TINTON FALLS, N.J. - After helping nine senior citizens onto his shuttle bus at Seabrook Retirement Community, Mike Rabinowitz posed a question to his captive audience.
"Anybody want to hear a song?"
The response was unanimous. So, as he drove toward the local Walmart, Rabinowitz belted out three tunes in his rich operatic tenor. The highlight was the Neapolitan classic "O Sole Mio," delivered in heart-tugging Italian. After the finale, Frank Sinatra's "Night and Day," the passengers burst into a chant of "more, more, more!"
Alas, there was no time for an encore. The bus arrived at Walmart, and Rabinowitz switched modes from performer to usher, helping the shoppers off the shuttle.
"You guys are a great fan club," he said as they departed. "Thank you."
Chasing a dream
Rabinowitz, a 51-year-old Toms River resident, studied voice at SUNY-Purchase's Conservatory of Music. He pursued the dream for years, waiting tables while attending open auditions on Broadway, at the Metropolitan Opera and just about everywhere in the region. He did scores of short-term gigs but, as the vast majority of singers know all too well, it never amounted to full-time work.
"It's close to impossible to find that," he said.
As a Keyport resident In 2011, Rabinowitz got hit by a car as he walked his dog. The resulting injuries prompted him to trade waiting tables for work as a driver, which required much less time on his feet. He drove school buses, limousines and even delivered fish. The dream was just about dead when Seabrook transportation manager Ryan Houllier called last summer with a job offer.
Rabinowitz had just one question: Could he serenade his passengers? Houllier was all for it. Within four months, Rabinowitz earned Seabrook's Shining Star award for exceptional customer service.
"Michael wasn't just a great fit, he was the perfect fit," Houllier said.
'Anytime you ask, I'll sing'
Word of the crooning bus driver spread throughout Seabrook (population: 1,500), and before long passengers started boarding with requests in mind, ready to sing along.
"I tell them, 'Anytime you ask, I'll sing,'" Rabinowitz said. "I studied 30 years to do this, so it's nice to hear someone say, 'I'd like to hear you sing a song.' And I always joke that I don't have a band, so if you want to sing along I don't care what your voice is like -- God bless."
He had a big chorus for "Night and Day" during Thursday's trip to Walmart. Sinatra always gets this crowd fired up.
"We love to get on the bus with him — it's entertainment," longtime Seabrook resident Audrey Grogan said. "On the longer trips it's even better. It's opera, we get modern stuff too, and he takes requests from some of the girls."
Time for a concert
Rabinowitz has fun with it, but he takes his voice seriously. As often as he can, he visits New York City to train under the renown instructor Maria Zhorella — a 100-year-old legend who continues to coach some of the biggest names in the industry at her Upper West Side apartment.
"I have a soft spot in my heart for him — he's such a nice, good person with a God-given gift," Zhorella told the Asbury Park Press by phone. "He gives lovely, lovely music to the people there. I think he should give them concerts."
He will be doing just that, performing an hour-long set with a guitar May 31 at Seabrook. It will be nice to sing without turning a steering wheel or checking a rear view mirror, not that he minds.
"This has been the most gratifying gig I've ever had," Rabinowitz said. "It's hard to find people who appreciate a trained voice. To have so many people who really enjoy my singing, it's amazing. It's wonderful."
