The Hill Cumorah Pageant: A Historical Perspective

Almost every summer since 1935, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has staged a pageant at the Hill Cumorah. This article starts with the history of the pageant from its beginnings in the 1920s as a Cumorah Conference of the Eastern States Mission convened by mission president B. H. Roberts and held at the Smith Family Farm. Details about the pageant’s move to the Hill Cumorah as well as scripts, directors, music, costumes, props, set design, lighting, and choreography are included. The author concludes with the details of retiring the original script after 50 years of use and of the challenges of producing and revitalizing the new pageant while maintaining its purpose as a missionary tool.