Trumpets will ring out on 9 July, introducing the first of seven performances of the largest outdoor pageant in America — the annual Hill Cumorah Pageant, sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Featuring a cast of over 700 volunteers, the pageant portrays events from the Bible and the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The 90-minute performance is staged a few miles from Palmyra, New York, on the Hill Cumorah, southeast of Rochester.
The pageant begins at dusk (approximately 9:00 p.m.) and will be performed nightly 9-10 July and 13-17 July. The production features a 10-level stage, 50-foot light towers, brilliant costumes and stunning special effects performed to an audience in the thousands. Music recorded by the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir brings the night air to life.
A Hollywood production team designed the special effects, including waterfalls, water screens, volcanoes, fireballs and explosions. An estimated 500,000 watts of electricity are required to power each performance. As an illustration of the magnitude of these spectacular effects, pageant organizers are required to obtain clearance from U.S. aviation authorities before the show's opening night.
The pageant has been performed in upstate New York since 1937. Hill Cumorah is one of the Church's most significant landmarks. Latter-day Saints believe that near this area the Church's founder, Joseph Smith Jr., received a record of ancient American peoples from an angel. That record, written on metal plates, was translated into what is known as the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.