‘An extraordinary night’: Broadway’s Aladdin celebrates Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir
As he was getting ready to fly out to Salt Lake City, Michael Maliakel reflected on how many of his musical heroes — including renowned artists like Renee Fleming and Broadway legend Audra McDonald — had performed in the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square’s annual Christmas concert over the years. He had grown up watching these concerts on PBS, he shared in a recent Instagram post.
Now, it’s Maliakel who will be on PBS. On Thursday, the singer — who currently stars as Aladdin on Broadway — performed in his first of three Christmas concerts with the Tabernacle Choir. Lesley Nicol, beloved for her role as Mrs. Patmore on “Downton Abbey,” acted as narrator.
Nicol is the second “Downton Abbey” star to appear in the Christmas concert, following Hugh Bonneville in 2017. And she was quick to reference her “Downton Abbey” co-star. As she took in the sight of the bright Christmas trees lighting up the stage and the large audience before her — nearly 15,000 in attendance — Nicol recalled how Bonneville said the Conference Center made “‘Downton Abbey’ look like a toolshed.”
“He wasn’t wrong, was he?” she said.
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This year’s concerts, which will draw tens of thousands of people to downtown Salt Lake City, mark the second year the choir has welcomed a live audience since the pandemic. Maliakel’s appearance marks the first time in seven years that the Christmas concert has featured a male performer (2016’s guest artist was tenor Rolando Villazon). And Nicol’s appearance marks the first time in five years that a female has filled the narrator role (in 2018, Kristin Chenoweth acted as guest performer and narrator).
Here are some highlights from this year’s concert, which runs at the Conference Center through Dec. 16 and will air on PBS and BYUtv next year.
‘You can’t help but sing about joy’
After making his grand entrance with “Joy to the World,” Maliakel opened up with the audience about his love for the Tabernacle Choir, saying “you can’t help but sing about joy when you’re singing with one of the greatest choirs.”
The rising Broadway star called it “an extraordinary night,” noting that the choir’s annual Christmas concert was “a foundational part” of his Christmas growing up. Maliakel said music has always been a major part of his Christmases — a tradition he hopes will continue with his wife and 18-month-old daughter. The baritone then performed “I Wonder as I Wander,” a Christmas carol he often sang in his youth as a cantor at his church — and one that has become a personal favorite.
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Maliakel didn’t just stick to Christmas music, though. While he did perform holiday classics like “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” he also brought a little of his theater flair to the stage with a stirring rendition of “God Help the Outcasts” from “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” a song that he described as a prayer for those in need.
“Victor Hugo painted an unforgettable picture of people who find themselves cast out,” Maliakel said. “Some are poor in body, so many more suffer a deep hunger in their souls, which reminds us that the real meaning of Christmas is love, and the greatest joy of the season is opening our hearts to all God’s children.”
‘To love is to act’
Children featured prominently in Hugo’s written works and, as Nicol shared in a touching narration, the author’s life. The author’s love for children extended well beyond his own. By the time Hugo published “Les Miserables,” he had “become clear in his mind about what he termed the rights of the child,” Nicol said.
With help from actors on stage, Nicol told the story of how Hugo was inspired by his wife, Adele Foucher, to extend a Christmas dinner invitation to a handful of impoverished children in their community.
When met with some initial resistance from his own children, Hugo said: “It is an opportunity to give more than money, it is to give of ourselves.”
That one dinner, where the children received clothes, toys and food, eventually turned into a weekly gathering, with Hugo’s family putting one-third of their weekly household budget toward the children. At these gatherings, Hugo said, religion, social status and nationality did not matter. All were the same in the eyes of God.
Three days before his death at the age of 83, Hugo summarized his life’s philosophy with the following words: “To love is to act.”
“When we do, we are not content to remain at a distance,” Nicol said. “We joyfully open our hearts, our hands and even our homes. The courage we need to do that comes from the light in the manger, a child born onto all of us. Filled with his love, we know each other as the brothers and sisters we are. In loving, serving and embracing God’s family, we discover the greatest Christmas gift of all: To see in one another the face of the holy child, even the face of God.”
A full display of talent
The Christmas concert pulled out all the stops from start to finish. As people were still filing into their seats, members of the choir began a triumphant processional into the Conference Center, slowly descending down the steps and walking onto the stage while singing the French carol “Sing We Now of Christmas.”
Every musical number — many arranged by choir director Mack Wilberg — showcased the work and talent that goes into this massive, all-volunteer production. And the choir, orchestra, bells and trumpets all had their time in the spotlight. A real standout moment was an explosive performance of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”
No Christmas concert would be complete without a dynamic organ solo from Tabernacle organist Richard Elliott, and this year’s didn’t disappoint. Accompanied by the Gabriel Trumpet Ensemble, Elliott performed “To the Cradle Run” (featuring “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella”), and screens to the left and right of the stage provided close-up shots of his remarkably fast footwork.
While the Christmas concerts take place over only three days of the year, it’s clear from all of the little details — including the intricate stage design that featured a European chateau to go along with the Hugo theme — that months of careful consideration and preparation go into this production that has become a beloved tradition.
