Tony Bennett: Duets II, a presentation of THIRTEEN’s Great Performances, features the singer’s greatest hits, performed by Bennett and today’s biggest stars, including John Mayer, Michael Bublé, k.d. lang, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, Queen Latifah, Norah Jones, Josh Groban, Faith Hill, Alejandro Sanz, Carrie Underwood and more.

The sessions, filmed to capture the magic of these performers singing with the master of the Great American Songbook, airs on Friday, January 27, 2012, at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings).

Watch a preview:

Great Performances is a production of THIRTEEN for WNET, one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers. For nearly 50 years, WNET has been producing and broadcasting national and local arts programming to the New York community.

The album took more than six months to record, with each track recorded face-to-face with his singer partners in studios around the world, from LA to Nashville to London.  Among the many highlights is Amy Winehouse’s last recorded track (“Body and Soul”), which was produced in London’s famous Abbey Road Studios in March.  Other tracks were recorded in New York in late July: the Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart classic, “The Lady Is a Tramp” with Lady Gaga, and the Alan and Marilyn Bergman classic, “How Do You Keep the Music Playing,” with Aretha Franklin, and “Stranger in Paradise” with Andrea Bocelli, recorded at the singer’s Italian home (see full track listing below).

The CD received kudos from all quarters. The Wall Street Journal noted that the singer was “…constantly reaffirming his position as pop music’s greatest living patriarch,” and Associated Press observed, “Tony Bennett is as timeless as the songs he sings on ‘Duets II.’”

The musical segments are highlighted by insights on the process from the performers, making for an up-close look at one of the year’s most celebrated recordings. The sessions were filmed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Dion Beebe (“Chicago,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Collateral”), providing a personal, behind-the-scenes look at Bennett’s latest collaborations and his artistic approach with each song.

Entering his seventh decade as a recording artist with more than 100 albums and 15 Grammy Awards including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Bennett has earned his legendary status many times over.  He remains the Columbia recording artist with the greatest longevity at the label.  His 2007 primetime special, “Tony Bennett:  An American Classic,” won seven Emmy Awards and was directed by Academy Award winner Rob Marshall.

He has performed for Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Reagan, Geroge H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama.  He also worked with and marched alongside Martin Luther King in his 1965 civil rights march and was honored with the Martin Luther King’s Salute to Greatness Award.

In addition to performing, he is a visual artist as well, with three of his original paintings featured in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian, including his portraits of Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington.  His humanitarian efforts are renowned, and the United Nations honored him with their Humanitarian Award in 2007.

He has published three books — his autobiography, The Good Life, and two collections of his paintings, Tony Bennett: What My Heart Has Seen and Tony Bennett in the Studio: A Life of Art and Music.  Bennett founded, in association with the Department of Education in New York City, the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts — a public arts high school in his hometown of Astoria, Queens. With his wife, Susan, he established Exploring the Arts, a charitable organization that supports arts education in NYC public high schools.  Exploring the Arts supports 14 public high schools throughout New York City.

In the fall of 2007, a documentary of Bennett’s life and career, produced by Clint Eastwood, “Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends,” aired on THIRTEEN’s American Masters on PBS.

The full song program follows:

“The Lady Is a Tramp” (Lady Gaga)
“One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)” (John Mayer)
“Body and Soul” (Amy Winehouse)
“Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” (Michael Bublé)
“Blue Velvet” (k.d. lang)
“How Do You Keep the Music Playing” (Aretha Franklin)
“The Girl I Love” (Sheryl Crow)
“On the Sunny Side of the Street” (Willie Nelson)
“Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)” (Queen Latifah)
“Speak Low” (Norah Jones)
“This Is All I Ask” (Josh Groban)
“Watch What Happens” (Natalie Cole)
“Stranger in Paradise” (Andrea Bocelli)
“The Way You Look Tonight” (Faith Hill)
“Yesterday I Heard the Rain” (Alejandro Sanz)
“It Had to Be You” (Carrie Underwood)

Great Performances is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Vivian Milstein, the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, the Starr Foundation, the Filomen M. D’Agostino Foundation, the Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, public television viewers, and PBS.

Tony Bennett: Duets II is produced by RPM TV Productions, Inc. For Great Performances, Bill O’Donnell is series producer; David Horn is executive producer.

Watch a preview:

Great Performances is a production of THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG – one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers.

“A fantastic night” proclaimed musiccomh.com, while thestage.co asked “Is there an original pop musical stuffed with better melodies?” neatly echoing Time’s initial 1988 assessment: “One of the best rock scores ever produced.” Adding to the excitement is the 50-piece City of London Philharmonic, led by David Firman, and the 100-voice West End Chorus.

ABBA composers Andersson and Ulvaeus created their first musical theater work more than a decade before striking pay dirt with their phenomenon, Mamma Mia. It was the inspired idea of lyricist/librettist Rice to match the pair with his cold war tale: the East/West Chess Championship and the romantic triangle that develops between the Russian and American competitors and the beautiful woman who manages one and falls in love with the other. Chart topper Groban (Awake, Closer, Noel) sings the Russian player, Anatoly; Rent Tony and Drama Desk Award-nominee Pascal is the American Freddie, and Tony-winner Menzel (Wicked Witch Elphaba) is Florence, the woman between them.

