Pageant Conclusion

I've been intending to write a conclusion to our Pageant experience for nearly a week but catching up since getting home was a bit overwhelming. Better late than never!

I enjoyed reading the blog of a non-member who is on a biking pilgrimage to visit distinctively American religious sites. (He has an MA in journalism and religion.) While there are several articles on his visit to Palmyra, this page shows pictures (albeit a bit fuzzy) of me, Lily, and Sam. In the picture of Christ's descension, Lily and I are in the upper right hand corner. In the picture of Joseph Smith, Sam is on the far right-hand side.

http://www.americanpilgrimage.com/blog/the-only-non-mormon-in-zions-camp

I also enjoyed the Podcast on this site. The man the author interviews, Matthew Thomas, is a surgeon from St. Louis. He was one of the most effective missionaries with many, many referrals. He basically got a referral from every single person he talked to. He played the role of Ishmael.

While on the subject of pictures, in the two stragglers I’ve attached the first is self explanatory but the second has a cute story. Every time Lily and I came off the stage we would pass by this large, gold idol. She was obsessed with touching it—sort of giving it a high five—every time we exited. The very last night of pageant I waited until the performance was over and went pack on stage to take her picture with it.

The casting of the pageant remains something that fascinates me. While much of it feels random because it takes place so quickly and with what appears to be so little input by the participants (often times the director will just walk up and hand someone a card which says their part on it). In some circumstances the directors will ask if they've been in pageant before and what role they played so that it isn't duplicated. Rarely a director--there are seven of them--will ask a few people to come out and say a line and do some actions.

You could boil it down to speculating that the directors are simply casting according to looks. Take King Noah for instance. He needs to be an overweight, imposing man. That limits your choices. But my “looks” theory didn't hold true completely because the woman who played Sariah this year, Heidi, was about 200 lbs with dark, curly hair. And the woman who played Sariah last year, Misa, was about 110 lbs with short, blond hair.

I believe that in many circumstances it comes down to inspiration. I'm not to the point of believing that the directors were inspired in giving the one and only part that was best for all 716 people. But I know of so many examples of people who had a part that was so fitting and perfect for them, and who had circumstances of which the directors had no idea, that I have to believe the directors were prompted by the spirit.

Since I already mentioned King Noah I'll start with him. One day I sat next to the man who played him, Steve. Being cast as Noah might be rather insulting. "Ahhh, they think I'm a fat, surly, evil man." While there are certainly greater villains in the world, King Noah is basically THE villain of pageant. So I asked Steve what he thought of being cast as Noah and he said he LOVED it. He was in HEAVEN. If you had asked him six months ago of his dream role at pageant it would have been King Noah. Having heard a response like that I asked if playing the part lived up to his expectations and he said it actually surpassed them. He loved coming out into the Bowl before the performance each night to meet the audience. He loved having the most extravagant costume. All the little kids would run up to him and ask for pictures and autographs. "Plus whenever I walk it sounds like Santa's sleigh!" I have my doubts as to whether any of the other 715 people in pageant this year would have had the same attitude toward the role that this man did.

Another example is Pat Saliby. She told her story in the adult testimony meeting on the last day of pageant. When she and her husband found out they had been accepted her husband said that she didn't need to worry about anything logistical with pageant. She wouldn't need to cook any meals or plan transportation or lodging. She was excited to be freed up to study spiritual things. She read the Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel but finished early and was hungry for more. She then read The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother and fell in love with the history of the Smiths. Never having been to NY she was thrilled at the idea of being able to tour the farm and house and she plunged into learning all she could about the family, especially Lucy Mack. She had never seen pageant before and didn't realize there was a restoration scene so she was quite surprised when she was handed her role--that of Lucy Mack Smith. I doubt that anyone else studied the woman as intensely as Pat did in the months before the performance. And I don't believe that anyone would have appreciated the opportunity to portray the woman in the way that she did.

Another example is Heather Anderson. Heather is five years old. The Andersons were in pageant last year and when they decided to apply again, Heather announced that she would play the role of the little girl that runs up to Jesus. Jesus then holds her up in the air, hugs her, and says, "Bring me your little ones." Her mom said, "Heather, we don't get to choose our roles. We play whatever they ask us." Heather responded, "But I want that part more than anyone else and I'd do a really good job." Misa was concerned that Heather would be very disappointed if it didn't work out exactly as she planned but Heather ended the discussion when she declared, "I'll just pray about it then."

