Initially, Michele Brourman and Irina Maleeva met years ago at the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills, when Maleeva was having lunch with iconic singer Margaret Whiting and musical director Jack Wrangler, who were friends with Brourman. They didn’t work together until years later, when another friend and collaborator of both women, award-winning songstress Amanda McBroom, reintroduced them. Ironically, Maleeva had heard McBroom’s new CD, where Brourman’s musical direction favored heavily, and decided they must work together.
Wrangler had been Maleeva’s musical director, and after he passed away, she invited Brourman to have lunch at the Polo Lounge and discuss becoming her new musical director. She loved Brourman’s song “Games Are Everywhere” so much that they collaborated on Maleeva’s new CD, “Illusions,” with songs including “Games Are Everywhere” and McBroom’s song “Crimes of the Heart.”
According to Brourman, “We would sit together at Irina’s white baby grand, trying out different songs, finding the ones that brought out Irina’s delicious sense of play and her deep sense of drama. As the songs evolved, we decided to record them. We met with my dear friend Stephan Oberhoff, a brilliant engineer, producer, and arranger, and together the three of us began expanding each song for the CD. Irina and I had created the foundation of the arrangements, but with Stephan and I collaborating on the orchestrations, each song grew into three-dimensional beauty. Irina has a very European style of singing and theatricality. All of that shines in “Illusions,” the CD that emerged from our creative process.”
Once the CD was complete, the duo put together a live theater piece using the songs, wrapping them in the stories of Maleeva’s extraordinary life. They performed the show in 2014, also called “Illusions,” at the Hudson Theatre, working with director Randy Johnson, known for his direction of the Broadway play “A Night With Janis Joplin.”
Maleeva and Brourman still love working together. For Maleeva’s latest project, “Sunny’s Closet,” Maleeva performs the show-stopping title song written for her by Brourman and McBroom and co-produced once again with Oberhoff. “Sunny’s Closet” is currently being developed as a feature film.
“I love Michele; she inspires me. We create beautiful music together using songs, famous oldies arranged in a new, personal for me way,” says Maleeva. When we needed a song for “Sunny’s Closet,” I immediately called Michele. I knew that she could compose a beautiful song, and Amanda would write the lyrics. That’s Sunny’s song, “Welcome to My Closet,” which I sing in my short movie. This year I will work with Michele again on a new CD.”
