Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant
Encyclopedia
The Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant Jesus the Christ is an annual production of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) staged on the grounds of the Mesa Arizona Temple
. One of the six LDS pageants, Jesus the Christ began in 1928 as a small sunrise Easter presentation. The pageant is now the "largest annual outdoor Easter pageant in the world." With a 450-member cast, the 65-minute pageant depicts the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ using song and dance.
The pageant runs each evening for ten nights, usually at the beginning of April, performing two of the nights completely in Spanish
. No donations are accepted and no tickets are required, although seating is first-come, first-served.
The four-story, multi-level stage used for the pageant is a temporary installment on the temple grounds. It takes three weeks to assemble and is disassembled after each Easter season.
Auditions are required to participate in the pageant, and all cast and crew positions are voluntary. Over 800 people auditioned in 2007 while only 450 (the largest cast to date) were invited back. While the cast is mostly composed of members of the LDS Church, members of several other religious faiths participate in the production each year.
Participation in the pageant is meant to enrich both the viewer and the cast and crew. Before each performance, the cast and crew gather in the chapel adjacent to the Temple grounds for an hour-long devotional. A portion of the cast and crew is also assigned to visit with the crowd before and after the production each night.
Cast and crew alumni include Taitusi "Deuce" Lutui, offensive lineman for NFL's Arizona Cardinals
, who played the role of a Roman soldier. The director as of November 2008 is Nanci Wudel.
Mesa Arizona Temple
The Mesa Arizona Temple is the seventh operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located in the city of Mesa, Arizona, it is the first of five LDS temples built or planned in the state.-History:...
. One of the six LDS pageants, Jesus the Christ began in 1928 as a small sunrise Easter presentation. The pageant is now the "largest annual outdoor Easter pageant in the world." With a 450-member cast, the 65-minute pageant depicts the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ using song and dance.
The pageant runs each evening for ten nights, usually at the beginning of April, performing two of the nights completely in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. No donations are accepted and no tickets are required, although seating is first-come, first-served.
History
The production began in 1928 as a sunrise Easter service. During its ten-day run in 2005, the pageant performed for more than 150,000 people. It is now the "largest annual outdoor Easter pageant in the world."The four-story, multi-level stage used for the pageant is a temporary installment on the temple grounds. It takes three weeks to assemble and is disassembled after each Easter season.
Cast and crew
Participation in the pageant is meant to enrich both the viewer and the cast and crew. Before each performance, the cast and crew gather in the chapel adjacent to the Temple grounds for an hour-long devotional. A portion of the cast and crew is also assigned to visit with the crowd before and after the production each night.
Cast and crew alumni include Taitusi "Deuce" Lutui, offensive lineman for NFL's Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, who played the role of a Roman soldier. The director as of November 2008 is Nanci Wudel.
See also
- Ida R. AlldredgeIda R. AlldredgeIda Romney Alldredge was the author of the Latter-day Saint hymn "They the Builders of the Nation".-Personal:...
- Christian dramaChristian dramaChristian drama is drama that explores Christian themes.- Mystery play :Through the medieval period churches in Europe frequently performed mystery plays, retelling the stories of the Bible. They developed from the representation of Bible stories in churches with accompanying song...
- Easter DramaEaster DramaAn Easter Drama is a liturgical drama or religious theatrical performance in the Roman Catholic tradition, largely limited to the Middle Ages. These performances evolved from celebrations of the liturgy to incorporate later dramatic and secular elements, and came to be performed in local languages...
- List of pageants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Morality playMorality playThe morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as "interludes", a broader term given to dramas with or without a moral theme. Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of...
- Mormon literatureMormon literatureMormon literature is generally considered to begin a few years before the March 1830 publication of the Book of Mormon. Since this time Mormon literature has grown to include more scripture, histories, fiction, biographies, poetry, hymns, drama and other forms.-See also:* A Motley Vision*...
- Mystery playMystery playMystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song...
- Passion playPassion playA Passion play is a dramatic presentation depicting the Passion of Jesus Christ: his trial, suffering and death. It is a traditional part of Lent in several Christian denominations, particularly in Catholic tradition....
External links
- Pageant photo gallery at richardwebbtemples.com