Singer Josh Groban brought his “Stage, Screen, and Symphony” tour to Blossom Friday on a beautiful late summer evening. While sparsely attended, the audience was mesmerized by the vocal talents of Groban and the musicians that he brought with him.
A Los Angeles theater kid at heart, this tour was designed to emulate tunes made popular in both movies and on stage. After being “discovered” rather by accident, Groban went on to a recording career largely by happenstance: he was noticed during a Grammy rehearsal of “The Prayer” dueting with Celine Dion, as a stand in for Andrea Bocelli. Recognized by both Grammys host Rosie O’Donnell and David Foster, who produced his first album, his new career sidelined his studies at Carnegie-Mellon University.
O’Donnell was mesmerized by his voice and had him on her talk show the following week and the rest, as they say, is history.
Endorsing the importance of music education, he brought out 18-year old Samia Posadas to duet with him on “All I Ask of You” from Phantom of the Opera. Posadas then soloed a tune from Les Miserables, the wonderful “On My Own.” The Akron Symphony Orchestra provided string and brass support throughout the night.
After a short intermission and costume change, Groban came back out for a second act, this time highlighting violinist Lucia Micarelli. She then played “The Red Violin Caprices: Main Theme and Variation” from the film The Red Violin. Immediately afterward, she provided violin accompaniment as Groban sang the love theme from Cinema Paradiso.
Perhaps the highlight of the evening was a fantastic duet of the late Glen Hansard’s tune “Falling Slowly” from the film Once; Micarelli did both vocal and violin duties with Groban.
Offering “Send In the Clowns,” Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” and Adele’s hit from the eponymous James Bond film “Skyfall” wrapped things up before his encore tune of, what else, but “Over the Rainbow.”
