Sheera Ben-David

Sheera Ben-David is the Melinda Doolittle of cabaret. In December 2005, there was no question that Ben-David was the best singer in the final round of the Oak Room’s first (and, to date, only) Young Artists Competition; songs nestled into the warm, earthy folds of her voice like lovers on a bearskin rug. And yet, in a scenario familiar to American Idol’s class act Doolittle, the panel of judges wound up awarding the contest’s grand prize—a two-week run at the prestigious Algonquin Hotel venue—to a younger, sunnier and less accomplished contestant. Recognizing the injustice of this outcome, the Oak Room went ahead and booked Ben-David anyhow for a weeklong run last year, in which the 29-year-old singer demonstrated interpretive acumen to undergird her big and lush sound. (That she moonlights as a cantor at a Rockland County synagogue is a testament to her versatility.)

Ben-David’s taste in material gravitates to the serious side, with many selections by the tormented Belgian troubadour Jacques Brel—to whom she devoted her 2001 debut CD—as well as dramatic pop songs by modern writers, such as John Bucchino’s tender, sad “If I Ever Say I’m Over You.” But the heaviness is offset by haimishly irreverent patter and comic numbers, including a foray into Gallic nonsense in “The French Song.” Her two shows at the Met Room this month offer another chance to hear what makes her singing so satisfying: Others may flash brighter in the pan, but in the final reduction, Ben-David’s rich and substantial taste wins the day. — Adam Feldman - TIME OUT NY, David Finkle (2007)

Sheera Ben-David, who is appearing through tomorrow at the Oak Room in the Algonquin Hotel, stands out as a fully developed dramatic singer who delivers the goods on several counts.

Ms. Ben-David, who placed second last year in the first Oak Room Young Artist Competition, has a strong expressive voice, phrasing that cuts a swath through a song, and a focused interpretive point of view. Like most singers in the subgenre, she is more expressive when holding back her considerable power than when belting. Ms. Ben-David has a particular affinity for the introspective emotional puzzles of the songwriter John Bucchino, two of whose pieces (“Unexpressed” and “If I Ever Say I’m Over You”) are included in her program.

She is also a forthright, amusing raconteur, who recalls having a Guns N’ Roses poster as a seventh grader that prompted her parents to accuse her of worshipping the devil. “And I was,” she adds cheerfully.

Much of her patter concerns her recent marriage to an investment banker. Her version of “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” segued with “You’ll Never Get Away From Me,” is a darkly humorous autobiographical commentary on a couple living beyond their means. Her husband, she jokes, arrives home from work at 3 a.m. and can’t sleep from financial anxiety. Yet they have a housekeeper and eat out in restaurants. “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” is her blithe assurance that all will be well.

But will it? The generic hothouse Ms. Ben-David occupies is an extremely crowded arena of jockeying princesses. Her challenge is discovering how to flourish in the great outdoors. - New York Times, Stephen Holden(2006)