This weekend, Josh Groban invites you “attend the tale” of Sweeney Todd. The new Broadway production of the Stephen Sondheim musical starts previews on Sunday, with Josh in the starring role. It’s his second Broadway musical, following his 2016 debut in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, and he says he’s going to apply what he learned that first time to the new production.
“I think pacing yourself is really important,” he tells ABC Audio. “When you’re doing that many shows for that long…you have to give every single audience everything you have…in a way that you can recharge and do it again for the next audience, the next show — sometimes two in a day.”
But one option on Broadway — which Josh doesn’t have when he’s on tour — is being able to rely on others if for some reason, he’s not at 100%.
“[When] you do as many shows as we’re embarking [on], you’re going to do it through nights you don’t feel great. That’s why it’s so great to be in a cast,” he notes. “It’s different than the concert mentality…we’re all part of the story together and you lean on that.”
“There were plenty of times in Great Comet that I’d say to the cast members, ‘I need you to catch me tonight because I need that energy.’ It’s just a silent thing that theater community understands. And before you know it, you’re taking a bow. And that’s a really cool feeling.”
Above all, Josh wants fans to treat Sweeney Todd as an “escape,” even though it’s, as he puts it, “scary as hell.”
“I invite people to leave their troubles at stage door and come in and get a really, really awesome story,” he says.
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.