Chess in Concert is a co-production of THIRTEEN, Reprise Records and Peppermint Pictures, in association with Heartaches Ltd. Directed for telecast by David Horn and produced by Austin Shaw, it was recorded at Albert Hall May 12, 2008. Hugh Wooldridge staged the concert adaptation.

Josh Groban includes among his many Great Performances appearances Josh Groban in Concert (2002), Josh Groban at the Greek (2004) and last December’s David Foster & Friends. Adam Pascal was most recently seen in the series’ My Favorite Broadway: The Love Songs (2001). Chess in Concert marks Idina Menzel’s Great Performances debut.

Great Performances is funded by the Irene Diamond Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, Vivian Milstein, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, public television viewers, and PBS.

Photo: Karl Simone

“Dear friends,” 15 Grammy Award-winner David Foster calls them, “some of my favorite people in the world.” To you and me, however, they’re better known as Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban and Michael Bublé. The gilded trio leads a parade of entertainers nurtured by the Canadian-born producer, honoring him in a gala concert this December on PBS (check local listings).

Recorded live in performance at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center, Hitman: David Foster & Friends features Foster himself presiding center stage at the keyboard. The evening is a virtual jukebox worth of songs written by and/or produced by him. Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and brother Kevon offer “I Swear;” Brian McKnight revisits Earth, Wind and Fire’s “After the Love Has Gone;” former Chicago front man Peter Cetera gets down with “Hard to Say I’m Sorry,” “You’re the Inspiration” and “Glory of Love;” while Boz Scaggs reprises “Look What You’ve Done to Me” from Urban Cowboy.

Neatly arcing Foster’s remarkable 35-year career, other highlights range from early hits like St. Elmo’s Fire Love Theme, recalled here by Kenny G; and “Man in Motion,” performed by American Idol hottie Michael Johns, through foot stompin’ disco with Cheryl Lynn’s “Got to Be Real,” to the neo-jazz swing of Michael Bublé’s “Feeling Good.”

Also look for American Idol’s Katharine McPhee soloing on “Somewhere” then joining Italian tenor Bocelli for “The Prayer”; Bocelli’s silky “Amapola”; Bublé and Country’s Blake Shelton duetting to Bublé’s “Home,” and new Foster discovery William Joseph at the keyboard for “Asturias.” And if Josh Groban brings the house down with signatures “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (in duet with Brian McKnight) and “You Raise Me Up,” Scene Stealer Award would have to go to 16-year-old power-house Charice, from the Philippines. Best known in America for her appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, she stuns both audience and Foster with the Whitney Houston-by-way-of-Dolly Parton hit “I Will Always Love You.”

“A star is born tonight,” a genuinely startled Foster exclaims – a man who knows whereof he speaks. Over the past 35 years, he has amassed among his 15 Grammys three for producer of the year. He has also been nominated a whopping 44 times. He has produced hits with everyone from Natalie Cole to Celine Dion, from Barbra Streisand to the Corrs, Madonna to Chicago. He has also overseen such blockbuster soundtracks as The Bodyguard, Footloose and Ghostbusters.

More recently, he has created his own label, 143 (I Love You) Records, in partnership with Warner Brothers, where he’s developing the careers of Groban, Bublé and McPhee, to name just a few lustrous protégés.

Featuring pre-recorded segments with Dion and Foster offering “Because You Loved Me” and a special appreciation from Streisand (“David, thanks for spending part of your musical life with me”), Hitman: David Foster & Friends is a co-production of Chartmaker Records, Inc., Thirteen/WNET New York and Align Entertainment Group LLC. Also available on DVD from Warner Brothers Home Video, it is directed by David Horn and co-produced by Horn and Mitch Owgang. David Foster is Executive Producer.

“I’m grateful for my musical past,” says the still-youthful Foster, 58, who began playing the piano at age 5 and enrolled in the University of Washington’s summer music program at 13. “And I have great anticipation about the musical adventures waiting to reveal themselves in the future. I’m one happy, fortunate and lucky guy.”

GREAT PERFORMANCES is funded by the Irene Diamond Fund, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, public television viewers, and PBS.

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About the Writer

Samantha Gleisten is a journalist and playwright based in Chicago. Her theater reviews can be found at Centerstage.net.

