Hazem Sharif’s post-Idol career heads in unexpected directions

Without the fanfare of a big arena tour that is the usual reward for the winner, Arab Idol's Hazem Sharif is slowly building a career by picking his projects one at a time.

The Shadows at Al Majaz Amphitheatre. Courtesy The Shadows

Hazem Sharif's choices after winning the third season of Arab Idol in December are an interesting industry talking point.

Without the fanfare of a big arena tour that is the usual reward for the winner, Sharif is slowly building a career by picking his projects one at a time.

Last week, his UAE concert debut was memorable for reasons other than his great voice – he performed in Dubai’s Global Village in the midst of a sandstorm.

On a calmer, chilly Friday he followed it up with a more ambitious project, by taking on the lead role in The Shadows, a musical and poetry production at Sharjah's Al Majaz Amphi­theatre.

Written by the Lebanese poet Nadine Al Assad, with music by the Bahraini composer Khaled El Sheikh, The Shadows presents a dreamlike narrative spanning the region, cultures and time.

All of the characters are unnamed – what we can deduce is that Al Assad is the narrator who in the early hours of the night enjoys writing poetry. The evocative and romantic passages were brought to life in musical set pieces performed by Sharif and the Lebanese singer Carole Aoun.

For all the colourful production and eye-popping costumes, The Shadows suffered for being a musical without any real performance – the chief reason being the ill-conceived decision to pre-record everything.

Those familiar with Sharif and Aoun know they are perfectly capable singers, so it was infuriating to see them awkwardly mime their way through the show’s numbers, which were mainly folk tunes from Lebanon and Syria. Even the power of Assad’s poetry was nearly stripped of all its passion due to the heavily processed production.

The overall result was a disconnection between the stage and the audience – we felt like a crowd in a TV studio rather than a theatre audience.

That critical aspect aside, The Shadows deserves some praise for its stage design. Director Munshid Al Sharif and his crew used the amphitheatre's large stage well to evoke some striking moods.

The standout was the climactic scene, during which Sharif and Aoun sang in the evening desert. The Bedouin costumes were beautiful and the final dance routine was a visual treat – the speed and rhythm of the dancers made the colourful fabric resemble flying ribbons.

If only the same amount of care and trust had been given to musical performers, The Shadows would have truly shined.