Josh Groban comes full circle in ‘Stages’

GROBAN. Reconnects with his musical-theater roots.

Josh Groban was only in seventh grade when he performed in public for the first time, singing Gershwin’s enduring 1927 show tune, “‘S Wonderful” (from “Funny Face” and “An American in Paris”), for his school’s cabaret night.

Armed with stadium-ready pipes, he wanted to pursue a career in musical theater, but ended up blazing the trail in “popera” and crossover music, instead.

After his significant participation in 2008’s concert staging of “Chess,” the 34-year-old operatic-pop luminary comes full circle in his latest album, “Stages,” where he covers some of musical theater’s most memorable songs, like “Over The Rainbow” (from “Wizard of Oz”), “You’ll Never Walk Alone” (“Carousel”) and the stirring “Anthem” (from “Chess”).

So, if you’re partial to show tunes and exceptional singing—quick, make a beeline for Groban’s sensational seventh studio album, his first No. 1 album in the United Kingdom, which allows him to reconnect with his musical-theater roots.

His honey-coated vocals and lyrical singing don’t always guarantee success (“Try to Remember” is more schmaltzy than substantial) but, for the most part, they do the trick.

The collection immortalizes the singer’s smashing renditions of the dreamy “Pure Imagination,” the breathtaking “If I Loved You” (with Audra McDonald, ravishing in her dramatic trills), and “Empty Chairs and Empty Tables,” made more haunting by the elegiac flourishes in its arrangement!

A curious collaboration has Groban singing “All I Ask of You” with country star and American Idol Kelly Clarkson, who happily steps out of her comfort zone—and winkingly demonstrates her enviable stratospheric range!

For those weaned on his foreign-language singles, the balladeer covers familiar ground in “Le Temps des Cathedrales” (from the French-Québécois  musical, “Notre-Dame de Paris”).

Groban delivers his biggest “wow” moments in Stephen Sondheim’s melodically knotty but ingeniously crafted “Finishing the Hat,” the rabble-rousing wrap-up to “What I Did for Love,” his seamless natural voice-to-falsetto shifts in “Bring Him Home,” and his effusively emotive fusion of “Children Will Listen” and “Not While I’m Around.” —Talk about musically delectable treats, “Stages” is one of the season’s best bets!