The spectacular 90-minute production titled Joy: Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir premieres on PBS this Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 8 p.m. ET. The program repeats on Tuesday, Dec. 24 at 9:30 p.m. ET and you can stream it from now through Jan. 1 on PBS.org and the PBS App. BYUtv will premiere the broadcast on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 9 p.m. ET with repeats through Christmas Day. You can stream it for free on BYUtv.org and the BYUtv app.
Joy: Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir was filmed in December 2023. It features The Tabernacle Choir, a world-renowned, 360-member choir backed by The Orchestra at Temple Square, a 200-member, all-volunteer symphony orchestra. This makes it more than twice the size of some of the largest choirs. Broadway star Michael Maliakel (Aladdin) and the accomplished British actress Lesley Nicol (Downton Abbey, East Is East, West End’s Mamma Mia!) are the guest artists.
The venue is Salt Lake City’s 21,000-seat Conference Center at Temple Square, which also is the No. 1 tourist attraction in the state.
Dr. Mack Wilberg has been the music director of The Tabernacle Choir since March 2008. Before that, he served as associate music director, beginning in May 1999.
This annual Christmas special, presented by GBH, is in its 21st televised year. According to the Nielsen National Ratings Report, it has been the top-rated performance program on PBS during the holidays for 19 years.
This year, viewers can expect to hear a multitude of Christmas classics, such as “Joy to the World,” “I Wonder as I Wander,” “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and “Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas” from Home Alone 2. In a show-stopping moment, Michael sings Mack’s grand arrangement of “God Help the Outcasts” from the musical and film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which is based on author Victor Hugo’s novel. Lesley, in turn, shares the heartwarming, true story of Hugo and his wife hosting a Christmas feast for impoverished children in their town.
A few weeks ago, Lesley, Michael, and Mack sat down (at their own respective parts of the world) with moderator Ron Gunnell, Global Envoy for The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, to provide a virtual Q&A for members of the press. Following are some of the highlights from that event.*
How do you choose the guest artists each year?
Ron: “We do have a little bit of a process. We talk about how the music might interact with the story — because we have an actor as well as a singer. So we start really with coming up with the idea of the production itself and how music and the story we’re going to use may work together. And then we just reach out to representatives of guest artists that we want and keep our fingers crossed that they’re available and interested. I’ve been doing this now for 24 years and it’s just getting easier and easier for us to bring artists because of the work of PBS and its exposure to millions of viewers. Artists want to be a part of that.”
What is the audition process like to become a member of The Tabernacle Choir?
Mack: “We audition singers once a year. They come from all walks of life. Because we perform…over 300 pieces a year…our audition process is quite involved. For our singers, it takes almost 4 months from beginning to end. Our instrumentalists, of course, are a little bit different, and all of them have had extensive training to play at the level they are able to do. We are blessed with fine musicians. And not only are they fine, but they are also great to work with and they are wonderful people…It’s a great pleasure and privilege to be able to do what we do. Now, with that said, of course, we have to work hard. It just doesn’t happen magically. We only rehearse once a week in addition to our Sunday morning broadcasts, which we, of course, do on a weekly basis.”
Do you have any advice on how to prepare for such a large-scale performance?
Lesley: “I’ll just echo what Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) said to me…when he heard that I’d been asked to do it. He just said, ‘Consider me as your mentor. He said, ‘My mentor was another actor named Martin Jarvis [one of Britain’s most distinguished and versatile actors].’ Martin said to Hugh, ‘You’ve got to do this. You will never do anything like this again. You won’t have done anything like it before.’ And I would say the same because that’s true, it’s absolutely true. So he said, ‘Just get in there and do it.’”
What about vocal health? How do you take care of yourself so you can handle the demands of this type of performance?
Michael: “I have an excellent vocal teacher, a vocal coach, a great team of folks that I check in with regularly to make sure that my instrument is in shape. Diet-wise, every singer is a little bit different about what they need to avoid or eat to keep their voices in check. For me, I try to avoid eating close before bedtime, issues of reflux and stuff like that. I don’t like to eat too close to performing, but I don’t like to perform on an empty stomach either…Otherwise, the main thing is really just limiting how much you use your voice during the day…You probably don’t take stock about how long you are talking or if you have to shout above the subway or things like that. Those sorts of things tend to wear your voice out in the same way that singing for a couple hours might. So just [be] cognizant of how you use your voice. It’s tough when you carry your instrument with you everywhere you go. You are affected by allergies and the weather and all kinds of things. Very often we are not performing at 100%, but that’s just part of life and you learn how best to take care of yourself.”
