Shortly before her third and final performance as narrator for the Tabernacle Choir’s 2023 Christmas concert, Lesley Nicol lost “a large chunk” of her tooth.
But the actor, well known for her role as the “Downton Abbey” cook, Mrs. Patmore, quickly realized there was no need to panic.
She was surrounded by high-quality musicians, but the volunteerism aspect of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square meant that many of the singers had full-time jobs outside of music — which, for Nicol, really came in handy on this Saturday night.
”Turns out if you’ve got a choir of 300-plus, there’s at least three dentists and an oral surgeon in there, so I had my pick,” Nicol recently told media on a Zoom call from London, noting that the issue was fixed immediately. “That was pretty impressive.”
For Nicol, the resolution of her tooth debacle wound up being just one of several perks that came with performing alongside the Tabernacle Choir.
It’s been a year since Nicol and Broadway star Michael Maliakel took part in the choir’s annual Christmas concert over three nights at the 21,000-seat Conference Center in Salt Lake City. Now, the recording from the concerts is airing for an even wider audience in the coming weeks, beginning with its PBS premiere Tuesday night and a showing on BYUtv Thursday evening.
Ahead of the TV premiere, the two guest artists reflected on what taking part in the Tabernacle Choir tradition meant to them — and what’s next in their careers.
‘They look after you’
A year after the concerts, what sticks out most to the two guest artists is something viewers don’t necessarily get to see.
Maliakel said the scale of the annual concert, one of the choir’s largest undertakings, is unlike anything he’s ever been a part of — to such a degree that it made the Broadway show “Aladdin” “feel like a little high school show in comparison.”
“The army of people onstage you all see, but the massive operation behind the scenes to make it all work — the fantastic crew, the sound folks, the wardrobe people. They started planning this year’s (concert) I understand as soon as ours was done. So it’s a full yearlong process and they’ve been doing it for over 20 years now, so it’s a really well-oiled machine.
“From my perspective, it all went so beautifully smoothly,” he continued. “Everything was taken care of, every need we could’ve had was taken care of before I could’ve even asked for something. It’s incredible. … The orchestra and the number of camera angles that they were able to capture, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. But again, I think they’ve had some practice over the years, so it really runs very smoothly.”
Nicol also benefited from the choir’s attention to detail — and not just because of her tooth.
While she joked that it was nice to get hair and makeup done for a change — in contrast with her decidedly less glamorous role as the “Downton Abbey” cook — Nicol remains especially grateful for the kindness of the concert organizers, who helped her family make it to the Conference Center to see her big moment.
Early on in the process, Nicol told the team that her brother, who was living in South Carolina at the time, had been a longtime fan of the choir and watched the Christmas special every year on TV. He had never been able to secure a ticket to the concert. Organizers quickly worked to change that, Nicol said, and flew her family in from South Carolina.
Her brother died just eight months later, making the moment all the more poignant, the actor said.
“He got to meet (choir director) Mack (Wilberg). He got to see the show,” she said. “It was a huge gift. The fact that it was his last year on this planet makes it somewhat more special.”
Nicol’s role in the concert came near the end. She narrated the story of how “Les Miserables” author Victor Hugo was inspired by his wife, Adele Foucher, to extend a Christmas dinner invitation to impoverished children in their community.
Three days before Hugo’s death at the age of 83, as Nicol recounted during her narration, the author summarized his life’s philosophy with a simple phrase: “To love is to act.”
Telling such an intimate story on such a large stage can be a daunting challenge, but Nicol said she felt the presence of her late husband, who died two years ago, helping to carry her through.
“I believe he was right next to me, so I didn’t feel nervous. … I was excited,” she said. “I just couldn’t wait to get on that stage. Weirdly, I felt supported by him.”
Even though she only got a few days to rehearse before the concerts, Nicol said “there was a sense of peace and calm.”
“They’ve done it so often. And they’re kind people and they look after you,” she said. “You don’t feel under pressure, really. … And then it’s very exciting because you’ve got thousands of people to perform in front of.”
‘We hold our breath every year’
The choir’s music director, Mack Wilberg, doesn’t dispute that the Christmas concert is a well-oiled machine. But that doesn’t mean it’s always smooth sailing behind the scenes.
“It’s true that we have done this for many years now. We know what goes into making it happen, but still, every year, you swallow hard and say, ‘I hope that this all comes together,’” he said with a little laugh during the recent Zoom call. “The Christmas concert certainly is our performance on steroids, if you will, because there are so many elements that have to come together. … We hold our breath every year.”
