NEW YORK, Dec. 17 (UPI) — Lesley Nicol says her Downton Abbey co-star, Hugh Bonneville, and her late brother were instrumental in her participation in the 21st annual PBS and BYUtv special, Joy: Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir.
Nicol, 71, narrates this year’s Victor Hugo-themed musical event, which features Broadway star Michael Maliakel, 36, singing alongside the famed choir and orchestra holiday songs and selections from the musical and film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Under the musical direction of Mack Wilberg, the prerecorded program premieres on PBS and its streaming platforms Tuesday and on BYUtv and its apps Thursday.
“When [Bonneville] heard that I’ve been asked to do it, he just said, ‘You should consider me as your mentor. You’ve got to do this. You will never do anything like this again. You won’t have done anything like it before,'” Nicol told UPI in a recent Zoom chat with reporters.
“I would say the same [to any future performers] because that’s true. That’s absolutely true. He just said, ‘You just get on there and do it.'”
Maliakel’s advice to anyone who comes after him in subsequent Tabernacle Christmas productions is to be totally prepared and know their lines and musical arrangements “inside and out,” so that when they arrive in Utah to tape the performance, they can be present and enjoy the experience.
“It does all happen and come together very quickly, and I think my favorite memories were just those moments that I was able to just look around and take it all in and be grateful for for the amazing hard work of all the musicians and everyone who came together to pull this off,” Maliakel said.
“If you’re worried about all of the little nit-picky musical things in that moment, then you don’t really get a chance to take in what an incredible thing is happening in front of you. So, I tried my best to be as present as possible and I’d advise anyone who gets to do this again to do that, too.”
Maliakel, who played the titular hero in Aladdin on Broadway for three years, said he is thrilled that the special was recorded, so he can relive the experience at home.
“Luckily, it gets filmed so beautifully, so you have this amazing archive of the experience that you’ve had with the behind-the-scenes footage and everything,” he said. “It’s a huge responsibility, but the experience is so gratifying and beautiful.”
Maliakel and Nicol take moments during the show to share heartfelt glimpses into their personal lives and offer a few words about why this event and the holiday it celebrates are meaningful to them.
“It was very collaborative and we got really to decide what we felt like sharing,” Maliakel said.
He recalled telling the production team about his background as a Catholic who grew up watching the Tabernacle performers on TV and eventually started singing in his own church choir.
“A lot of that got incorporated into how we went about selecting music for the show and then, later on, when it came down to decide what kind of stories we share to set up each piece,” he added.
Nicol remembered how her brother, who was British but lived in South Carolina, made watching the Tabernacle Christmas special a part of his yuletide tradition each year.
“He had been wanting to see the Tabernacle Choir forever. He watched it on the TV every year, adored it, adored Mack, was in awe of him and he could never get a ticket because it’s quite hard to get a ticket. The [the producers] picked up on this immediately and they flew my family out from South Carolina,” she said.
“What’s kind of poignant about this is that — I’m sorry to say, this was last December that that happened — he passed away in August. So, he got to meet Mack and he got to see the show, and he got to see his little sister in the middle of that stage and that was a huge gift. The fact that it was his last year on this planet makes it somewhat more special.”
