Review: AMINE HACHEM Takes Feinstein's/54 Below Patrons on a Musical Trip Around the World

The first thing to be noticed when Amine Hachem entered the room at 54 Below on Saturday night was that he really knows how to make an entrance. Dressed in a top coat and winter scarf, making his way from the back of the bar through the audience, Mr. Hachem made the magnificent choice of beginning his epic nightclub act with the sweet, tenderhearted MUPPET MOVIE song "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday" and though no performance can ever come close to matching the wistfulness of Gonzo The Great's, it cannot be denied that Hachem's voice sounded wonderful on the song - of course, his voice would sound wonderful on any composition.

But then he stopped.

Less than halfway through the iconic song that informed nearly everyone's childhood, Amine Hachem changed the word "someday" to "today" and fled the room to doff his outer vestments and, then, stand in the corner of Broadway's Living Room while the band played a seemingly endless overture that included the James Bond theme. Oh, what dramas. Clearly, the standing-room-only house at 54 Below was in for a night of theater, real theater, at the hands of a master.

Amine Hachem is incredibly theatrical. Every note that he sings drips with drama, and all the physical manifestations that go with it. Striking poses and pulling faces, Mr. Hachem was determined to milk every bit of theatricality from every moment that he was on the Feinstein's stage, and his audience was there for it, screaming and cheering, clapping and singing along, at times even swooning. It was like being at a good old-fashioned Tom Jones show, maybe Wayne Newton, definitely Elvis Presley. This is Las Vegas and Atlantic City traveling around the world, and around the world Hachem went because his program was one replete with music from the various countries of his experience and devotion. Singing music from Spain, Mexico, Russia, the USA, and more, Mr. Hachem proved that he can sing anything, he can sing it in any language, and he can sing it well. Whether going full-opera on some Italian arias (the standard ones "O Sole Mio" and "Funiculì, funiculà") or doing his impressive tribute to Elvis in a hip-swinging medley (a surprising highlight in the evening), Hachem is living, breathing, walking, singing proof of what happens when an artist does their homework. Indeed, during all the posing and theatrics, a person with a penchant for something a little more natural might have found themselves pondering how seriously Amine Hachem takes himself. For this cabaret aficionado who actually does prefer something a little more natural, that was the exact thought coursing through the mind... for the first half-hour of Mr. Hachem's show. Then came a different thought.

Do you know what you get when you take yourself seriously? Results. What happens when a tenor takes his craft so seriously that he works at it until he is the best? He becomes the best. And Amine Hachem, for all his theatricality and posing, is one of the best tenors around, a fact made clearly visible by his international popularity and all the devoted fans who flock to 54 Below every time he is in town. Through his lifetime of studying and practicing and singing, Hachem has managed to not only develop his talent to the level that is ultimate to him, he has developed his brand: he knows his audience, he knows what they like, he knows what he likes, and he gives it to them, and they are happy. Once this writer acknowledged that this is the Amine Hachem brand, came the reminder that, as long as a person isn't hurting anyone, as long as they are making people happy, you can't expect an artist to be anything other than what they are. There was no value in my judging Amine Hachem because his aesthetic is not one that generally appeals to me - the only true appraisal of an artist's work comes when that work is considered in the vein in which it is created, the vein in which it is intended. That self-realization firmly taken root, by the time the international tenor got down into the pocket with "Ochi Chornye", he had me. I was on the Amine Hachem train, along with everyone else, clapping and singing, possibly hooting once or twice, and generally acting a fool at 54 Below, and enjoying every minute of it. So, not only is Amine Hachem a fine entertainer, Saturday night he was a good teacher, too.

He was not, though, economic with his time.

Feinstein's/54 Below is a nightclub that plays two shows a night. Many Manhattan clubs do this, and they all walk the fine line of getting the early show out so the second one can start on time. This is not possible when a seven pm club act runs one hundred five minutes long. That's an hour and forty-five minutes. A proper club act should clock in somewhere between sixty and seventy-five minutes - maybe, on special occasions, a show might possibly touch on the ninety-minute mark. No club and cabaret show should run more than an hour and a half. New York City residents live their lives on a schedule - there are other appointments, babysitters, early mornings; more to the point, there is time required after an early show for waiters to settle checks, for patrons to get their coats from coat check, and get out the door. Waitstaff, bartenders, and front-of-house staff must turn the room, and the artist for the 9:45 slot should be afforded their own time in the space to prepare for their own show. When an artist in the seven pm slot permits their show to go on until nearly nine pm, it goes beyond miscalculation to inconsideration. Mr. Hachem might have saved himself and everyone else some time by cutting one or two numbers, starting with the overture or The Theme From The Godfather (perhaps not the most appropriate piece to introduce the music of Italy). Maybe he and musical director Brian Holman could have truncated some of the more lengthy numbers - no matter how spectacular the band is, there were plenty of times for their skill to be shown off to advantage during his more than generous program.

And Amine Hachem is a generous performer. He really knows how to deliver, how to put on a play, how to please his audience. Let the stern tone of the previous paragraph not diminish the message of this review, which is that Mr. Hachem is an entertainer who is beloved, with good reason, and that he has a new fan in the person of this writer. So anytime that the dramatic divo wants to bring his panache and personality to New York City, there is a hearty recommendation from this reviewer for any and every person who loves a good tenor with a flair for the theatrical to plunk down their money, sit back, and enjoy the international ride of music upon which Amine Hachem will take them because it's a fun and satisfying ride.

The Amine Hachem band is Ismael Baiz, James Hynes, Mike Forfia, Nezih Antakli, and Musical Director Brian Holman.

Find great shows to see at the 54 Below website HERE.

HERE is the Amine Hachem website.

Amine Hachem gets a five out of five microphones rating for performing his entire show without the use of a lyric sheet, tablet, or music stand.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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