[July 15, 2011] McBroom, husband unite for 'Sizzling' cabaret show Tweet Jul 15, 2011 (The Arizona Daily Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Early this week, Amanda McBroom and her actor-singer husband, George Ball, were relaxing at a lakeside cabin in the cool pines of Idaho. The daytime high struggled to reach 70. Today, McBroom and her husband of four decades will dash from their hotel room to the swimming pool to an air-conditioned car, dodging Tucson's punishing 100-plus degree heat. "I know about Tucson in the summer," said Mc- Broom, a regular on Invisible Theatre's Sizzling Summer Sounds cabaret series over the years. Last April she joined an ensemble cast of singers for the theater's 40th anniversary gala concert. "Tucson is my favorite city in the United States, flat-out, bar none -- although usually in April or December," the 63-year-old said in a phone call from her Ojai, Calif., home. McBroom's husband, a veteran of stage and screen, has tagged along for each of those Tucson appearances, but has never joined his wife on stage. Until this weekend. Ball will make his Tucson debut with McBroom, performing an evening of Broadway tunes. "We are so looking forward to doing this together. ... I've always wanted him to come join me in Tucson so that everyone could hear him, because he is one of the most glorious singers on the planet," gushed McBroom. She met Ball in the 1970s in San Francisco when he was in the lead role of the Broadway hit "Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris." "He walked on stage and opened his mouth and I fell madly in love," she recalled. Over the years, the couple have performed together in Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd" and "A Little Night Music." They toured the world with "Jacques Brel" and have shared the concert stage. "Any chance we get to sing together is treasured," McBroom said. Their Tucson show culls some of their favorite Broadway tunes. There's also some works they believe should have been on Broadway, including Mc- Broom's signature career tune, "The Rose," which Bette Midler made famous in the 1979 movie of the same name. The song was one of Midler's biggest hits ever and earned McBroom a Golden Globe Award for best original song. The song has been covered by dozens of artists over the years, and each time it's recorded, Mc- Broom earns royalties. "It's been my miracle," she said. "Every time a check comes in, I have to talk to the universe and say thank you so much. But it also means other people are going to hear it. ... That one seems to have a healing effect on people, so the more opportunities it gets to go out into the world the more I think it's a good deed being done." Did you know In 2004, the American Film Institute ranked Amanda Mc- Broom's song "The Rose" No. 83 in its top 100 film songs. "The Rose" has been covered by a variety of artists crossing genres, including country crooner Conway Twitty, who took it to No. 1 on the country charts in 1983; and the Irish boy band Westlife, whose version topped the charts in Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom in 2006. If you go Sizzling Summer Sounds: Amanda McBroom and George Ball --Presented by: Invisible Theatre. --Featuring: Michele Brourman. --When: 8 p.m. today and Saturday. --Where: Arizona Inn, 2200 E. Elm St. --Tickets: $35 by calling 882-9721. Discounts available. --Details: www.invisibletheatre.com To see more of The Arizona Daily Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.azstarnet.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]