But having guest artists like Nicol and Maliakel, who he said “are so professional and also such a delight to work with,” “makes the job a little bit easier.”
“The program last year I think was a high for everyone in our 24 years of presenting this program,” Wilberg said.
For Maliakel, the performance was somewhat of a full-circle moment.
The singer was around 8 when he first saw the Tabernacle Choir’s Christmas concert on PBS — and it became a tradition that over the years introduced him to some of his music heroes like Renee Fleming, Broadway legend Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell.
Although Maliakel grew up singing in his church choir, he never went to the theater or attended many shows. The Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert opened his eyes to a whole new world.
“I had never seen anything even remotely like this. … I didn’t know that people could create sounds like that,” he said. ”To have it showcased in my living room, thanks to PBS, it meant everything. It introduced me to this world that has become now my world, which is so crazy to say.”
Taking part in the concert also relieved Maliakel of a little jealousy — his younger brother actually sang with the Tabernacle Choir as a member of the American Boychoir School in Princeton, an opportunity that came a year after Maliakel had graduated from the school.
“To finally get to be a part of it was absolutely mind-blowing, and it felt like a real full-circle moment,” he said. “I’m so grateful to have it recorded so beautifully and something that I can show to my kids down the line.”
What’s next for Lesley Nicol, Michael Maliakel
With the packed rehearsal schedule in the days leading up to the concert, the guest artists didn’t get much time to explore Utah. But they’re both already hoping to return at some point — “I need to go back,” Nicol said. “I think there’s a trip lying ahead at some point.”
But for the time being, both Nicol and Maliakel are busy with new projects.
Nicol teased a TV role next year that she couldn’t share too much about, other than her excitement for it. She recently finished production on the third and final “Downton Abbey” film, which releases next year. Maggie Smith’s absence was felt on set, she said.
“To lose Maggie was terrible, but on the other hand, I think she wasn’t well and it was not a nice way to exist,” she said. “I’m a believer, drilled in to me by my doctor dad, which is, just being around is not really a way to live. I hope that it was the right time for her to move on. She was missed, because she was a great person to have around. She was highly entertaining and greatly loved by all of us.”
Maliakel, meanwhile, concluded a three-year run starring in Broadway’s “Aladdin” in June. It was a “grueling schedule” — particularly for a Broadway debut, he said — putting on eight shows a week.
“It has opened so many doors for me; it’s sort of a career-defining opportunity and I’m so grateful that my body held up, my voice held up through all of that,” he said with a wide smile. “I learned so, so much. … I’m a better performer for it, for sure.”
Now, Maliakel said, he’s booked another show in New York for the spring that he can’t yet talk about. And he’s working on a couple of his other longtime goals: putting out his first solo album and building a concert touring schedule.
The album, he said, is a hodgepodge of Golden Age Broadway tunes, jazz standards from the Great American Songbook and more contemporary Broadway songs.
But before that album comes out, viewers at home who haven’t seen him on Broadway will get a taste of his style when the Tabernacle Choir concert makes its TV debut.
“I’m just so grateful that it’s finally out there for the world to see,” he said. “We got to share it with almost 60,000 people last year, but now to know that families that couldn’t be there can now watch and so many people around the world get to see it, it feels really surreal to be a part of something that I’ve watched and admired from afar for so many years. And now that it’s recorded so beautifully for the future is really, really special.
“It’s a beautiful testament to all the hard work that people put into it,” he continued. “I think it’s a beautiful message. The whole thing from start to finish is just so epic. I think people will really enjoy it.”
How to watch the Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert
Viewers have a few ways to watch the 2023 Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert.
The 90-minute production premieres Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. MST on PBS, and will air again on Dec. 24 at 8:30 p.m. MST (check local listings). The special is also available to stream on PBS.org and the PBS app through Jan. 1, according to a news release shared with the Deseret News.
“Joy: Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir” will also air Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. MST on BYUtv, with repeat airings on the network through Christmas Day. The program will also be available to stream on the BYUtv app and BYUtv.org.
This year’s Christmas concert, which runs Dec. 19 through Dec. 21 at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, features Broadway star Ruthie Ann Miles and actor Dennis Haysbert, well known for his role as President David Palmer on the TV series “24.”
It’ll mark the first time since before the pandemic that the Conference Center will be able to be filled to its capacity of 21,000, the Deseret News previously reported.
