Josh Groban shocked the theater community when he and himself Sweeney Todd Co-star Annaleigh Ashford has announced that they will play their final dates on 14 January 2024, with Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster replacing the pair. While Groban expressed his gratitude for being on the show in his departure announcement, the star provided additional context as to why he left in a new interview with Billboard News.
“I think we feel like if we stayed in this another year, if we left tomorrow, I think Annaleigh and I feel like we've done what we came to do,” Groban explained to Advertising signRebecca Milzoff. “We wanted to get it off the ground in a way that we were really proud of, to get a response [Stephen] Sondheim would be really excited and proud about it, we wanted to bring our essence to the role and make him something that we personally would be really proud of. And then it comes down to how long you stay fresh on it and how long you feel like you have something really vital in your tank to give it.”
Their revival Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, to use its full title, received eight Tony nominations, including best revival of a musical and best actor and actress in a musical for Groban and Ashford. The cast album from the show is nominated for a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. Voting in the final round is currently underway. The awards will be presented on February 4.
During Groban's interview, he talked about his connection with David Foster, who guided him throughout the recording process of his self-titled debut album in 2001, and revealed that the experience gave him the tools to reach the top in secondary education. Closer. Groban reflected on the album reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and was surprised that it felt “a little more expressive” than his debut.
“I remember it didn't open at No. 1. I remember being surprised [when] I got the call that it had gone No. 1, which usually doesn't happen. Usually, you have the big opening week, at least that's how the business is now, so that was a really special feeling.”
Closer entered the Billboard 200 at No. 4 in November 2003 and eventually reached No. 1 in its ninth week in January 2004. “You Raise Me Up”, a Foster-produced track from the album, became his first hit Groban on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned him his first Grammy nod (Best Male Pop Vocal Performance).
“That was the first album I started writing,” Groban recalls. “I felt like this was the first album where I started to explore more eclectic flavors and took more risks and dipped my toes into waters that felt a little more expressive.”
He continued, “Your first album you're so careful, you have a lot of chefs in the kitchen. When you have someone like David Foster, you have Gordon Ramsey in your kitchen — in a good way. So that album doing what it did really made me realize that my fans are in it for the long haul. That album that went to No. 1 made me realize, “Oh, we're going on a journey together.” … They were open to other styles. They were open to it being me.”
Watch Groban's full interview with Billboard News in the video above.
