As Joey Infante ambled to the stage for the start of his recent show at the Metropolitan Room, he received the kind of rousing ovation usually reserved for conquering cabaret heroes who regularly play rooms like Feinstein’s or Café Carlyle or even The Town Hall. Only this applause—coming as it did from what seemed like a thousand of Infante’s friends in a room that seats 115—had a dual twinge of support and hope emanating from it, as if the audience were willing Joey to knock ‘em dead.

The electricity in the room was palpable and Joey appeared a bit surprised, even overwhelmed by the reaction. After all, by Infante’s own admission, it had been 20 years since the former actor/dancer (who was actually discovered by Richard Rodgers in the late ‘50s) performed a solo show in New York as a singer. His opening number, “Once in a Lifetime” (Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse), was both self-revelatory and prescient and couldn’t have expressed the situation better: To paraphase the song’s lyric, this was Joey Infante’s moment . . . his one special moment . . . his once in a lifetime moment . . . when fate would take his hand and he would do great things. Infante was putting his performing soul on the line with this show and the Met Room crowd knew it. By the end of Babalu, the Cuban-born singer was, as the lyric also proclaims, “soaring like an eagle, as though he had wings.”

Infante has been a regular at open mics and variety shows like Wednesday Night at the Iguana, The Salon and the Algonquin for years and knows or has befriended almost everyone in the New York cabaret scene. But crooning a tune or two at an open mic is one thing; carrying a solo show of nearly 20 songs would be an extreme challenge for Joey and his director, Jillian Laurain, who also serves as his vocal coach. Infante may not have the smoothest voice or the greatest range, but Laurain got the most out of his pleasant baritone and took Joey to the top of his game. If Infante seemed to lose his breath at times during the show, it was less about him running out of steam and more about the adrenaline he was feeding on from his audience’s energy.

As he displayed throughout Babalu, Joey brings his innate Latin passion, a warm, charming personality, and a sheer sense of joy to his singing that is not only engaging and entertaining, but also infectious. Even his band had Infante fever. While the quartet of Musical Director/pianist Barry Levitt, Jon Burr on bass, Howie Gordon on drums and Mayra Casales on percussion didn’t have any extended solos, they were tight and energetic throughout in what was one of the two best band performances behind a cabaret singer this reviewer has seen and heard this year. (Not surprisingly, the other was the Levitt-led group for Laurain’s Barbara Streisand tribute show in April.)

Infante looked both dapper and dangerous in an outfit that was a cool combination of 1930s gangster and Sonny Crockett from Miami Vice—grey/black leather jacket, black leather pants, and black shirt accentuated with white cuffs and a white tie. After revving up the audience with “Once in a Lifetime,” the rest of the set was a mix of Great American Songbook (“Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “That Old Black Magic,” “Orange Colored Sky”) and Broadway (“Come Rain or Come Shine,” a “Maria”/“Tonight” medley from West Side Story, and another Newley/Bricusse number, “What Kind of Fool Am I?), and the Latin love songs that are right in Infante’s comfort zone, including “Besame Mucho” (which he sang near the top of the show to fulfill a promise to his late mother).

Not that Joey didn’t take chances or include some surprises. Early in the set was an inspired combination of “Never Never Land” and “Pure Imagination” (from Peter Pan and Willy Wonk.a…, respectively), which was Joey’s proclamation that he’ll never grow old or up. “Ol’ Man River” and “I Who Have Nothing” aren’t easy assignments for seasoned vocalists, but Joey pulled them off with emotion to spare. He even put over a fun, bouncy original song “Wearing My Shoes,” written by his partner James (Michael) McDonald, about getting even after a broken love affair.

By the time Joey reached the final third of the show dominated by the Latin love songs, the raucous applause after every number had been transformed from heartfelt encouragement to genuine enthusiasm and outright love. From “Malaguena” to “Acércate Mas” (“Come Closer to Me”) to “Sway” to “Amor,” Infante built to a passionate climax with the intense, rhythmic and driving “Babalu” (Margarita Lecuona), which culminated with an almost orgasmic standing ovation. Let’s put it this way: if Lucille Ball was still alive and had been at this show, she would have fallen in love with another Cuban singer. Should he perform another show down the road, Joey Infante can probably raise the bar even higher as a vocalist. But as an entertainer, he might never again experience the emotional high that permeated this first show. And that will probably be fine with Joey. Tho’ it may be just once in his lifetime, he’s already done his great thing.

Stephen Hanks
Cabaret Scenes
June 21, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org