The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square will be adding a distinctive voice to this year’s Christmas concerts.
Dennis Haysbert — known for his roles in “24” and “Major League,” as well as for introducing NBC’s “Meet the Press” and being the spokesperson for Allstate insurance — will narrate the highly anticipated Tabernacle Choir Christmas concerts, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced in a news release Wednesday.
The concerts take place Dec. 19, 20 and 21 at the church’s Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City, and will also feature Broadway actress and singer Ruthie Ann Miles — who won a Tony in 2015 for portraying Lady Thiang in a revival of “The King and I.” Haysbert and Miles will accompany the 360-member church-affiliated choir.
All tickets for each performance in the 21,000-seat Conference Center have been distributed. A designated standby line will take place in the Tabernacle on Temple Square starting at 6 p.m. each night before the event’s start time of 8 p.m. The choir’s Sunday morning “Music and the Spoken Word” broadcast, where Haysbert and Miles will perform, will not require tickets.
Mack Wilberg, the choir’s music director, said in a statement that Haysbert’s “iconic voice and great stage presence” will “greatly add to the spirit and meaning of Christmas.”
Haysbert, 70, has performed in movies and television for more than four decades. His first breakout role was in 1989’s “Major League,” as the power-hitting Pedro Cerrano. He earned a Golden Globe nomination for playing Senator — and, later, President — David Palmer in the TV series “24.” Other film roles include a gardener who falls in love with Julianne Moore in “Far From Heaven” (2002), a college dean in “Dear White People” (2014) and a Cheetos factory worker in “Flamin' Hot” (2023).
Last year, Broadway star Michael Maliakel and English actress Lesley Nicol – best known as head cook Mrs. Patmore on “Downton Abbey” – performed alongside the choir ensemble. Their featured concert will air on Dec.17 and 24 on PBS and on BYUtv from Dec. 21 to 25. A CD and DVD release of the 2023 performance is also planned.