Lesley: “You just reminded me, Michael, I was in the original production of Mamma Mia! in the West End…I did it for two years…I remember somebody reminded me when you wake up, speak, just to make sure you’ve got a voice. Because if you haven’t, you need to tell somebody rather quickly.”
Michael: “Call the understudy.”
What was it like performing with such a massive ensemble?
Lesley: “I’ve never been that close to a choir that large and an orchestra. Nobody gets that — unless you’re Mack — right in front of you…You just don’t get to stand and listen to that volume of sound, and it’s mind-blowing. You do physically feel it in you.”
Michael: “You physically feel it vibrating through your core. And I think it’s a feeling unlike anything I’ve had before, and I’ll never forget. And then on top of that, to get to sing with them and all breathe collectively. This many people all breathing in sync. It’s a really, really beautiful, miraculous thing.”
Lesley: “Just before the Saturday night performance, a large chunk of tooth fell out of my head…Turns out, if you’ve got a choir of 300-plus, there are at least three dentists and an oral surgeon in there. So I had my pick of somebody coming immediately to sort it out.”
How do you make a live performance to over 2,000 people feel so intimate?
Lesley: “You’re up there and there are thousands of people in front of you…I want to connect with these people, but how can I do that when I’ve got a TV monitor to honor? Of course, then you realize that’s what the teleprompter does. If you connect with the teleprompter, every person in that audience feels like you are speaking to them.”
What was the most meaningful moment you were involved in during this production?
Michael: “I think the most meaningful moment for me was ‘God Help the Outcasts’ [from The Hunchback of Notre Dame]…I think it really nails the message of Christmas…It’s this really beautiful, humble prayer just asking that people look compassionately on everyone. It’s a simple thing, but a tough thing to get right. I think musically the way the song builds with the choir coming in and then it ends in a very quiet, reverent kind of way is really beautiful. That was probably the highlight for me in terms of what I was involved in.”
Were there any pre-show jitters?
Mack: “It’s true that we have done this for many years now and we know what goes into making it happen, but still, every year, you swallow hard and say, ‘I hope that this all comes together.’ We have over 500 volunteer musicians — that’s between the choir, the orchestra, the bells, and then we also have herald trumpets. Every one of those musicians volunteer their time and talent to make all of this all happen. And like any endeavor like this, it’s done with minimal rehearsal, so we hold our breath every year. But when we have guest artists such as Michael and Lesley, who are so professional and also such a delight to work with, it makes the job a little bit easier.”
What was the most rewarding aspect of this production?
Mack: “It is a great privilege to be able to do what I do, and I try not to take it for granted but of course when you get into the nuts and bolts in rehearsal, you’re hearing all sorts of things that need to be fixed. Your responsibility…is to fix all those issues that you’re hearing. But I think probably the greatest satisfaction is when it all comes together and everybody is doing their part and everybody is remembering everything that has been rehearsed, everything that has been talked about. To have it all come together in such a great way, I think, is probably the reward that comes from all of that hard work. And I’ll just say that not only for myself but I think everybody involved.”
Do you have any closing comments?
Mack: “What a great pleasure it was to do the concert last year with Lesley and Michael. Lesley and Michael, we would love you to come back any time…You would be welcome anytime. We are just pleased with the way that the concert turned out, and we hope that everyone will enjoy the broadcast in whatever way that you see it. I think that you will be well rewarded for watching.”
Lesley: “I think you’ll be thrilled by this production…I think the love and commitment and the skill that’s gone into it from everybody — and it’s hundreds of people for goodness’ sake — I think that comes through the screen at you. And the message of it is such a good, decent message. But I think as a piece of entertainment, it’s superb. I really do.”
Joy: Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir featuring Michael Maliakel and Lesley Nicol
- Premieres on PBS Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 8 p.m. ET.
- Repeats on PBS Tuesday, Dec. 24 at 9:30 p.m. ET
- Stream on PBS.org and the PBS App.
- Premieres on BYUtv Thursday, Dec. 19 at 9 p.m. ET
- Repeats on BYUtv through Christmas Day
- Stream on BYUtv.org and the BYUtv app
Links
Michael Maliakel: Instagram
Lesley Nicol: Twitter/X
The Tabernacle Choir: Website • Instagram • Facebook • Twitter/X
PBS: Website
BYUtv: Website
* Questions were paraphrased and edited for brevity and increased clarity.
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