When Heather got her part it read "Little Child #1." They didn't know what that meant until the first practice but, of course, Heather is the little girl that ran up to Jesus. And I agree with her that she did a really good job. One time I was complimenting her to her mom saying how amazed I was that she was consistently so gleeful and ecstatic. Misa said that after each performance she was like a wet noodle, completely exhausted and spent. She put everything she had into that one minute on stage. How could the directors have known the importance of that role to Heather, and how spectacularly a little five-year-old could knock it out of the park each night?

My favorite story has to do with a thirteen-year-old by named Elias. His mother Maryan told this story in the testimony meeting. I knew the brother Hyrum who is 18 and will be attending BYU in the fall. He has red hair and is extremely friendly. When he found out what I teach he was enthused to take my class and I completely believe he will follow through. Every time Hyrum saw me he would say hi and was super excited to talk about BYU. I kind of assumed his whole family would be just like him. In her testimony Maryan said that Elias has severe autism. He can hardly stand to be touched and hates social situations. He doesn't like loud noises or strangers. So you can imagine that pageant is not an ideal environment for him.

Last year their family had done the Nauvoo pageant and because Elias had been so nervous, neither he nor Maryan had ended up making it on stage for a single performance. This was deeply disappointing to her. Because of that, she felt if her and Elias were able to appear in even one performance this year they would consider it a success.

During casting she explained their situation to the directors. He was cast just in Christ's Descension scene so that if they didn't make it on, they wouldn't be missed but if they did make it, it would be a fulfilling scene for them to participate in. Apparently one of the director's mentioned Elias's situation to Karl Arnold who portrayed Jesus. Karl came over to Elias that afternoon to introduce himself. He told him they would be in a scene together and that Elias should look out for him. He tried to give him a high five but Elias didn't want him to touch him.

Karl sought Elias out at every meal and devotional. Every time Karl saw him he came over to say hi and remind him who he was and that they were in the scene together and that he would be looking for him and hoped to see him. Eventually Elias let Karl give him a high five.

At the run through Karl just had the white robe on but no beard. He went over to Elias to make sure that he recognized him, doing the same thing the first time he had the beard applied. "It's still me Elias. It's still Karl. I hope I get to see you tonight. I'll be watching for you."

Elias wanted to go on stage for the dress rehearsal. In fact, Elias and his mom appeared on stage for every single performance. His mom said, "Everyone has a favorite moment in pageant but let me tell you mine. It is when the parents bring the palsied girl on stage, Christ lays his hands on her head, and she is healed. The fondest wish of my heart is that Elias will be healed of all the hardships he has to endure. I believe that one day, Christ will heal him and I will be able to witness it. To see such a scene enacted and to have Elias by my side is a tender mercy. But the most beautiful thing of all is that I don't need to wait until the next life. Even though I know that Karl is just playing the role of the Savior, by his kindness to my son he has healed a small part of him that I would have thought irreparable. He has done a true miracle."

I was thrilled to hear this story before the last performance. It made the healing of the palsied girl so much more impactful to me. And to be kneeling on stage and watch Elias and his mother during the scene was transcendent.

My point with that story is someone did a darned fine job casting Karl. There was so much more to it than that he is 6'5'' or that he can move his arms in an authoritative way or that he isn't scared of heights. The lighting crew does an excellent job of making the white robes of the Savior glow but Karl did a mighty fine job of glowing himself.

I haven’t quite decided why it feels like there are so many miracles at pageant. I do believe there God is mindful of us all the time and pours His mercies out if we are mindful and have eyes to see. But it so tangible and concentrated during pageant. I supposed it could be sacred ground. It could be that the missionary work is so important so there is a concentration of the spirit focused on that important work. There were over 5,000 referrals generated during pageant and traditionally ten percent of those are actually baptized which is a staggering statistic. It could also be that the commitment level of the cast is so strong. The caliber of the people is high and it’s a great feeling to be united in a worthy cause. It also might be that you’re expecting miracles during pageant—watching for them—so you get what you hope for.

We've pretty much decided we can't live without doing pageant again next year. Even Lily has not stopped talking about it since we got home. I thought that once we got accepted we'd be a shoe in for getting in next summer but I just heard from someone who got in in 2004 and applied in 05, 06, and 07 only to get in again in 08. So who knows. While I can see how the first time might always stand as the best experience, I also feel we would be so much better prepared to make the most of the experience next year (or whenever we get in again).

I've tried to recruit as many friends as possible but for any of the others of you I can entice, applications will be available Aug 15-Nov 1 at http://hillcumorah.org/Pageant/Applications.aspx.
The only thing better than being in pageant would be being in pageant with people we know and love!