O Holy Night: Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir

This soulful holiday program features Broadway star Megan Hilty and Actor Neal McDonough

• Christina Zeiders
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  Christina Zeiders is the Communications Specialist at WITF. She helps get the word out about all of WITF's programs, events and community conversations.

This month, PBS and BYUtv showcase O Holy Night: Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir featuring Tony Award-nominated Broadway star Megan Hilty (Smash, Wicked) and renowned film and television actor Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers, Captain America: The First Avenger). This is the 19^th annual Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir television special!

“My experience with The Tabernacle Choir, music director Mack Wilberg and everybody behind the scenes was almost indescribable,” said Hilty. “Every single second of it was infused with joy and there is so much incredible attention put into every detail of the show. You can feel the love in every set decoration, in the lighting plot, in everything.”

In this year’s special, Hilty joins the Choir, Orchestra, trumpeters, and bell ringers in performing well-known holiday tunes, classic Christmas carols, and hymns. Traditional Irish musical numbers and elements are woven throughout the program in honor of Hilty’s and McDonough’s shared heritage.

Narrating the evening, McDonough reflects on the role that family, heritage, and traditions play during the holidays. Combining music and musings with Irish cultural nods, O Holy Night is an uplifting program that inspires hope and welcomes the spirit of the holiday season.

“Creating this show of Christmas, and talking about the things that I love most, it’s truly a highlight of my career,” said McDonough. “The whole true meaning of the show is all about family. I am just so honored to be part of a show, alongside a world-class group, that really talks about life. It’s about kindness and forgiveness and realizing that it’s not about us, it’s about the greater good.”

“When we discovered that Megan Hilty and Neal McDonough shared Irish heritage, everything clicked into place and we decided to capitalize on that for this year’s Christmas concert special,” said Mack Wilberg, music director of The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. “It was an absolute pleasure working alongside these two generous performers who bring such beautiful perspectives on life, faith and family through time-honored traditions.”

Following a 20-year tradition, O Holy Night was recorded over three nights in December 2021 in Salt Lake City’s Conference Center located at Temple Square. The annual special has featured stars such as Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Angela Lansbury, Kelli O’Hara, Santino Fontana, Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole, David McCullough, Sutton Foster, David Archuleta, John Rhys-Davies, Renée Fleming, Deborah Voigt, Hugh Bonneville, Richard Thomas, Jane Seymour and many more.

Watch O Holy Night: Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir on WITF TV Tuesday, December 13 at 8pm or stream it for free, on-demand using the PBS Video app until January 11, 2023.