Actor John Rhys-Davies is known for his roles as Sallah in the Indiana Jones films and, of course, as Gimli (and Treebeard) in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Last Christmas, however, Rhys-Davies adopted the role of another classic character for a special Christmas concert with the renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir: the Ghost of Christmas Present.
A friend of mine got tickets for my roommates and I to one of the performances in the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City, and all he would tease me about for the next week was Gimli! Yes, that was cool.
Guest soloist Deborah Voight sang several spectacular Christmas numbers, including "The Twelve Days After Christmas." Then organist Richard Elliot played his annual Christmas piece, a medley of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." Then onto the stage came John Rhys-Davies. All he could say in prelude to his own performance was, "Well, how do you top that?"
But really, the show was about to get that much more awesome. The Christmas story being depicted for the year told how Charles Dickens began writing his beloved Christmas Carol. Rhys-Davies, as the ghost of Christmas Present, led young Dickens on a journey to see the wonder and joy of Christmas for his own eyes, and that journey included literally FLYING ON CABLES over the audience. Rhys-Davies also read the account of the birth of Jesus in Luke 2.
Rhys-Davies called his event with the choir "a marvelous, matchless experience." You can watch a video with excerpts from the concert here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkDeFtHD5nA
Guest soloist Deborah Voight sang several spectacular Christmas numbers, including "The Twelve Days After Christmas." Then organist Richard Elliot played his annual Christmas piece, a medley of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." Then onto the stage came John Rhys-Davies. All he could say in prelude to his own performance was, "Well, how do you top that?"
But really, the show was about to get that much more awesome. The Christmas story being depicted for the year told how Charles Dickens began writing his beloved Christmas Carol. Rhys-Davies, as the ghost of Christmas Present, led young Dickens on a journey to see the wonder and joy of Christmas for his own eyes, and that journey included literally FLYING ON CABLES over the audience. Rhys-Davies also read the account of the birth of Jesus in Luke 2.
Rhys-Davies called his event with the choir "a marvelous, matchless experience." You can watch a video with excerpts from the concert here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkDeFtHD5nA
John Rhys-Davies and his concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Deborah Voight , "Let the Season In," will be airing this December on your local PBS station, for those of you here in the U.S. You can also buy the DVD of the concert or buy or download the CD from Deseret Book.
See you in the Shire!
See you in the Shire!