1978 Pageants Scheduled

For years the Hill Cumorah Pageant was the only regular pageant in the Church. But in recent years several other extravaganzas have sprung up in many different places, and all have attracted many visitors who get an idea of some of the things the Church stands for.

The performance schedules of nine dramatic pageants in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand were recently announced by the Church. First, in Hamilton, New Zealand, on 19–21 January 1978, a new pageant, “Hear Him,” was presented for the first time. It was staged on the temple hill.

In Mesa, Arizona, on 21–24 March, an Easter pageant will be presented on the grounds of the Arizona Temple. More than 20,000 attended last year’s production.

On June 15–16, “Lest We Forget” will be presented in the high school auditorium in Cody, Wyoming, near Yellowstone National Park.

Last year 10,000 people attended “Missouri, Mormons, Miracles,” produced outdoors near the Church visitors center in Independence, Missouri. This year the pageant will be produced June 15–17.

The Oakland Temple pageant will be staged indoors in the tri-stake center in Oakland, California, on July 11–15, 18–22. Last year’s attendance was 18,000.

The grassy slope below the Manti Temple will be the site of the “Mormon Miracle” pageant on July 13–15, 18–22 at Manti, Utah. Last year, 125,000 people came to the event.

The forty-first annual production of the Hill Cumorah pageant “America’s Witness for Christ” will also be the first produced by new pageant director Jack Sederholm. Presented on the slope of the historic hill a few miles south of Palmyra, New York (near Rochester), this oldest and best-attended of Latter-day Saint pageants last year attracted 140,000 visitors. Performance dates are July 21–22, 25–29.

“City of Joseph” will be presented August 15–19 near the visitors center at Nauvoo, Illinois. The pageant retells the story of the settlement of the Mississippi River town by the Saints, and their eventual departure after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Attendance in 1977 was 40,000.

A Christmas Nativity Pageant will be presented in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on December 18–26 in Heritage Park.

The Hill Cumorah Pageant is one of many Church pageants produced yearly.