A Church Musical Tradition Takes a Temporary Pause for a Temple Celebration
Church Newsroom reported the annual production will be presented as a two-day concert and live broadcast of Act 1 only, focusing on the anticipation and birth of Jesus Christ.
The change is driven by a significant, one-time event: preparations for the 2027 Salt Lake Temple Celebration and the necessary closure of the Conference Center. While this means the full, month-long musical will not run this Christmas season, the church is ensuring the spirit of the celebration continues with a condensed, powerful musical experience.
The Shift to a Concert Format
Starting this year, “Savior of the World” will be reimagined as a concert. This format will present only Act 1 of the musical—the story of the Savior’s birth. The performances will be held on Friday and Saturday, November 27–28, 2026, in the historic Tabernacle on Temple Square. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. each evening, with an additional matinee performance on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The concert will feature minimal staging, a live orchestra, the actors, and an expanded 300-member choir composed of children, youth, young adults, and adults, many participating as families. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be available during the Saturday evening performance.
Attendance remains free, but tickets are required. They will become available on Tuesday, November 10, at 10 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time. For those unable to attend in person, the Saturday, November 28, concert will be streamed live in both English and ASL on the Church’s official YouTube channel and on Broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. It will also be available for on-demand viewing on those same platforms and within the Gospel Library app.
A Brief Hiatus, Not an End
This format change is temporary. Since the Conference Center opened in 2000, the full two-act musical has been a cornerstone of the Christmas season in Salt Lake City, consistently selling out its run from late November through December. The church confirmed that the full production will return in 2027.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints explained that the closure of the Conference Center and preparations for the 2027 Salt Lake Temple Celebration necessitated the change, though the church expects the minimal staging, live orchestra, actors, and expanded choir to create a rich musical experience for concertgoers.
The full musical remains available for local congregations to produce. Scripts, musical scores for all 38 numbers, and detailed guidance on casting, costuming, and set design are available for free on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. This means communities worldwide can still stage the entire play or its individual acts for Easter or Christmas performances.
This year, several international and local productions will proceed as planned. For instance, the Church’s Pacific Area will present the full musical on December 16–19, 2026, in Auckland, New Zealand. Similarly, Brigham Young University–Hawaii will stage performances on November 28–29 and December 2 at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
For now, the focus shifts to the intimate setting of the Tabernacle, ensuring the story of the Savior’s birth is told, just in a different form.
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