Television Credits

Executive Producers
John Beug and David Horn

Directed by
David Horn

Staged by
Daniel Ezralow

Created by
Daniel Ezralow & Josh Groban

Co-Produced by
Brian Avnet

Producer
Angela Fairhurst

Editor
Gary Bradley

Production Designer
Bruce Ryan

Lighting Designer
Simon Miles

Music Produced and Mixed by
David Foster & Humberto Gatica

Conductor
William Ross

Musical Director
Zachary Provost

Projection Design
Amy Shock

Art Director
Griff Lambert

Associate Producer
Richard A. Pizante

Coordinating Producer
Mona Niemiec

Associate Director
Robin Felsen von Halle

Stage Managers
Valdez Flagg
Peter M. Margolis
Debbie Williams

Technical Director
Cliff Miracle

Camera Operators
Ted Ashton
Danny Bonilla
Manny Bonilla
Hank Geving
Larry Heider
Wayne Orr
Kenny Patterson
Danny Webb
Kris Wilson

Video Control
Guy Jones

Video Tape OP
Fred Quillen

Production Manager
Marti Ramirez

Production Supervisor
Allison Miller

Script Supervisor
Michele Zugschwerdt

Production Coordinator
Bart Peters

Production Staff
Dave Corey
Chontel Crenshaw
Stephen McAghon
Chip McCuiston
Patrick McMahon
Denise Pizante
Johnathan Feid
Kristanna Zubchevich

Staging Supervisor
Al Moses

Gaffer
Tom Birt

Music Contractors
Sandy DeCrescent
David J. Low

Music Librarian
Matthew Della Pola

Recording Engineers
Guy Charbonneau
Humberto Gatica

Assistant Engineer
Chris Brook

Audio Mixer
Ish Garcia

Sound Coordinator/PA Mixer
Chris Taylor

Monitor Mixers
Mike Parker
Pierre Requena
John E. Kusnirik

RF PLS
John Arenas

A2’s
Steve Anderson
Danny Cruz
Craig Rovello
Pete San Filipo

Audio
Charlie Bouis
Ted Barela
Ian C. Charbonneau
James Fahlgren

Pro Tool Digital Editing
Dave Reitzis

Pro Tool Engineer
Joe Wohlmuth

Utilities
Dan Andersen
Charlie Fernandez
Dan Frizzell
Frank Linder
Scott Spiegel

Wardrobe Handler
Carla Coffee

Key Makeup
Rita Marie Beeman

Angie Stone’s Makeup
Joanetta Stowers

Technical Facilities
Sweetwater Video Productions
ATK Audiotek
Centerstaging
Le Mobile

Post-Production Facilities
Handmade Video
Chartmaker Studios
Sony Music Studios
Westlake Audio

Rehearsal Space
SIR Music
Centerstaging

Projection
American Hi Def

For Josh Groban

Vocal Coach
David Romano

Production Coordinator
Lynne Malone

Assistant
Jimmy Lee

Hair
Jillanne O’Neill

Makeup
Lauren Kaye Cohen

The Band
Leader/Keyboards
Zachary Provost

Electric Guitar
Tariqh Akoni

Percussion
Timothy Curle

Bass
Eric Holden

Drums
John Robinson

Acoustic Guitar
Ramon Stagnaro

The Orchestra
Nico Carmine Abondolo
Phillip Ayling
Emily Bernstein
Roberto Cani
Franklyn D’Antonio
Sandy DeCrescent
Matthew Della Polla
Bruce Dukov
Steve Erdody
Steve Forman
Matthew Funes
Armen Garabedian
Gregory Goodall
Endre Granat
Gary Gray
Michael E. Grego
Alan Grunfeld
Amy Hershberger
Dennis Karmazyn
Armen Ksajikian
Stephen Kujala
Sungil Lee
Dimitrie Leivici
Gayle Levant
Phillip Levy
David Low
Robin Olson
Simon Oswel
Karie L. Prescott
Shanti D. Randall
Eric W. Rigler
Rafel Rishik
Mark Robertson
John Scanlon
Haim Shtrum
Andrew T. Shulman
David Speltz
Sheridon Stokes
Lisa M. Sutton
James W. Thachter
Richard Todd
Sebastian Toettcher
Michael Valerio
James Walker
David F. Walther
Phillip Edward Yao
Kenneth Yerke

David Foster appears courtesy of 143 Records/Atlantic Recording Corporation
Lili Haydn appears courtesy of the RCA Records Label
Andrea Corr appears courtesy of 143 Records/Lava Records/
Atlantic Recording Corporation
Angie Stone appears courtesy of J Records Inc.
Rhys Fulber appears courtesy of Nettwerk Productions

Songs/Writer/Publisher

“Alla Luce Del Sole”
Music: Maurizio Fabrizio
Lyrics: Guido Morra
Universal Music Italia

“You’re Still You”
Music: Ennio Morricone
Lyrics: Linda Thompson
RTI Music SIAE admin. by Bamboo Tattoo, Inc. in the U.S./Brandon Brody Music/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. BMI. All rights on behalf of Brandon Brody Music adm. by Warner-Tamerlane Pub. Corp. BMI

“Vincent Starry, Starry Night”
Don McLean
Benny Bird Co., Inc. administered by Songs of Universal, Inc. BMI
Produced and arranged by David Foster

“Gira Con Me Questa Notte”
Lyrics: Lucio Quarantotto
Music: David Foster/Walter Afanasieff
Sugar-Melodi, Inc. ASCAP/143 Music/Peermusic Ltd. BMI/Chartmaker Music/Sony/ATV Tunes LLC/Wallyworld Music ASCAP

“Un Amore Per Sempre”
Music: Walter Afanasieff
Lyrics: Marco Marinangeli
Sony/ATV Tunes LLC/Wallyworld Music/Dither Music Publishing Co./Halaron Music ASCAP

