Mesa Easter Pageant

Jef Rawls portrays Christ in 2018 Mesa Easter Pageant. Photo by Steve Porter.

2 Mesa Easter Pageant

Returns After 3-year Hiatus

12 Mesa Easter Pageant

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The Mesa Easter Pageant Returns After 3-year Hiatus

By RuthAnn Hogue

Dana Harper has always loved the Mesa Easter Pageant staged on the lawn of the Mesa Arizona Temple. After a three-year hiatus due to the temple’s renovation, Harper could not be more thrilled to see the return of what will be a spectacularly revamped pageant. “I remember as a young child looking forward to the Easter morning sunrise pageant,” Harper recalls.

The program began as a Sunday morning service featuring seasonal music sung by local choirs. Far from its humble beginnings, this free community event has become the largest annual outdoor Easter pageant in the world.

“This is a very different production from its humble beginnings as a sunrise service in 1938,” said Jill Adair, communications director for Mesa Temple events. “On that Easter morning, young men and women of the Mesa Maricopa Stake hosted a statewide convention, and the culminating event of this festive weekend was an Easter Sunrise Service on the grounds of the temple. From that time on, it became an annual event and a beloved community tradition, moving from sunrise to an evening production in 1977.”

“There’s a lot of excitement for the pageant,” Adair said. “We’ve had lots of inquiries. People have missed it. They are excited it is coming back. I think with a lot of things you take it for granted until you don’t have it.”

Adair said the pageant’s return is also significant

Continued on pg. 5

What’s The Buzz?

“If you put first things 1st, and second things 2nd, you’ll get both. If you put second things 1st, and first things 2nd, you’ll get neither!” This quote is attributed to Neil A. Maxwell. It was repeated by Area Seventy Elder Mark A. Gottfredson during a recent Tempe Arizona Stake Conference. Both were of course referring to how we live the Gospel. And how life often gets in the way of us doing so by messing with our priorities. It seems that many in our community have their priorities straight! This is once again evident by the turnout to the 2021 Light The World Giving Machines, and the amount of money donated to six charitable organizations participating in this year’s program. Many of our readers slid credit cards and paid for food, blankets, services and other needs at the vending machines placed under the Gilbert Water Tower. Your efforts resulted in not only caring for the needy, but they also helped to lighten the burden of those operating the organizations tasked with meeting those needs. The smiles on faces in the images below tell that story. So, we’ll let the happy story be told with these pictures. Thank you for reading, and for putting first things 1st.

Michael O’Brien Publisher The Arizona Beehive, LLC 1225 West Main Street, Suite 101-439 Mesa, Arizona 85201 480.304.5646 • www.ArizonaBeehive.com

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Allison Beckert Emily Jex Boyle Cecily Markland Condie Lin Sue Cooney Hilary Jade Fevrier Robin Finlinson Rachael Fuller Tony Gutierrez RuthAnn Hogue Katherine Ogden Heather Sandstrom Glen & Lynne Tolman Cindy R. Williams

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The Arizona Beehive Magazine is a free publication printed six times a year, published by The Arizona Beehive, LLC, containing copyrighted work consisting of original material, and is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The views expressed in The Arizona Beehive Magazine are solely those of its freelance writers, and are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher and its editor, nor do they necessarily represent the position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Duplication of articles for commercial purposes is prohibited.

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Photo by Steve Porter

The Mesa Easter Pageant Returns

Continued from pg. 2

because “first, you want to see the story of the life of Christ, and the marvelous way they present that as a gift to the community. Second, it’s very much a spirit-filled production to tell the story of the life of Christ but doing it on sacred temple grounds. The third component is the people who come are participating because they love their Savior, and they want to share His mission with their friends and neighbors. It’s the perfect combination.”

Although pageant performances have been on hold since 2018, those who plan the pageant have been busy behind the scenes revamping the script, obtaining an updated musical score, and auditioning cast members for roles large and small. Even oversight of the pageant and how it’s perceived by its host has evolved, said Steve West, who has overseen the production since 2012. West, who presided over the annual production as pageant president for nine years was released from the calling last year when he was named executive director of the then-newly formed Mesa Temple Events Committee, which oversees all events that take place around the Mesa Temple.

