Robert Davi

Davi’s Way
Birdland Theater, NYC, January 25, 2020
Reviewed by Ron Forman

You may not know the name Robert Davi, but you know his face from his more than 150 movie and television roles, usually portraying a cop or a villain. You probably don’t know that the operatically trained Davi is a very talented vocalist. Dressed elegantly in a tuxedo, his look is perfect for a tribute to Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. He displays great confidence on stage and is equally adept at relating a story as he is at covering the songs of the two iconic performers. Like Sinatra, Davi knows the importance of the lyric to each song that he performs, so his diction makes each word crystal clear. His acting ability is on display in many of the songs, and in the intimacy of the Birdland Theater, his facial expressions and arm and hand movements make you think that he is singing directly to you.

The show opened with the swinging jazz quartet that backed him playing the James Bond Theme to remind us that Davi played the villain Frank Sanchez in the Bond film License to Kill.  The singer’s opening number, performed as he walked through the audience, was “I’ve Got the World on a String,” a song Sinatra frequently used to open his shows. It was followed by two swinging numbers: “Day In Day Out” and “At Long Last Love.”  Davi used the story of his recent marriage to appropriately introduce a song Sinatra sang in his Tommy Dorsey days “Oh Look at Me Now.” He walked through the audience shaking hands while performing “Nice ‘n’ Easy,” the song that gave him the title to his best-selling CD, On the Road to Romance. He showed his ability to sing a dramatic love song, beginning “Something” softly, then building to a powerful conclusion. He dedicated “For Once in My Life” to his new bride and his performance had me believing that he really meant it. He displayed his operatic training with the thrilling manner in which he held the final notes of “Come Rain or Come Shine.”  Davi’s first film, Contract on Cherry Street, starred Frank Sinatra. An amusing story about meeting Sinatra in a Greenwich Village bar during the filming preceded his performance of “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.” The audience joined to sing-along with “King of the Road.” His great acting ability was especially apparent in his very dramatic “Little Green Apples.” Davi’s life and career has given him the gravitas to make his performance of “My Way” the perfect way to end this memorable 80-minute show.