“Alejate”
Albert Hammond/Marti Sharron
Albert Hammond Enterprises all rights admin. by WB Music Corp. ASCAP/Mining Gold Music BMI
Spanish adaptation by Claudia Brant

“Broken Vow”
Walter Afanasieff/Laura Crokert
Sony Tunes Inc./Wally World Music/Sony/ATV ASCAP

“To Where You Are”
Music: Richard Marx
Lyrics: Linda Thompson
Chi-Boy Music ASCAP/Brandon Brody Music/Warner-Tamerlane Pub. Corp. BMI. All rights on behalf of Brandon Brody Music adm. by Warner-Tamerlane Pub. Corp. BMI

“Cinema Paradiso Se”
Music by Ennio Morricone & Andrea Morricone
Lyrics by Alessio De Sensi
EMI General Music SRL c/o EMI April Music Inc. ASCAP

“For Always”
Music by John Williams
Lyrics by Cynthia Weil
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp/Songs of DreamWorks/Dyad Music, Ltd. BMI

“Home To Stay”
Amy Foster-Gillies/Jeremy Lubbock
EMI Blackwood Music Inc./Maida Vale Music BMI/Rosongs-Music Pieces

“Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”
Johann Sebastian Bach

“Canto Alla Vita”
Giuseppe Dettori/A. Galbiati/A. Rapetti
EMI Blackwood Music Inc. obo EMI Music Publishing Italia SRL BMI

“The Prayer”
Words and Music by Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. BMI
Italian translation: Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

“Let Me Fall” from Cirque du Soleil
James Corcoran/Jutras Benoit
Gog and Magog Music/Meandres Inc. Creations SOCAN

A production of Warner Bros. Records Inc. and Thirteen/WNET New York

© 2002 Reprise Records/143 Records

The contents of these GREAT PERFORMANCES Web pages are copyrighted under United States and other copyright laws. You may not download, reproduce, transmit, display, distribute or make derivative works from the contents of the GREAT PERFORMANCES Web pages other than for personal use without the advance written permission of the copyright owner. Any unauthorized use of any of the contents of the GREAT PERFORMANCES Online Web pages may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.

Performers

Josh Groban

David Foster

John Williams

Lili Haydn

Andrea Corr

Angie Stone

The Band

Zachary Provost: Leader/Keyboards

Tariqh Akoni: Electric Guitar

Timothy Curle: Percussion

Eric Holden: Bass

John Robinson: Drums

Ramon Stagnaro: Acoustic Guitar

The Orchestra

Nico Carmine Abondolo

Phillip Ayling

Emily Bernstein

Roberto Cani

Franklyn D’Antonio

Sandy DeCrescent

Matthew Della Polla

Bruce Dukov

Steve Erdody

Steve Forman

Matthew Funes

Armen Garabedian

Gregory Goodall

Endre Granat

Gary Gray

Michael E. Grego

Alan Grunfeld

Amy Hershberger

Dennis Karmazyn

Armen Ksajikian

Stephen Kujala

Sungil Lee

Dimitrie Leivici

Gayle Levant

Phillip Levy

David Low

Robin Olson

Simon Oswel

Karie L. Prescott

Shanti D. Randall

Eric W. Rigler

Rafel Rishik

Mark Robertson

John Scanlon

Haim Shtrum

Andrew T. Shulman

David Speltz

Sheridon Stokes

Lisa M. Sutton

James W. Thachter

Richard Todd

Sebastian Toettcher

Michael Valerio

James Walker

David F. Walther

Phillip Edward Yao

Kenneth Yerke

William Ross: Conductor

Question 1: Is everybody in your family as musically inclined as you?

Answer: My family is pretty musical in that they enjoy and appreciate music from all genres. When I was young, they really made sure I was exposed to some great music, and I definitely got my ear from my dad, who learned to play both piano and trumpet by ear when he was in high school and college. My younger brother plays guitar, but his real passion is film.

Question 2: What do you love most about singing?

Answer: Singing brings out in me what I can’t normally bring out in everyday life. It’s an incredible feeling to be able to bare your soul to people you’ve never met in a way that can make them understand so clearly what you mean. That’s what I love most about singing … it becomes my truest form of communication.

Question 3: The music you sing is beautiful, to say the least, but you’re a pretty good drummer as well. Did you ever aspire to be a professional drummer, or is it merely a pastime for you?

Answer: Yay! Thanks for this question. I LOVE the drums. I’ve always bought CDs that were drum heavy and featured amazing drummers, and it’s been my main hobby for the last five years. I hope one day to join a band as a drummer, but in the meantime the most professional it will get is a little bit on tour or on my next album if I get brave enough.

Question 4: What kind of advice would you give to someone who dreams of a career in vocal music and acting? It is frustrating with so many ups and downs.

Answer: When I found out that I had “the bug” for music and acting, something just turned on like a light switch and I … [had] a one-track mind that I HAD to get as much training as possible and go for it one day. There are many ups and downs, but the one thing that I’ve learned that has helped me is that for someone starting out it takes two things (besides talent) … unending drive and patience. Immerse yourself in your craft and study other artists around you as much as you train yourself. Other than that, it can come down to being at the right place at the right time. But if you’re driven enough and you’re prepared, your chances of that happening are much greater. Good luck!