“Our society is even more divided now than it was three years ago,” West said. “Uniting around the central figure of Jesus Christ is that much more important. If we can unite about the idea that He is the Prince of Peace and his teachings invite us to find peace in our own lives and between each other, I cannot think of a better message to share.”

This year, the pageant will debut a revamped script recounting the life of Christ. Original music composed by Mesa’s own Robert Gardner was recorded earlier this year in London by the London Symphony. A local chorus and choir will perform the vocals live

“Our society is even more divided now than it was three years ago. Uniting around the central figure of Jesus Christ is that much more important."

on stage.

“Except for the musical renditions, the script is taken almost entirely from the King James Version of the Bible,” West said. “Songs are performed as interludes between the

Photo by Jill Adair The process of building the stage begins more than a month before the show begins.

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speaking parts.”

Auditions began in fall 2021. Rehearsals involve 420 actors, dancers, and singers working side-by-side with live animals including lambs, sheep, and a donkey for the triumphal entry.

“It’s a huge time commitment, depending on where they are cast. Core cast members will have more time devoted to rehearsals than what we refer to as our multitude cast, ranging from two to four weeks.

This year’s pageant will take place on a new stage that was designed to accommodate changes to the temple grounds. It will be supported by a new lighting scheme, courtesy of two additional light towers the Mesa committee obtained from the producers of the now defunct Manti Pageant.

While the idea of the pageant returning is overwhelmingly positive, some people have expressed concerns about what might have changed.

“When I think about the pageant changing, I recognize that many people are resistant, disappointed to think it won’t be the same pageant they are used to,” explains past Arizona Beehive Magazine editor Cecily

Stage location: Overhead image of the temple grounds 2022 pageant location.

Photo by Karyann Hoopes

Jef Rawls portrays Christ in Gethsemane, 2018 Mesa Easter Pageant. Photo by Steve Porter

Condie. “However, in writing about the pageant every year—and then in documenting the 80-year history— one thing that stood out to me was the fact that the pageant changed every year. What started as a sunrise choral service gradually grew and changed into the magnificent production we have been familiar with.”

Condie’s involvement with the pageant began in 2009 when she was cast as a member of the multitude and, the next year, she played the role of a Multitude Woman and also got to be a mourner in the crucifixion scene.

Following that, Condie was called as the Pageant Public Affairs Director and served in that capacity for four years. Between that calling, and her former job as the editor of the Arizona Beehive, and then more recently as Adair and Condie worked on a book chronicling the history of the pageant, she had the opportunity to interview and write about hundreds of pageant leaders, cast members, crew and attendees.

Doeshann Beach, who oversees those who volunteer behind the scenes, noted that there’s more to the pageant than what appears on stage.

“As fantastic as the pageant is, there’s a lot of outside work that some

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The Mesa Easter Pageant Returns

Continued from pg. 7

people don’t notice,” said Beach, a member of the Gilbert Arizona Stake Adult Singles Ward. “The amazingness of the stage crew and what they do, to curtain coordinators who make sure they hold still every night, no matter what the weather is. Making sure the spotlight appears at the right spot, at the right time. These unsung heroes are amazing people. I still get speechless watching them do it.”

It’s often no less than a miracle, Beach explained, equating the opportunity to volunteer for the pageant as a way to spiritually fill her tank for the upcoming year. “I’m glad, when it’s over, but at the same time bawling because I don’t want it to be over,” she said.

The Mesa Easter Pageant performances begin at 8pm on April 6th - 9th, 12th - 16th.

No tickets or reservations needed.

Located on the north lawn of the Mesa Temple, 101 S. LeSueur, downtown Mesa.

Come early to sit on the 9,000+ chairs provided.

Attend during the first week of performances to avoid the generally larger crowds anticipated during the week before Easter Sunday.

Attendees are encouraged to use Valley Metro Light Rail, stopping at Mesa Drive/Main Street, which is a short walking distance of the venue.

For more info, please visit MesaTemple.org.

Photo by Steve Porter Jef Rawls portrays Christ in 2018 Mesa Easter Pageant.

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