CD REVIEW: Stages by Josh Groban Out now

IF YOU’RE not sure who Josh Groban — and he’s not exactly a pop star — on the Royal Variety Performance and Strictly Come Dancing.

Given the tone of his voice (high baritone or low tenor, depending on who you ask) and the nature of his past — and latest — material, it’s almost a surprise to discover he never trod the Broadway boards.

Groban’s new CD, Stages, is a collection of solo songs and duets from a range of West End hits featuring the likes of the well-known — Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera and Carousel — and the relatively obscure (to me anyway) — Finian’s Rainbow, Chess and The Fantasticks.

Groban has a great musical theatre voice — it’s strong, clear and he can certainly hold a note.

He also has the ability to embody both the older characters (Willy Wonka, Valjean from Les Mis and Sweeney Todd) and the young (Mariusz from Les Mis).

Oh, and his French (on Les Temps des Cathedrales from Notre Dame de Paris) is pretty impressive.

Thankfully, his discipline (or his producer’s) means self-indulgent vocal gymnastics are almost totally absent, too.

There are a few disappointments among the song choices and performances – I think any male singer trying Over the Rainbow is a mistake and You’ll Never Walk Alone seemed a too obvious pick.

But his Bring Him Home is heart-breaking, All I Ask of You (with pop star Kelly Clarkson) works really well and Anthem (from Chess) is unstoppable and euphoric.

At 15 songs, there’s no skimping on the track listing either.

There’s something undeniably cheesy about Josh Groban — but forgivably so.

If you’re not a big fans of musicals, you have to respect the combination of passion and polish in his voice, and it you are, this collection is pretty hard to fault.