Hillside Pagentry

After our day at Niagara Falls, Canada, we drove an hour and a half to Palmyra, New York. Of all the adventures we've had this year, this was one of the most anticipated. Before we visited the significant church history sites in that area, we had the opportunity to watch the Hill Cumorah Pageant.

We got there early enough to run out our road-trip wiggles and snag good seats.

The spectacle was kind of amazing. Throughout the course of the show we saw fire shoot up from the stage, water spray several times and some really clever set changes. The most jarring was a slowly rising set of three crosses from the upstage right corner while Christ's Crucifixion was being foretold and then later depicted. At the other end of the emotional spectrum was the portrayal of Jesus visiting the Nephites. The actor seemed to really descend from Heaven. It was stunning.

Do you remember how rainy our Niagara Falls visit was? We saw the Pageant that same night. The forecast called for a thunderstorm. We almost canceled and went home, but I really really wanted to see it, so we braved the weather. The rain stopped shortly before we got there. The air was cool and damp and the ground was soggy. The sky still looked threatening an hour before the show, but the clouds didn't drop anymore moisture. During Samuel the Lamanite's foretelling of the sign of Christ's birth, a followspot illuminated the clouds directly above our heads. Not long after, I turned to see Peter looking straight up. I followed his gaze and saw that the clouds had parted to reveal a sky full of beautiful stars.

Cooper, Phoebe, and I got separated from the rest of the group before the show started. We meandered back to our seats, stopping to take pictures with several cast members who were mingling with the audience. These guys had the most elaborate costumes I saw.

This woman came and spoke to us about the show while we were waiting for it to start. Phoebe loved her costume and asked for a picture.

Flash photography was not allowed, so I took this one picture sans flash then put away my camera and simply enjoyed the show. This is the opening scene and gives a good picture of how big the cast was, though this isn't quite the whole group. Near the end, while they were showing the last battle of the Nephites, I heard Bryan lean over to Cooper and say, "That happened right here."

Cooper questioned,"Where I'm sitting?"

"Maybe."

"Whoa."

At the end of the performance, while we applauded enthusiastically, Peter turned to me and said, "That's the best thing I've ever seen."