Josh Groban: Well, even back when we were first starting to make the CD, really as far back as when I was in high school, I always dreamed of one day doing a show on PBS, because I had grown up watching so many great PBS performances and being inspired by them. All the shows on GREAT PERFORMANCES — “Sunday in the Park with George” was the first musical I ever saw and it was on TV, it was on PBS, with Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters, and then “Sweeney Todd” with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury. It really kind of introduced me … to a whole new world out there that I wanted to be a part of. So, when we were making the CD and the CD was done and we were trying to build a fan base, I knew that eventually — I had hoped, at least — that I would do a television concert at some point in my career. And I hoped that it would be on PBS. I never thought that it would happen at 21. It was just something that I always kind of knew that I would do, and so the entire process of it was just such a joy to do because it was like a dream come true.

GP: Can you tell me a little bit about the process of doing the PBS special? From the idea to the actual taping.

JG: Well, I had never done a TV special before. I’ve had to build a team around me to make an album, but I’ve never had to work with a team that had so much more to think about than just recording music for an album. We were essentially recording an album, but we were doing it with production trucks and video cameras and an audience and a stage. Filming a TV special is extremely difficult because you’re on a budget, you’re on a time limit, and the pressure is on to get it right, right away. Not to mention the pressure is on for me, to have something in my hand that I’m going to watch for the rest of my life and make sure that it’s something that I am absolutely proud of. So the planning stages were many, many months, in terms of who I wanted to have on the show and what kind of instruments I’d like to have and what the setup would be and how to make it look unique and how to make me appear on stage the way that I’d like to do a show. I wanted the theatricality, but I didn’t want it to go too much in that direction. But on the other hand, I’m not the kind of performer that stands on stage with an orchestra behind him for the whole show.

You know, it was great, I had a great, great team around me, between my manager Brian Avnet and my stage director Danny Ezralow, who also created the show with me, and with lighting by Simon Miles. Just so many amazing people came on board, and we all sat at a big table and we said, “What about this?” “Oh yeah, that would be great,” “What about this?” “That’ll be amazing.” It was just lots of late-night coffee shop talks … then the real tough part started. The stuff that I’m not really used to, the budget meetings, and a lot of roadblocks were put up and we had to work around them and it made finishing the process, and finishing it far beyond anything I would have ever imagined, all the nicer.

GP: You mention “Sweeney Todd”; wasn’t that a show that you’ve always wanted to do? You were in a production of it at Interlochen Center for the Arts, right?

JG: That’s true; it’s so funny. Interlochen wound up being one of the greatest camp/arts school experiences that I’ve ever had. And it all started because shortly after seeing that TV special of “Sweeney Todd” I got word that that particular arts camp, which I had found out was one of the best, was putting on “Sweeney Todd.” And I said, “Oh my gosh, I want be Sweeney, that’s it. I want to be Sweeney.” I was 15 years old [and] part of me knew that there was no chance that I would be able to tackle that role or even get that role, because, you know, the lead roles go [to] the seniors. Well, I went over there and I auditioned my butt off and got Broom Sweep #3, or something like that, in the chorus, and I learned real, real early on, and it was such a valuable lesson for me, to love a show and to put all of your energy into it, whether you’re Broom Sweep #3 or Sweeney Todd. And so I was on stage for five minutes, and every other minute of the show I was sitting at the wing listening to the whole show and just loving it. I had a love for theater from a very early age. I went back the next year and I got a larger role, and … I needed to work my way up that ladder and take voice lessons and take acting classes and take whatever training I needed to be the best performer I could be.

GP: Do you have any aspirations to do more musical theater?

JG: Yeah, oh sure, at some point in my career. I was young then for the high school productions, and I’m young now for the professional productions. I want to get a little older and let my voice mature and put a little age on me before I ever audition for a Broadway show or even opera, way, way down the line. We’ll see, but for now I’m doing exactly what I want to do.

GP: Any thoughts about returning to Carnegie Mellon?

JG: The thoughts, honestly, about returning to Carnegie Mellon in particular, are probably not realistic because of its location. It is an amazing school but Pittsburgh is not, unfortunately, a place where I can be right now. And also, my entire class is graduating now so it would be kind of a bummer to go back to that campus without any of my friends. So, if and when I go back to school, it would probably be somewhere in L.A. or New York.

GP: What’s it like to be dubbed “The New Boy Wonder of Voice” by THE NEW YORK TIMES, at 21?

JG: Wow, that newspaper article basically made my head explode. That was such a nice, nice article — and the comments by Barbara Cook and by some of the great people of New York — it just meant the world to me. I was very, very flattered.

GP: Do you have any plans to go on tour?

JG: I am probably going to do a full-length tour, in March. We’re already setting up a 15- to 20-date tour that is looking really, really good. We have some amazing theaters lined up. It’s great. I think, but I’m not sure about this, that we are going to put tickets on sale on Valentine’s Day.

