By Gregg Shapiro

Contributing writer

If you saw the musical “The Light in the Piazza” in its pre-Broadway Goodman Theater production in Chicago or in its initial Broadway run, then you were probably fortunate enough to see the wondrous Victoria Clark as overprotective mother Margaret, for which she won the 2005 Tony award.

“Fifteen Seconds of Grace” (PS Classics), her debut album, is a marvelous opportunity to become better acquainted with the gifted singer and actress. Opening with the traditional “How Can I Keep From Singing?,” Clark regales us with an impressive array of tunes drawn from the realm of Broadway (“I Got Lost In His Arms,” “Right As the Rain,” “Something’s Gotta Give” and her exceptional reading of “Before The Parade Passes By,” which hints at what a grand Dolly Levi she would make. She adds modern pop (“It Might Be You,” “Someone To Cook For,” “Thomas”), as well as a trio of songs based on poems by Dorothy Parker, Edna St. Vincent Millay and Robert Louis Stevenson that offers further proof of her seemingly unlimited abilities as an interpreter of songs, no matter the source.

Just a few years after her Tony Award-winning run as Grizabella in “Cats,” Betty Buckley released a self-titled solo album, then followed it up over the years with a series of recordings that included original compositions as well as her singular interpretations of standards from the worlds of pop and the Broadway stage. Finally getting an official release, “1967” (Masterworks Broadway/Playbill), her debut album, follows the formula still in use to this date. There are standards, show tunes (“One Boy,” “Where Is Love?,” “My Funny Valentine,” “When I Fall in Love”) and pop numbers from the era (“Call Me” and The Monkees’ “I Wanna Be Free”). But, perhaps the most interesting aspects of the disc are the youthful timbre of Buckley’s voice and the credit that reads, “recorded and engineered by T Bone Burnett.”

The original cast recording of “Altar Boyz” (Sh-K-Boom) is a double-edged slice of parody pie. The show takes healthy and good-natured swipes at both the boy band phenomenon and the questionable world of Christian pop. The five biblically named “boyz” run the gamut of personalities including thuggy recovering substance abuser, flaming gay and Jewish (!). And they sing songs as tightly packed with double entendres and humor as the “boyz” are packed into their form fitting costumes, including “Rhythm In Me,” “The Calling” (about getting a call from Jesus on a cell phone), “Something About You” (about abstinence) and “Epiphany” (about a kind of coming out). A comic conversion occurs for those who experience the show with an open heart and mind.

As unnecessary revivals go, the current Broadway production of “Grease” may be the greasiest. The new cast, who can be heard on “Grease: New Broadway Cast Recording” (Masterworks Broadway), was chosen from an NBC reality show titled “Grease: You’re The One That I Want!” in which performers competed for roles. As you might have guessed from the title of the reality show, this production incorporates songs written for the movie version of “Grease” into the stage production. Simply put, they add nothing to these far too familiar songs, begging the question of what the necessity of such an enterprise could possibly be other than to milk a bloated money cow.

Love it or hate it, “Rent” made Jonathan Larson a household name. Sadly, he didn’t live long enough to reap the benefits. The double-disc (one CD, one DVD) “Jonathan Sings Larson” (PS Classics) attempts to fill in some of the blanks with demo versions of Larson’s own renditions of some of his songs from “Rent,” Tick, Tick…Boom!, and others. The DVD features selections from a 1991 Village Gate performance by Larson.

Emmy Rossum, who played Christine in the 2004 movie version of “Phantom of the Opera,” has joined the ranks of other young actresses with recording careers on their resumes. Worlds away from contemporaries such as Hilary Duff and Ashlee Simpson, both in her acting and singing abilities, Rossum really separates herself from the pack with “Inside Out” (Geffen), a mature and self-assured effort. Rossum, who co-wrote 10 of the 11 tunes, seems to be less concerned with tapping into the Hannah Montana/High School Musical audience and instead aims for a more refined audience. Most of the disc has an ethereal Enya meets Milla (Jovovich) quality to it, making for a refreshing listening experience. Rossum’s cover of the Carpenters’ classic “Rainy Days and Monday” is both respectful of the original and daring enough to be different.

Every once in a while Disney will do something that makes you want to momentarily consider forgiving them for unleashing Britney Spears on the world (for which they have yet to offer an apology). “Enchanted” (Walt Disney Records) is one such thing. Employing the Broadway musical songwriting talents of Stephen (“Wicked” Schwartz) and Alan (“Little Shop of Horrors”) Menken, Disney now has five new songs for its canon of movie music standards. Amy Adams, who plays the lead in the film sings three of the songs—“True Love’s Kiss” (with James Marsden), “Happy Working Song” and “That’s How You Know,” while newcomer Jon McLaughlin and “American Idol” diva du jour Carrie Underwood, sing two others.

The Chicago cast of the hit musical “Altar Boyz” hosts “An Altar Boyz Christmas,” a one-night-only holiday concert Dec. 17 at 200 East on Chestnut in the Seneca Hotel, 200 E. Chestnut.