Mormon Miracle Pageant

I'm mostly alone in the house, because my family has all gone on vacation. But I can't say I'm completely alone, because of course I can't forget Jimmy.

On Saturday, a friend who grew up in Manti invited me to see the Mormon Miracle Pageant in that town. I didn't have plans for Saturday night, so I took him up on the offer.

I had never seen it. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it, but I thought it would be nice to. This is the last year they are having it. I have been doing research for a personal project, and it has come up a few places in my research, so I thought it might be nice to have some context.

When I visited every county seat last year, Manti might have been my favorite one. I love its clean, quaint Main Street and the temple on the hill.

I had heard some not-so-favorable things about the pageant from another friend, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

The verdict?

Well, I did enjoy being there. It was fun to watch on a June evening with a full moon behind me. But I might have enjoyed it for the wrong reasons.

This pageant portrays the story of the Restoration from the First Vision of 1820 to the settlement of Manti in 1849. The bulk of the show, however, has Book of Mormon scenes, presented in the context of the book's translation. Like the Palmyra pageant, it consists of prerecorded dialogue and music while actors depict the story on the hillside below the temple.

This pageant debuted in 1967—and it shows. Most of the dialogue and music was old. Pageants themselves are an old-fashioned medium; my research has shown their popularity picked up (and possibly peaked) in the 1930s. This show was a curious piece of 1960s kitsch. I'm a fan of 1960s kitsch. And as an amateur Mormon historian, it was enjoyable to see this blast from the past.

There have been some updates through the years. Much of the old material had fuzzy background noise, and I kept noticing where the fuzzy sound would break off suddenly where they had removed material. (My friend confirmed to me that much of the original material had been changed.) The scene of the Savior's ministry among the Nephites had a noticeably newer sound.

This was a major community event. Tons of people were there, and there was an amazing amount of traffic for late at night in a small town. It was impressive that such a small community could have so many participants for the performance. I can't be too nitpicky about some of the historical elements. It was full of handcarts, even though the story ended before handcarts were used. But it really would be impractical to have a livestock-pulled wagon on the hillside during the pageant.

But...although I enjoyed seeing it, and I can understand why Manti is so proud of the performance (perhaps rightfully so), I think the time has come for it to end. I think I would be embarrassed to bring a member of another faith to this show; I only appreciated it because I'm familiar with the story and the niche. The emphases of the 1960s are different from what we would choose to emphasize today, and the dialogue and voice acting were very dated. At times, it was charmingly campy, but at other times, it was cringeworthy. I thought the First Vision was done tastefully, but the martyrdom was so corny that it made me very uncomfortable. It would have been better to leave it out than do it the way they did it.

Will it be missed? I'm sure it will. But, just like the Ringling Bros. circus, it's time for it to go.