Josh Groban | DAR Constitution Hall | Washington, D.C.

Photographs and Review by Christa Rae Settle.

Singer, songwriter and actor Josh Groban filled the historic DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. with his indescribably beautiful voice last night on his Stages tour. The tour is titled after his most recent album released in April 2015 of show tunes from Broadway musicals.

Joining Josh Groban as a guest on this tour is the Tony Award winning actress and singer Lena Hall. Her voice is absolutely stunning and she was just radiant in all sequined outfits. She sang on a few duets with Josh, then had two solos of her own – one in each act. One of her solos that really showed her rock and roll vibe was her cover of Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” during the second act.  This cover also really highlighted the talents of Josh Groban’s guitarist Tariqh Akoni who shredded it during the many guitar solos throughout the night, but especially this one. On the piano was Mark Stephens. Josh Groban also had the National Symphony Orchestra backing him throughout his set as well as for two songs had the Madison Singers from JMU harmonize with him.

His concert drew quite the crowd for a Monday night show, with audience members ranging in age from pre-teens to senior citizens. Excitement was in the air, as some fans’ faces lit up as they entered the hall because they were just in the same building as the talented Oscar and Grammy nominee. One fan, named Julia, ran up to the stage with a note for Josh. Just before the bouncer was about to take her away from the stage, Josh noticed it and said “it’s okay, what is that?” He took and read the letter asking if she could sing “The Prayer” with him, which he excitedly agreed to and the two sang a few verses together. It was such a sweet moment and she was so good that you could see from Josh’s reactions that he was enjoying her performance.

In between each song, we got to enjoy a little bit of that Josh Groban humor. But one moment that particularly had everyone laughing was right before starting to sing, a girl screamed that she loved Josh Groban. As he started his next song on the set list “Children will Listen / Not While I’m Around” from Into the Woods and Sweeny Todd, it was almost like he was answering her with the beginning lyrics “careful the things you say….” Just about everyone got it as he was chuckling to himself.

Josh Groban describes his Stages tour has a high five to his six year old self, who dreamed of singing the music from the Broadway musicals that have really inspired him from that age. Josh is amazing live – just absolutely phenomenal. The Stages Tour is so captivating, even for those who don’t like show tunes. It’s beautiful music sung by a beautiful and passionate artist. To see when Josh Groban is coming to your town, click here.