GP: I’m sure your fans will love that.

JG: Yeah, I think we are expecting a pretty quick sell-out. It’s going to be very exciting for me because I’m going to be able to do what I did for the special, but I’m going to be able to do it over and over again for new audiences, and I have the luxury of being able to make it live. It’s not [going to be] recorded, so I can relax about that a little bit more.

GP: Your fans are wonderful, loyal, and dedicated. How does this affect your work?

JG: Oh, it’s essential. To build a fan base like that, they become part of your team and their opinions are very good ones because they begin to know me for everything that I am. They become the real, real fans. It’s very important to keep them in the loop and keep them happy and keep them communicated with. I try to post on the Web site and let them know what’s going on. And then of course we offer them lots of goodies. We offered them the tickets first for the PBS special; we’re going to give them all a free Christmas song. They have been really amazing. Their phone calls to the TV stations, the letters that they write, the letters that they write to me, the meet-and-greets that they come up with, the name they’ve given themselves [Grobanites], it’s all pretty incredible. It’s really flattering, really wonderful to feel that kind of warmth from so many diverse places and people.

GP: I think your relationship, posting messages on the Web site and really communicating with the fans, contributes to their loyalty.

JG: I hope so. I think every performer understands how important the fans are, but especially for someone like myself, where MTV is not in the picture, pop radio is not in the picture. This is primarily a word-of-mouth album. And the people who were there first, these four or five thousand people on the Web site, they’re the ones who believed in it from the beginning, with me and my team, and they helped make it happen. They are very important.

GP: How do you describe your relationship with David Foster?

JG: David Foster has been the real taskmaster, father figure in the recording industry for me. He discovered me. … He was looking for a singer for Gray Davis’ inauguration — it’s funny ’cause he was just reelected — he had an inauguration concert four years ago, and Michael Crawford was supposed to come in and sing “All I Ask of You” from “Phantom of the Opera” and couldn’t make it; he had a rehearsal he had to do. [David Foster] called my voice teacher at the time [Seth Riggs] and said, “Send me some tapes of some people that you have, we need to pick someone right away.” And he listened to some tapes, and my teacher had said, “Go ahead and make a tape, I’m going to send it to somebody.” So I went off and I made one and sent it to him, and he called me up and said, “Hey, David Foster” — and I had no idea who David Foster was — “Yeah, I want you to come down to the Arco Arena in Sacramento and sing for the new governor.” I thought, “Wow, that’s pretty amazing.” And it was really kind of a turning point for me. It was for 20,000 people, and it was the first time I sang anything professionally and it got a great reaction. Then two weeks later, it was kind of the same situation [for the Grammy Awards rehearsal]: “Andrea Bocelli couldn’t make it, and Céline Dion is here, and would you mind learning ‘The Prayer’ and coming down and singing it with Céline?” I was 17. That was a little harder to say yes to because I didn’t really think that I could do it. Because Andrea Bocelli is like the tenor of tenors, and I was a 17-year-old baritone. And I went and I did do it, and David Foster was the guy to say, “Look, you’re not letting me down. Come down here and do this right now.” And I needed that push, and it wound up being a day that changed my life.

GP: Who else has had a great influence on your life? Musicians, songwriters, composers?

JG: The number of angels who have come down from high places and helped me out, that have said, “You can do this and we’re going to help you,” is incredible. David’s been one of them. Walter Afanasieff, who is a huge Grammy Award-winning writer/producer, is another. David and Walter both have a real love of classical music and orchestration and of arrangement and they look at this as a challenge, but also as a chance for them to stretch their arms out a little bit and try something new. Everyone in this business, to a certain extent, is dictated by formula. When they sit down at a piano, generally speaking, they’ve got orders to come up with that next catchy tune that we’re going to put on the radio and sell a million records. So, when this project was starting and I was trying to find songs and … looking for people to do things with, they kind of looked at this as something refreshing to sit down and play, something that they would want to play over and over again — not because it’s got that tune that nobody’s going to be able to get out of their head. They wrote some beautiful music together. The first song I recorded was “Gira Con Me”; I heard it and I said, “Wow, this is really incredible, guys.” I learned a lot from the great writers — David, Walter. John Williams and I got to work together on the AI soundtrack, on the song “For Always.” That was a thrill and an honor. Ennio Morricone wrote two songs on the album. So I learned a great deal. I sat back and I watched and I learned a lot. And I love to write as well, so I hope to do some collaborating on the next CD.

GP: Oh, you do?

JG: Definitely. I’ve been writing all my life, but when you have those kinds of people collaborating on your album … if they had said to me, “We really don’t know what to do,” I probably would have sat down and come up with a few things. But man, the amount of beautiful music that was handed to me for this CD, I was so honored to have it, I figured, sit back and learn for now.

GP: When do you expect to release your next album?

JG: The next album will hopefully be out in October of 2003.

GP: When you mention the formula, I think that’s very interesting, because you do seem to be outside of any formula one could name. I know you have mentioned that folks at record stores just don’t know where to put your CD.

