “You just wrote a standard. Mark my words.” I thought he was crazy, but he was right. It eventually became a miracle in my life. 

Were you ready for what happened after Bette Midler had the hit?

No! It was terrifying. I was really happy doing television and musical theater… I was not ready for the world to look at me as a songwriter rather than as a performer. But doing cabaret let me get out of the spandex and the red corset and put on a tuxedo and go sing in nightclubs. I was wanting to promote my own CDs, but it took over my life. 

How has your relationship to the song evolved over the years?

I think it’s deepened just because I’ve gotten smarter, just because my wisdom has expanded and also performing it so often for so many people. It resonates it more and more strongly with me. And then I love hearing other people sing it. 

Do you ever get tired of singing “The Rose”? 

No, never. It means so much to so many people. I can watch people singing along, or wiping their eyes or reaching out and holding hands with their loved ones. The miracle of the song for me is how deeply it touches people. I’ll do it as long as I have the pipes.

The Marjorie Luke show is called “Let’s Fall in Love.” What will you be singing? 

The wonderful thing about cabaret is that you can do anything you want that isn’t rock and roll. It’s the catchall refrigerator… I love doing romantic stuff, and it’s springtime, and this is supposed to be an evening that makes people happy… I’m singing my favorite classics and songs that I have written alone or with my partner Michele Brourman [who will accompany McBroom with Larry Tuttle on bass]. There will be songs that people know – Cole Porter, Gershwin and Sondheim – so they won’t be frightened when they hear the new material. We want to make people chuckle too, so there’s some funny stuff, and a couple of good little tearjerkers. It’s like the Disneyland E-ticket ride of cabaret. 

The concert is a benefit for the CSA. How have you responded to aging? What’s changed for you over time?

I like to say that as you grow older, you exchange wisdom for muscle tone. I’m much more discriminating now. I used to just welcome everybody to my door, but I am more selective about letting people into my life. I haven’t slowed down, but I’m more picky about projects that I create or that I want to be a part of. My life isn’t as scattershot as it used to be. I’m getting smarter. And honestly, I don’t have the energy I used to have. But I seem to be still putting on the show and getting out there. So I would call myself a successful ager at the moment. 

We all get older. It’s a question of how you decide to deal with it? Are you going to get depressed about it? Are you going to let it paralyze you? Are you going to try to develop a new chapter in your life? Are you going to try to stay positive? Because that’s always the battle.

Any new chapters for you?

My old chapter’s still doing pretty well, but I’m starting to really ponder doing more teaching so I can pass some of this knowledge along. It’s wonderful to be immersed in the energy of young people in a master class, and I’m always surprised to realize what I know. Maybe it will be helpful. It’s like a good deed in the naughty world.

Predominantly I show performers how to be comfortable on stage and how to tell a story. People get lost in the groove or the music, and they forget that these are just stories set to music. My husband gave me the most valuable performance mantra ever – just stand still and tell the truth. Cabaret is definitely about being yourself. You can turn into one of the characters when you’re singing a song, but between songs, you’ve got to be you.