Travel

NAUVOO, Illinois – A phenomenon in Church pageants was set in motion in July 2005 with the debut of the Nauvoo Pageant. Now in its third year, this unique celebration is expected to bring tens of thousands again to this beloved little city on the bend of the Mississippi River.

The Nauvoo Pageant is the result of a commission from the First Presidency to tell the story of Nauvoo in spiritual strength and power. To fulfill that assignment a group of seven writers produced the script, led by David T. Warner, director of Music and Cultural Arts for the Church.

“In the pageant, the past, with its strong values of faith, family and community, really does come alive,” says Warner, who is also the show’s artistic director. “There’s music and dance and wonderful entertainment, but, best of all, there are inspirational stories of real people who faced life’s challenges with great optimism, industry and faith.”

Pageant finale. Photo by Gerry Graves.

Much of the script’s dialog was taken from journals and histories of the early Nauvoo Saints, which infuse the story with intimacy and feeling.

Seven composers collaborated on the score, which includes several inspiring arrangements of Church hymns. Music, dance, nostalgia and joy burst from the large wooden stage on the pageant site, just north of the Nauvoo Groves. The magnificent Nauvoo Temple itself serves as a backdrop for the story. But the singularity of the Nauvoo Pageant doesn’t end there.

Month-Long Run – More than 800 Volunteers

This pageant spans an entire month to accommodate visitors to Nauvoo, this year from July 6 to August 3 (Tuesdays-Saturdays). Five separate family casts of about 140 each volunteer for two weeks. The first week they rehearse and run the pageant pre-show, and the second week they perform.

About 100 additional volunteers come to help with costuming, security, children’s activities, office work and stage operations, some of them staying for nearly two months. A crew of 22 young men (ages 17-19) do the muscle work of the pageant, setting up, running, maintaining, and striking the pageant stage and technical equipment.

This year, cast members and volunteers are traveling from Japan, China, Mexico, Canada, England and many U.S. states. And of course local Church members put in many hours as well to help with security, costumes, laundry and medical needs.

Core Cast of Professionals

A core cast of 21 talented and experienced actors perform the lead roles and speak their lines live, wearing cordless microphones. They serve throughout the pageant’s entire run. Each of these actors was chosen as much for his or her devotion to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ as for talent and acting ability. The result is dialog infused with testimony, which flows from the stage to touch the audience.

For the third year Dallyn and Rachel Bayles will play Joseph and Emma Smith. Dallyn is a Broadway performer and gifted singer who played Enjolras in the third national tour of Les Miserables and also played Feuilly in that show’s premiere engagement in China. Rachel is an experienced actress and singer in musical theater.

Dallyn and Rachel Bayles as Joseph and Emma Smith. Photo by Gerry Graves.

The Full Pageant Experience

The Nauvoo Pageant experience begins long before the sun sets on the Mississippi and includes much more than the pageant itself. Several activities throughout the day and evening enhance the pageant story and the visitor’s understanding of Nauvoo history:

Nauvoo-Remembered Vignettes

During the day at varied historic sites, visitors can watch six different vignettes performed by core cast actors in period costume depicting people and events of old Nauvoo. For example, at The Women of Nauvoo , in the Relief Society Garden outside the Historic Visitors Center, early members of the Relief Society recount how that organization came into being and what the Prophet Joseph Smith taught the women in those early days.

The Youth of Zion vignette about the young people of Old Nauvoo, across from the historic Print Shop, will delight all ages with humor and audience participation opportunities as youngsters share with visitors their stories of bravery, testimony and good old-fashioned fun.

Visitors can also gather near the Mansion House for Letters of Emma and Joseph . Narrated by Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph’s mother, and read by Emma and Joseph, these actual letters of Joseph Smith and his beloved wife offer poignant insights into their lives and their loving relationship as husband and wife.

Other vignettes include Go Ye Into All the World in the Seventies Hall, the King Follett Discourse in the West Grove, and the Trail of Hope on the walk along Parley Street to the river’s edge. A schedule with times and locations of all six vignettes can be found at the Historic Visitors Center on the corner of Partridge and Hubbard Streets or online at www.historicnauvoo.net. As an added bonus, actors will surprise and delight visitors with mini-vignettes at random times and places.

Post-Performance Discussions

On Wednesdays-Saturdays at noon in the Nauvoo Room of the Joseph Smith Academy, across from the temple, visitors can meet with a few members of the pageant production staff and leading cast. In an intimate and casual setting, you may ask questions and will also hear behind-the-scenes insights and stories about the pageant’s creation and development.

Concession Stand

Beginning at 7:00 each performance evening, the Pageant Concession Stand will offer hamburgers, hot dogs and other meal items along with drinks and treats. Several Nauvoo community groups accept the invitation to work at the stand to raise money for their organizations. Local Mormons work shoulder to shoulder with members of other congregations and organizations to provide this service to pageant goers. “At the beginning of each evening, strangers arrived to work, but by end of evening, we’d made new friends,” says Beth Robison who organized the labor force.

“1840s Country Fair” Pre-show

The Nauvoo Green adjoining the pageant site is alive with music and fun from 7:00-8:30 p.m. before each pageant performance. Visitors can join costumed cast members in old-time games and activities including rope pulls, stick ball, log sawing, children’s crafts and games, a puppet show, quilting, a blue grass band with lively round dancing, music by the Nauvoo Brass Band, and finally a bagpipe and drum parade that leads cast members and visitors into the pageant site for the opening ceremonies.

Nauvoo Pageant President Jack Renouf says, “More than 175,000 hours of volunteer service are contributed to present this marvelous production. You simply must see it to believe it.”