JG: Well, yeah, it’s very, very difficult, and I have been so blessed and so happy to have the success that I’ve had on the CD, which went double platinum in America, and we’re almost at three to four million worldwide. It has been incredible, but even still, there are so many people out there who just don’t know where to put it or are afraid to enjoy it or afraid to buy it because it doesn’t fit into a formula. And it really kind of opened my eyes to the fact that there is such a risk when you try to break a mold, even a little bit. And it’s why so many people are pressured not to, which is why I give so much kudos to people like David and Walter for deciding to take this on and put so much of their power and money into [it] because, to a certain extent, whenever you decide to go away from what is usually formula and pop, pop rock — and don’t get me wrong, I love that kind of music and that’s the kind of music that makes the world go ’round right now — when you don’t do that, you are going to be discriminated against a little bit. It’s my job now for the rest of my life, I think, to win over those people that are scared of it or aren’t willing to give it a chance.

GP: What are you listening to these days?

JG: What am I listening to? I love world music. I’m listening to a lot of people. I’m listening to Peter Gabriel. Actually an artist I found out about from him, who has a new CD out, called Youssou N’Dour. He’s amazing; he’s an African singer. I’m listening to Coldplay, Radiohead, Björk, Depeche Mode.

GP: Who is the African singer?

JG: Youssou N’Dour, he’s the biggest pop star in Africa, and he has just an incredibly beautiful voice. That’s the thing, I’ve been able to travel around the world this last year and one of the most fun things for me to do is go into music stores around the world and say, “Look, who are your biggest artists here?” And just listen to what the differences are between the cultures and what’s big over there compared to what’s big here. And hopefully find some artists to work with on the next CD and kind of bridge the gap.

GP: That’s a great idea. So, is Youssou N’Dour in your CD player right now?

JG: Actually yes, in my car.

GP: You have had the opportunity to work with some amazing performers. Anyone else that you are hoping to sing with?

JG: I am very much looking forward to singing with a woman in Oslo, Norway. I’m going to be singing for the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, and I’m going to do “The Prayer” with an enormously popular Scandinavian singer who is just now breaking in[to] America, her name is Sissel. I have not met her yet, but I’ve been a fan of hers for a while, and I am really looking forward to singing with her. I know we have been looking forward to singing with each other for a while. That will be a great time for me. I love Oslo, Norway. My whole mother’s side of my family is from Norway, and I always feel very, very good when I get over there. That will be a thrill for me. [Listen to an interview with Sissel on NPR's MORNING EDITION.]

Other than that, people I’d like to work with, it’s hard to say, because I have … people who are my fantasy duets that probably, honestly, [it] would be very hard for us to work together. I could say I would love to sing with Björk. But quite honestly, what would we do together? I think it would be kind of a challenge, although that would be really amazing. Sometimes the best collaborations are the ones that are the most unexpected. Certainly on this album, the people that I wound up working with are not the people that I sat around dreaming of working with for my entire life. They were people that kind of came about through fate and it just wound up really, really working. I hope to keep that relaxed feeling about it for the next CD and whatever comes, comes, and we’ll just see what happens.

GP: I have to tell you that since seeing the TV special, I have not been able to get “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” out of my head, just from that little snippet that you did. Do you think you’ll do an album with songs like that on it?

JG: I think it’s almost positive. This debut album definitely has a mood to it and it has a style to it and it has a feeling to it that’s similar from beginning to end. Is it everything I want to tackle artistically? Absolutely not. It’s a small amount and it’s a style of music. And I’m not going to go too far away from that, but there is a lot more of me that I’d like to get out there, and certainly there are different types of songs that I would like to try singing. And I hope to do that.

Yeah, that little snippet was fun to do. It was cool for David to do that. I’m sure it probably looked pretty scripted on stage, but I swear, I had no idea he was going to say, “Come over and play some piano.” Because I think I had told a couple of people, “You know, if he asks me to go play the piano and I don’t know about it — !” That was totally unscripted, and when he told me to go do that in front of all those people, I was like, “Ugh, just go do it.” Bite my tongue and just go do it. And that song was the first thing that came into my head.

GP: It looked very natural. You mention musical theater possibly in the future; do you have any plans to pursue acting?

JG: Actually, yeah. I’m glad that you brought that up. I’m looking at a lot of scripts right now. Doing the small amount of work that I did on ALLY MCBEAL was just so inspiring to me and so much fun because as a singer you really are acting. You have to find something within you for every song that you sing and then express it to an audience, and it’s the same thing you’re doing with spoken word, you’re just not singing the words. I’ve always had a great fondness for acting. I love it. I’d love to do more of it, whether it be plays or TV or film. We’ll see. There’s not a whole lot of time for anything like that right now, but in the future I think, hopefully, definitely.

GP: You mention in the special that you play the drums and the piano, and obviously you sing. Any other instruments?

JG: In terms of playing instruments, I am very much interested in world instruments, although I’m not really that good at any of them yet. I’m trying to learn the uilleann pipe, which is one of the instruments featured in the special. I am a real great fan of that instrument, and I love other Irish instruments, the Irish low whistle and things like that. But piano and drums are really the main instruments that I play.

