Award-winning actress, singer and dancer Sutton Foster and acclaimed British actor Hugh Bonneville will be the featured guest artist and narrator at this year’s Christmas concerts by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The Orchestra at Temple Square and Bells on Temple Square will also join the choir for the popular holiday performances December 14, 15 and 16, 2017, in the Conference Center on Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
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“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.”
Foster is best known for her Tony Award-winning roles on Broadway. Audiences will recognize Bonneville for his portrayal of Lord Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham in ITV/PBS Masterpiece’s global hit “Downton Abbey.”
"Sutton Foster’s crystal-clear voice and vibrant stage presence will pair wonderfully with the choir and orchestra. She will be an absolute delight for audiences," said music director Mack Wilberg. "We are equally privileged to have the multitalented Hugh Bonneville as our narrator bringing to life a story specially tailored to him about joy and peace at Christmas."
Wilberg and Ryan Murphy, associate music director, will conduct the music for the annual event.
One of Broadway’s most accomplished performers, Sutton Foster has starred in 11 Broadway shows, including her Tony Award-winning roles in “Anything Goes” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” as well as originating roles in “The Drowsy Chaperone,” “Young Frankenstein” and “Shrek the Musical.” On TV, Foster stars as Liza in the critically acclaimed TV Land comedy series “Younger” and previously starred in “Bunheads.”
As a solo artist, Sutton 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 many others.
Hugh Bonneville received a Golden Globe and two Emmy nominations for his role in “Downton Abbey.” His many film credits include “Notting Hill,” “Iris,” “The Monuments Men” and “Paddington.” Most recently Bonneville starred in “Viceroy’s House,” in which he portrayed Lord Mountbatten. He made a celebrated return to the stage last year in Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” at Chichester Theatre.
Complimentary tickets will be available beginning Saturday, October 21, at 10:00 a.m. MDT, at 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. Additional ticket information is available at mormontabernaclechoir.org.
The Grammy Award-winning, multiple Emmy Award-winning Mormon Tabernacle Choir is made up of 360 men and women who are accompanied by the Orchestra at Temple Square, a 150-member symphony, and the Bells on Temple Square, a 32-member handbell choir. The choir, orchestra and handbell choir are all volunteers.
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. A companion book, “The Little Match Girl,” is also set for release.
The annual Christmas concerts have attracted thousands of people to Temple Square for the Christmas season for more than a decade. Guest artists have ranged from singer Natalie Cole to the “Sesame Street” Muppets™ to Broadway star Audra McDonald to narrator Tom Brokaw. The free performances are seen by tens of thousands each year as well as millions more in PBS television specials and this year on BYU Television.