Having charmed Conference Center audiences last July with her talent, presence and freely expressed values, Broadway’s Cinderella will return to Salt Lake City to appear again with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, this time for the annual Christmas concerts Dec. 17-19.
Laura Osnes will appear with acclaimed British screen and voice actor Martin Jarvis and four Metropolitan Opera soloists: soprano Erin Morley and mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford, both with ties to the Salt Lake City area; and tenor Ben Bliss and bass baritone Tyler Simpson.
At the Pioneer Day concert in July, Miss Osnes delighted audience members in the Conference Center when she spoke of appearing in the most recent Broadway production of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein show “Cinderella” with “Prince Charming” Santino Fontana, who had appeared with the choir and orchestra at the previous Pioneer Day and Christmas concerts.
But he was only her true love on stage, she said. “Tonight, my real-life Prince Charming and husband, Nate, is here.”
She then introduced Nathan Johnson who stood in the audience. They had just celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary, she said, and dedicated her performance of “All the Things You Are” to him.
They met in their home state of Minnesota, where they performed together in a production of “Aladdin.” There, they understudied the leads. As it happened the leads collided one day, and both were hospitalized. That gave the couple the opportunity to perform in the show together. Their first kiss was on stage. That led to their dating relationship, which culminated in their marriage a year later.
In an interview in Salt Lake City last summer, Miss Osnes spoke of her Christian faith, identifying it as “one of the main things that keeps me grounded in this crazy world.”
At the July concert, she said it was not her first occasion to perform before a largely Mormon audience, that she had once sung in the Manhattan 8th Ward in New York City, but that it was not nearly the size of the Conference Center. At that time, she was appearing in a production of “Grease,” and was invited by a fellow cast member, Natalie Hill, to sing a duet at the meeting.
Mr. Jarvis, a native of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in England, has acted on both Broadway in New York and in London’s West End. He has acted in movies, television and voice animated productions.
On radio, he is well known for his long series of readings of Richmal Crompton’s Just William stories. His first television appearance was in the BBC science fiction series “Doctor Who,” and he has made several guest appearances in that series. He has been in many other BBC productions, including as Uriah Heep in the 1974 production of “Charles Dickens.
On American television, he has appeared in “Murder, She Wrote,” “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Stargate Atlantis” and “Numb3rs.”
He was Sir Thomas Gordon in the movie “Titanic” and was the voice of a character in the Disney motion picture “Wreck-It Ralph.”
Mr. Jarvis has directed more than 100 major productions for BBC radio and NPR in the United States. He is invested by Queen Elizabeth as an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) for his services to drama.
Complimentary tickets for the Christmas concert are required and will be distributed through a random selection process. Patrons may register online at lds.org/events through 11:59 p.m. Monday Nov. 2. Those without Internet access can register by telephone at (801)570-0080 or 1-866-LDS-TIKS Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
All registrations received will have an equal chance at receiving tickets in the random selection process. Not all registrations will be selected to receive tickets, and only one registration per household can be accepted. Patrons will be notified by email about the results of the random selection process. Tickets will be mailed to those selected shortly after the registration process closes.
No tickets will be required for the 30-minute “Music and the Spoken Word” broadcast on Sunday, Dec. 20, in the Conference Center, at which artists and selections from the Christmas concerts will be featured.