GP: Okay, so, five years from now, at the tender age of 26, where will you be?

JG: Oh man, I’ll be 26 years old. Gosh, I’m getting old.

GP: Ancient.

JG: Yeah, five years from now — so much has happened in the last five months, let alone the next five years. I get phone calls every other day that just blow my mind. I’m like, “Wait a minute, I’m going to be doing this!”

In five years … well, I could hit a huge peak and fall off the face of the earth in five years. Who knows what will happen in five years? I hope that in five years it does what has happened in the last year, a slow, slow but steady climb, and I hope that I’m able to not do everything that I’d ever want to do in the next five years. I hope that I always give myself room to grow and room to learn, and I hope I don’t rest too much. And I hope that I’ll be able to check off at least a few things on the list that I’d like to do — write music, do a little more acting, and in five years I’d like to have at least three more albums out. So we’ll see. A few tours. Who knows, marriage, couple of kids, grandkids?

Interview by Samantha Gleisten for GREAT PERFORMANCES Online conducted in November 2002.

Josh Groban may not win an award at the next MTV Video Music Awards show or be heard on many radio stations, but he is steadily rising in popularity as more and more people discover his brand of classical pop. Despite limited radio play and a modest presence on the pop-music circuit, Groban’s self-titled debut album has gone double platinum in the United States and sold almost four million copies worldwide. Not to mention the fact that the CD has remained on The BILLBOARD 200™ for almost as long as it has been available, soaring as high as number 8.

The 21-year-old singer has all the makings of an American idol: a strong baritone belt, a face that could easily appear on the cover of PEOPLE, and extremely devoted fans. But Groban doesn’t sing catchy pop tunes, he sings romantic ballads in English, Italian, and Spanish, and his rise to prominence is the stuff that dreams are made of.

Four years ago, when Groban was a youthful 17, multi-Grammy-winning producer David Foster found himself in need of a singer to fill in for Michael Crawford at an inauguration party for the newly elected governor of California, Gray Davis. Foster called Groban’s voice teacher at the time, Seth Riggs, and asked for some tapes. Groban’s was among those that Foster received.

Foster recognized something special in Groban’s submission and called on him to sing at the governor’s gala. Groban’s performance marked the beginning of a fantastic series of events that have catapulted him into the eyes, ears, and living rooms of millions. As Foster explains in JOSH GROBAN IN CONCERT, “It only happens a few times in a lifetime that a tape sticks out so dramatically. … I heard all these other tapes and they were all good, but when your voice came on it was just breathtaking. … There is such a place in this world for your voice.” And together, they have been finding that place.

Shortly after Groban’s successful substitution, Foster called on him again, this time to stand in for Andrea Bocelli and sing “The Prayer” with Céline Dion at the 1999 Grammy Awards rehearsal. Though initially hesitant and more than a little nervous, Groban came through, and while Bocelli actually sang at the awards ceremony, Groban had been noticed. Grammy host Rosie O’Donnell was the first of many in the entertainment industry who was taken with the sheer vocal power of the young talent. She immediately booked him on her talk show, jokingly referring to him as “opera boy.”

With Foster’s guidance, Groban performed at industry-related charity events, which is where he was seen by the creator and executive producer of ALLY MCBEAL, David E. Kelley. Kelley was so impressed by Groban’s performance that he created the role of Malcolm Wyatt for him on the 2001 season finale of the series. Groban’s appearance as Malcolm, an awkward high school student with angelic pipes who sues a girl who breaks her promise to accompany him to the prom, and winds up stunning the high school with a song, elicited thousands of e-mail messages from fans eager to find out more about this new singer.

Groban’s career was launched. Having already secured a record deal with 143 Records, a joint venture between David Foster and Warner Bros., he went on to reprise his role on another episode of ALLY MCBEAL, perform at other industry events and on television, and sing with Charlotte Church at the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

The rest is history, or at least the making of it. Since then he has continued his swift but steady rise to the top of the music industry. His debut album has seen great success; he has had a major profile on 20/20, which will be rebroadcast on December 20, 2002; and he has appeared on THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, THE TODAY SHOW, and THE TONIGHT SHOW. Now he headlines his own concert special on PBS.

JOSH GROBAN IN CONCERT introduces the singer to those yet unaware of his talent and fuels the ardor of the many who have followed his work. The concert, recorded live on stage at the Pasadena Civic Center, features Groban with an array of special guests, including Andrea Corr, the lead singer of The Corrs, violinist Lili Haydn, composer John Williams, and singer Angie Stone.

Conceived by Groban and Danny Ezralow, and directed by GREAT PERFORMANCES series producer David Horn, the concert successfully showcases Groban’s vocal variety and powerful presence, while highlighting his boy-next-door appeal. With this fortunate combination, Groban immediately draws listeners in and takes them on an emotional journey. Equally able to communicate the work of film composing legend Ennio Morricone and that of adult contemporary icon Richard Marx to his captivated audience, Groban, as a singer and a performer, is winning fans across a very wide spectrum.

–Samantha Gleisten

Samantha Gleisten is a journalist and playwright based in Chicago. Her theater reviews can be found at Centerstage.net.