SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 12, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has announced the star-studded lineup for its Christmas concerts this December.
Award-winning actress, singer, and dancer Sutton Foster and acclaimed British actor Hugh Bonneville will be the featured guest artist and narrator, respectively, at this year’s concert by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square, and Bells on Temple Square, according to a statement released Thursday.
The shows will take place on Dec. 14, 15 and 16 in the Conference Center.
“Sutton Foster’s crystal-clear voice and vibrant stage presence will pair wonderfully with the Choir and Orchestra,” said music director Mack Wilberg. “She will be an absolute delight for audiences. We are equally privileged to have the talents of Hugh Bonneville as our narrator bringing to life a story specially tailored to him about joy and peace at Christmas.”
The free performances are seen by over 60,000 audience members each year as well as millions more in PBS television specials and also this year on BYU Television.
“Each year there is a new theme for the Christmas concert which magnifies the strengths of our guest artists,” said Ron Jarrett, president of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. “With Sutton Foster and Hugh Bonneville headlining the concert, audiences will experience a full-scale production of world class music, dance, and storytelling with amazing visual effects in the Conference Center.”
One of Broadway’s most accomplished performers, Foster has starred in 11 Broadway shows including her Tony-winning roles in “Anything Goes” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” and originated roles in “The Drowsy Chaperone,” “Young Frankenstein” and “Shrek The Musical.”
On TV, Foster stars as Liza in the TV Land comedy series “Younger,” and previously starred in “Bunheads.”
As a solo artist, Foster has toured the country with her hit solo concert which featured songs from her debut solo CD “Wish” as well as her follow up CD, “An Evening with Sutton Foster: Live at the Cafe Carlyle.” She has also graced the stages of Carnegie Hall, Feinstein’s, Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series and others.
Bonneville is best known to American audiences for his role as Robert, Earl of Grantham in ITV/PBS Masterpiece’s global hit “Downton Abbey,” for which he received a Golden Globe and two Emmy nominations. His many film credits include “Notting Hill,” “Iris,” “The Monuments Men” and the two “Paddington” movies. Bonneville made a return to the stage last year in Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” at Chichester Theatre.
Tickets to the concerts will be available at 10 a.m. Oct. 21 at 10 a.m. through lds.org/events. Patrons will be able to request four tickets online, however, tickets will not be available through phone or in person. Tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Patrons will be able to see which nights are available and will know at the end of their selection which night they have received. Further ticket details are available at mormontabernaclechoir.org.
The Grammy and Emmy Award-winning, all-volunteer Mormon Tabernacle Choir is made up of 360 men and women. They are accompanied by the Orchestra at Temple Square, a 150-member symphony, and the Bells on Temple Square, a 32-member handbell choir that are both likewise all volunteer.
The Choir has appeared at 13 world’s fairs and expositions, performed at seven U.S. presidential inaugurals, and sung for numerous worldwide telecasts and special events—all while broadcasting “Music and the Spoken Word,” the oldest continuing radio network broadcast, a weekly tradition now in its 89th year. The Choir has its own recording label and has just released the CD and DVD versions of last year’s Christmas concert, “O Come, Little Children” with one of the world’s leading operatic tenors, Rolando Villazón as the guest artist and narrator.
