Twelve Days of Christmas: Kelli O'Hara & Matthew Morrison

The holidays are upon us and BroadwayWorld is continuing our favorite annual tradition of celebrating the holiday season with a Twelve Days of Christmas countdown. This year we are featuring some of our favorite members of the 2024 Broadway scene to share some of her most cherished holiday songs, films, and performances. This year's coutdown is sponsored by Elf The Musical- running on Broadway through January 4 at the Marquis Theatre.

Elf The Musical is the hilarious and heartwarming tale of Buddy, a young orphan whose life is changed forever when he mistakenly crawls into Santa’s sack of toys one Christmas Eve. Raised by elves at the North Pole, Buddy’s enormous size and limited toy-making abilities make him realize he may not quite fit in! When he discovers he is actually human, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father, and in turn, helps the Big Apple and the people he meets rediscover the true meaning of Christmas. Featuring a mistletoe-tapping score and a knockout cast – including a "terrific" (Deadline) Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings) as Santa Claus and a "delightful and exuberant" (The New York Times) Grey Henson (Mean Girls, Shucked) as Buddy – this is one holiday charmer you won't want to miss. 

The gang was back together again last week at the Vivian Beaumont Theare, where Lincoln Center Theatre presented a triumphant benefit reunion concert of South Pacific. Kelli O'Hara, Matthew Morrison, and director Bartlett Sher were all there for the big night and they took a pause from the celebration to tell us all about what they love to watch every holiday season. O'Hara knew right away... "We always watch The Sound of Music," she said. "It's our holiday movie."

"My favorite Christmas movie is probably The Holiday, added Morrison. "But... streaming now, is A Paris Christmas Waltz starring Matthew Morrison! [Laughs] No... but it's a really fun Christmas movie that I that a lot of people are loving so it's fun to be like in the canon now of Christmas movies."

"I've always been a Frank Capra fan, so It's a Wonderful Life is the one. Jimmy Stewart coming back is one of my favorites. That would probably be the main one," added Sher. "What I think of for Christmas is the family traditions and us being together. We have a tree that's filled with all of these weird things. So bringing those out and having them sort of take over the house again is kind of the fun part."

Sher is a Tony award-winner who has been described by The New York Times as one of America’s “most original and exciting directors.” His production of Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway is the best-selling American play in Broadway history.  He has been a resident director at Lincoln Center Theater since 2008, where his work includes Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot, Corruption, The Light in the Piazza, Awake and Sing!, South Pacific, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Golden Boy, The King & I, and the 2017 Tony-winning Best Play Oslo, My Fair Lady. His other works on Broadway and in the West End include Pictures from Home, The Bridges of Madison County and Fiddler on the Roof. Bart has also directed several operas, including Rigoletto (Berlin, Metropolitan Opera); Roméo et Juliette (Metropolitan Opera, Salzburg, Milan, Chicago); Faust (Baden Baden); Two Boys (ENO, Metropolitan Opera); Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Baden Baden, Metropolitan Opera), Otello, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Le Comte Ory, L'Elisir d'Amore (Metropolitan Opera); Mourning Becomes Electra (Seattle Opera, City Opera). He will direct the world premiere of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay for the Met in their 2025-2026 season. His film of Oslo starring Ruth Wilson & Andrew Scott premiered on HBO in 2021 and was nominated for two Emmy Awards and won a Critics Choice Award. Bart recently mounted a hit revival of Kiss Me, Kate at the Barbican in London. His upcoming work includes a stage adaptation of the movie musical La La Land.

O'Hara has been nominated for 8 Tony Awards, winning for the Lincoln Center Theater production of The King and I. She is also an Emmy, Olivier, and 2-time Grammy nominated artist who made history as the first to crossover from Broadway to Opera with her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2015. Her solo concerts take her across the world. Selected film/TV credits include: “The Gilded Age,” “The Accidental Wolf,” “13 Reasons Why,” “Masters of Sex,” Sex and the City 2 and Martin Scorsese’s The Key to Reserva. Upcoming: Season 3 of “The Gilded Age.”

Morrison is a Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe award nominee, his most recent Broadway credit is starring as J.M Barrie in Finding Neverland (Drama Desk nom, Broadway.com Audience Choice Award). Additional Broadway includes Footloose, Link Larkin in Hairspray, The Light in the Piazza (Tony Award nom), 10 Million Miles (DD nom) and South Pacific. TV includes Mr. Schuester on “Glee,” U.S. Attorney Conor Fox on “The Good Wife,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and hosted and narrated the PBS special entitled “Oscar Hammerstein II: Out of My Dreams.” Films include What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Studio albums include Where It All Began produced by Phil Ramone; and his debut, self-titled album through Mercury Records in 2011, which featured an A-list lineup of guest artists including Sting, Gwyneth Paltrow and Sir Elton John. Education: Morrison studied musical theater, vocal performance and dance at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Follow along with BroadwayWorld's
Twelve Days of Christmas