Josh Groban on His Broadway Debut in ‘Great Comet’ and Performing with Audience on Stage
— -- From international performer to film actor and occasional talk show host, Josh Groban has done it all. Now the singing sensation is taking on a new challenge and making his Broadway debut.
Groban is starring in the new musical, “Natasha Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812,” which opened to rave reviews this week. This week he stopped by ABC’s “Popcorn with Peter Travers” to talk about his newest role and path to stardom.
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“It was a lot of stars lining up," Groban told ABC News of his career. "They say that luck is preparation-meets-opportunity."
"I had massive doors that were extremely difficult to walk through, but they were opened and I was very lucky,” he said.
Groban plays the role of Pierre Bezuhov in the musical inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel, “War and Peace.” His character is the love interest of the female lead, Countess Natasha Rostova.
The theater is transformed for the show into a Russian cafe. And some members of the audience are seated on stage right in the heart of the action.
“They’ll be close. And we interact. There’s no fourth wall,” Groban, 35, told Travers. “It’s different every night for us because so much of acting is reacting. And to have that response from the audience, where you’re singing songs dead into people’s eyes, all night, you don’t know what you’re going get from them. You don’t know if it’s going to be surprise or shock.”
Groban added, “Oh and if they’ve got a phone up, Pierre is going to go ballistic. Let me tell you something, you don’t’ want to piss off Pierre. He is drunk and ornery. The rest of them will let you go.”
While all eyes are on Groban for this debut, he says he’s not feeling undue pressure.
“The reason I’m not feeling pressure is that I know what an ensemble piece this is,” Groban said. “For whatever reason they come through the door, I know what it is that they’re going to get. And I’m excited for them because the ensemble is so extraordinary.”
Watch the full interview with Josh Groban on ABC News' "Popcorn With Peter Travers" above.
