The Award-Winning Sesame Street®Muppets® andBroadway Star Santino Fontana Join Mormon Tabernacle Choir for Annual Christmas Concert
Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir featuring Santino Fontana and TheMuppets® from Sesame Street®
Everybody’s favorite fun and furry friends from Sesame Streetand Broadway star Santino Fontana join the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square for a magicalholiday concert guaranteed to touch the hearts of all ages.Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir featuring Santino Fontana and The Muppets® fromSesame Street®airs Monday, December 21st at 9:00 p.m. ET, and Thursday, December 24th at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS. (Check local listings.)
“Joining Santino’s talents with the residents ofSesame Streetbrings the childlike wonder of Christmas into our hearts and reminds us of the true meaning of the season,”says Ron Jarrett, president of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, noting that this year’s concert is unlike any other.
Sesame Streethas been educating and entertaining the world for over 45 years, but the holiday concert marks their first performance with the Choir. The concert includes a rendition of the classic carol from Sesame Street,“Keep Christmas With You,” “Sing a Christmas Carol” from Scrooge, “The Candy Man,” a charming medley of songs from the Sesame Street television programincluding a songwith Big Bird conducting the orchestra, plus reverent and inspiring arrangements of sacred Christmas music.
Fontana and Sesame Street share the stage with 360 choir members, 150 musicians from the Orchestra at Temple Square, 36ringers with the Bells on Temple Square, three organists, two conductors, and 100 dancers.
“I really appreciated the artistry of the characters fromSesame Street,” says KUED producer John Howe. “This year’s concert has some very touching segments.”
Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, which reaches 156 million children across more than 150 countries with lessons that help them grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.Last year, Sesame Streetcelebrated its 45th anniversary season andhas been nominated for 28 Primetime Emmys and has won eight. Sesame Streetalso holds the record for most Daytime Emmy Awards, with 159, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Music has been a part of the fabric of Sesame Streetsince the very beginning,” says Carol-Lynn Parente, Sesame StreetSenior Vice President of content and executive producer. “We are thrilled to be a part of this annual PBS holiday tradition and excited to sing with the world-renowned choir.”
Santino Fontana is known by many for his recent roles playing Prince Hans in Disney’s hit movie Frozen and his Broadway performance as Prince Topher in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, which garnered him a Tony Award nomination. He also received accolades for originating the role of Tony in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot.
"I'm thrilled to get to sing with the amazing Mack Wilberg and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir again, and to share the stage with my childhood heroes,” added Fontana.
The Grammy Award-winning, and multiple Emmy Award-winning, all-volunteer Mormon Tabernacle Choir is made up of 360 men and women who join their talents to create their trademark, instantly recognizable sound. Under the direction of music director Mack Wilberg and associate music director Ryan Murphy, the choir is accompanied by the Orchestra at Temple Square, a 150-member, all-volunteer symphony. The Choir has appeared at 13 world's fairs and expositions, performed at six U.S. presidential inaugurals, and sung for numerous worldwide telecasts and special events.
The song list is as follows:
- Sing a Christmas Carol, from Scrooge
- Merry, Merry Christmas!
- The Candy Man/Pocketful of Miracles
- Hear, King of Angels, from Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248
- Cum Sancto Spiritu, from Petite messe solennelle
- Sesame Street Medley
- People in Your Neighborhood
- Sing
- Keep Christmas With You
- Everyone Who Likes Christmas Say, “I Do!”
- Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
- Luke 2: The Christmas Story
- Angels from the Realms of Glory
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas
The Muppets fromSesame Streetcast includes: William Barkhurst, Ernie; Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, Abby Cadabby; Ryan Dillon, Elmo; Eric Jacobson,Grover, Bert; Carmen Osbahr, Rosita; David Rudman,Cookie Monster; Matt Vogel, Big Bird; and John Kennedy and Peter Linz, Additional Performers.
Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Featuring Santino Fontana and The Muppets® fromSesame Street®is made possible by Ronald C. and Kaye Gunnell, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, the Cleone Peterson Eccles Endowment Fund, the Charles and Janet Stoddard Foundation, and the Alan and Jeanne Hall Foundation.