The spirit of the holiday season, and giving back to our senior community, comes to the Marjorie Luke Theatre on Sunday, November 30, with the return of Golden Globe Award–winning singer/songwriter Amanda McBroom for a festive concert titled Wintersong. Like McBroom’s successful concert in March 2024 (see story here), this show is also produced by Rod Lathim and sponsored by Stevens & Associates Insurance Agency as a benefit for The Center for Successful Aging, a local nonprofit organization serving seniors.
Describing her as “a mistress of telling stories through song,” Lathim said, “One of the things that attracts people to Amanda’s artistry is that she connects with an audience in such a beautiful, personal way.”
Best known for writing the song “The Rose,” made famous by Bette Midler, McBroom has been a resident of Ojai for about three decades and has been musical royalty at least that long as a Broadway performer, hitmaking songwriter, and audience-pleasing singer. This time around the setlist will come straight from her holiday CD titled Wintersong. “It started with the song that Michele Brourman and I wrote called ‘Mary Said No,’” shared McBroom. “It was a dream that I had of thinking of what if the Angel came to Mary, and she said, ‘I don’t think so.’ I wrote the lyrics, sent them to Michele, and she sent me the song in a couple hours. We knew it was something special.”
McBroom continued, “It led me to record the album with some standards, but I also wanted to search out unique songs from all different genres, from country to jazz to theatrical. It’s not a traditional Christmas concert, because it explores medieval to contemporary pieces people can sing along with.”
Brourman, a pianist, and bassist Larry Tuttle will accompany McBroom on two songs: Joni Mitchell’s “River” and “First Snow of the Year” by Rosie Casey and Ken Hirsch.
“I have some fun material, and I need to counterbalance it with some really sincere emotion,” said McBroom. “‘First Snow’ is one of the most sincerely emotional songs that I’ve heard in a long time. Christmas is a time of both joy and sorrow, and this one is all about loss. And God knows, the older we get the more loss is part of our lives. ‘River’ is one of the first Joni Mitchell songs I ever heard. It resonated with me — there is a melancholy to it that really speaks to my heart. It’s very dramatic. My songs are all acting pieces. This is one that I love to act. It’s so simple. It’s almost like a haiku.”
Although it’s holiday themed, the organizers say that Wintersong is a concert that is equally accessible to people who celebrate Christmas and those who do not.
“I didn’t want to get religious,” said McBroom. “I wanted it to be more about the celebration of people coming together in the winter. Like they used to do around the solstice, which is much more ancient than Christmas — gathering around the fire light to be with each other in the winter is my image of Wintersong.”
Amanda McBroom performs Wintersong Sunday, November 30, 3 p.m., at the Marjorie Luke Theatre (721 E. Cota St.). Free off-street parking, wheelchair access, and Assistive Listening Loop System are all available. For tickets, see csasb.org/concerts.
You must be logged in to post a comment.