Mesa Easter Pageant Kicks Off Season of Church Productions

After months of preparation and hard work, participants and viewers of the Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant will experience through music, dance, and drama the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

The Easter pageant, titled Jesus the Christ, is held on the lawn of the Mesa Arizona Temple Visitors’ Center. More than 400 participants reenact the King James Version of the Bible’s account of the Savior’s birth, ministry, death, and Resurrection.

“I see over and over again the cast experiencing a joy that they have never felt before as they share their testimonies in a direct way with so many people,” said Nanci Wudel, director of the pageant.

Preparations for the pageant begin months previous to the performance. Volunteers of all ages, including individuals and families, participate as cast members, offer backstage support, and join in work crews to help put on the production. Casting for the 2009 production began in November 2008.

The Mesa pageant started as a sunrise service in 1928 and has since grown into one of the world’s largest annual outdoor Easter pageants.

“I hope every person in our cast and audience leaves the pageant with his or her burdens lightened, a feeling of deep peace, and a strong desire to know more about the Savior and His plan of happiness for us,” Sister Wudel said. “Everything we do for the pageant is to bring people closer to the Savior.”

The Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant is set to begin with a public dress rehearsal on March 31, 2009, and will run April 1–2 and 7–11 in English and April 3–4 in Spanish. It is the first of many official Church pageants to be held in 2009.

Upcoming Pageants

The following pageants will be held throughout the United States in coming months.

The Manti Pageant, A Testament of Jesus Christ, performed adjacent to the Manti Utah Temple, incorporates stories of the Restoration, the Book of Mormon, and the local history of pioneers traveling to the Sanpete Valley.

Originating as a small performance in 1967, the Manti Pageant has developed into a performance with more than 500 cast members. There will be eight evening performances June 18–20 and 23–27, 2009.

The Nauvoo Pageant, A Tribute to Joseph Smith, held in Nauvoo, Illinois, celebrates the sacrifice, faith, and courage of the early Latter-day Saints who, because of their faith, built a city and temple for their God. The pageant includes dances, hymns, and words taken from journals and historic records of the people who lived during this period. The pageant will run July 7– August 1, Tuesday through Saturday.

The Hill Cumorah Pageant, America’s Witness for Christ, held in Palmyra, New York, includes scenes from the Book of Mormon and Church history.

Some of the scenes portrayed in the pageant include the account of Lehi’s family and their travel from Jerusalem to the Americas as well as the account found in 3 Nephi 11 of Christ appearing in ancient America. Also in the pageant is the depiction of Joseph Smith’s discovery of the gold plates and other events of the Restoration.

The pageant was first presented at a conference by a group of missionaries in the early 1920s and has grown and evolved over the years into the large production it is today. The pageant will run July 10–11 and 14–18, 2009.

The Clarkston Pageant, held in Clarkston, Utah, showcases the life of Martin Harris and the contribution he made to the early Church. The performance shows the journey of trial and testimony that Martin Harris went through as he participated in the Restoration.

Sacred events that Martin Harris experienced—including being one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, who were allowed to handle the gold plates—are depicted, along with the charge he felt to declare his witness throughout his life. The pageant, titled Martin Harris: The Man Who Knew, will run August 7–8, 11–15, and 18–21, 2009.

An actor portrays the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Nauvoo Pageant.

The Mesa Arizona Temple grounds are the scene of the annual Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant.