Fame, fun and a jumbo-sized concert

Fame can bring some odd moments, it seems.
For Lesley Nicol, that was “being recognized in a field in China.” An “ancient old farmer” stared at her, she said, then told a translator: “That’s the lady from the ‘Downton Abbey’ movie.”
And for Mike Maliakel (shown here with Nicol), it was singing in front of the same mega-choir he used to watch on TV. “You physically feel it vibrating through your core.”
Both are featured in the Tabernacle Choir’s Christmas concert on PBS (8 p.m. Dec. 17; 9:30, Dec. 24) and on BYUtv (often, starting 9 p.m. ET Dec. 19).
That’s an epic production that includes a 360-voice chorus and 150-piece orchestra, plus trumpets, bells and organ. “Each year, you swallow hard and say, ‘I hope it comes together,” said conductor Mack Wilberg.
And each year it does. Three nights are taped, then become a 90-minute show. There’s a full year between the concerts and the broadcast.
This year’s broadcast, as usual, features:
— A soloist. This time it’s Maliakel, who was an unknown until his Broadway debut – a three-year stint in the title role of “Aladdin.”
— A storyteller. This time it’s Nicol, 71, best known as Mrs. Patmore, the Downton Abbey cook.
As an Englishwoman, she was unfamiliar with the concerts. She phoned her brother, who had moved to South Carolina and was a fan. He “had been wanting to see the Tabernacle Choir forever, but couldn’t get a ticket.”
Soon, he was being flown to Utah to see his little sister at work. “I got hair and make-up for a change,” she said, and “they got me some fancy frocks.”
She learned to master the mega-surroundings, with “eight massive TelePrompters.” And she found an advantage to working with volunteers:
“A large chunk of my tooth came out …. There were at least three dentists and an oral surgeon in the choir. I had my choice.”
Unlike Nicol, Maliakel, was already familiar with the evnt. When he was 8 or 9, he said, he started watching it on PBS; it seemed like a new world.
“My parents were not particularly artsy,” he said, and he hadn’t been to many concerts. What he saw was “just mindblowing, as far as the scale. I had no idea that people could make sounds like that.”
He saw shows that featured music greats – Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Renee Fleming, more. Then he got his chance.
Growing up in what he’s called a very small community (American Catholics whose family roots are in India), he sang in the church choir, was a cantor, studied classically with opera in mind … then found Broadway stardom.
Unlike his “not artsy” parents, Nicol’s were zealous. Yes, her father was a doctor, as was her late brother. (He died a half-year after seeing the concert.) But her mother had been accepted by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, before World War II intervened.
The mom loved movies, the dad loved theater, Nicol ended up doing both. She studied theater and music in London, where she co-starred (as Rosie, Sophie’s carefree friend) in “Mamma Mia.”
Her roles have ranged afar, including a witch (“Supernatural”), a gangland matriarch (“The Catch”) and a beaver (“The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe”). But the most popularity came as lovable souls in British/PBS shows – a mistreated postmistress in “Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office” and the kindly cook in “Downton Abbey.”
That part persisted – six seasons, followed slowly by three movies. The final one is expected to reach theaters next September; as filming ended, actors “realized it was the last time we’d do it. We’d been doing it for 14 years.”
And no, she doesn’t really cook. Her late husband did that, but didn’t share her vegan habits. She’s taken some lessons and improved, but won’t be preparing in holiday dinners. “I wouldn’t do that to people.”