Palmyra Town Supervisor Ken Miller received the call on Sunday (10/28) from Neil Pitts, the president of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. The famed Pageant production will cease production after its 2020 season.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Saturday the end or modification of several pageants produced by the Church, including its flagship pageant in Palmyra. Mindful of a growing, world-wide church, Church leadership made the decision after an extensive review of all pageants.
Leaders said they took under consideration how to reduce the burden of church member time commitments, cost, security, impact to church sites and more in their decision.
Pageant President Neil Pitts said the staff of the Hill Cumorah Pageant is supportive of the decision.
“We had a wonderful run,” Pitts said. “Our church has asked us to focus more on the family, and this is certainly in line with that desire. We have had a wonderful 81 years and will focus on making the next two years an amazing experience for our cast, crew and audience.”
Pitts said right now, the focus of pageant officials is to communicate with regional and community partners and the pageant staff most affected by the announcement.
“We are sensitive to the fact that this will affect our wonderful community partners,” Pitts said. “We have been blessed by exceptional relationships with our friends in Manchester and Palmyra. We thank those communities for their years of generous support, and we will continue to work with them on future endeavors.”
The Hill Cumorah Pageant is staged annually in Manchester, NY by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its 81st season wrapped in July 2018 with around 25,000 people attending the pageant.
The production started as a humble reenactment of the Book of Mormon and Bible by local missionaries on makeshift stages lit by car headlamps. It has grown to be the largest outdoor theatrical event in North America and is a Western New York tradition attended by more than visitors from around the world. An all-volunteer cast of about 750 and 150 staff and technical crew pay their own way to work and stage the production annually.
Local service groups in the Palmyra and Manchester areas provide concessions during the pageant, and it serves as those groups’ largest fund-raiser.
According to Miller there will continue to be visitors year-round to the Temple, Church and Visitor Center, as well as to several Church related businesses in the Village of Palmyra. As far as the several week period building up to and including the Pageant, some financial setbacks will occur. Miller said most of the housing was at dorm rooms at the college in Geneva, where much of the impact will be felt. He also said other events may be in the planning for the Church locally.
The 2019 performance of the Hill Cumorah Pageant will July 12-13 and 16-20.