Michael Maliakel, the star of Broadway's Aladdin, grew up watching the Tabernacle Choir's Christmas program — it introduced him to musical heroes Renee Fleming, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald — and this year, he's the program's guest artist.
“The first time walking into this space was breathtaking,” Maliakel said of the Conference Center during a press conference Friday morning. “It is unlike any other space that I’ve performed in.”
Ironically, the Broadway star isn't the first of the Maliakels to perform with the Tabernacle Choir. His younger brother performed with the choir as a member of the American Boychoir School in Princeton, an opportunity that wasn't available until a year after Maliakel graduated.
Maliakel was joined by this year's narrator Lesley Nicol, who is known for her role as the cook Mrs. Patmore on “Downton Abbey.” Nichol heeded the advice of co-star Hugh Bonneville, who was the show's narrator in 2017 and told Nichol “You’ve got to do this.”
“His whole feeling was, you will never get an opportunity like this again,” she said.
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