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Beautiful weather accompanied another full day of rehearsal leading into the show's first run through on stage Monday evening. If casting night is something of a miracle, getting the show on stage after just two full days of rehearsal must be a bigger one. It was the stage's famous special effects that kept the cast soaked versus last weekend's rain.
The first full days of rehearsals started at the Hill Cumorah Pageant on Saturday. With just six days to pull the production together, directors pull their cast members to every available portion of stage and lawn. However, check out today’s video for how afternoon thunderstorms affected practices for two hours Saturday. Miraculously, directors reported that even with the lost practice time, their scenes are still on schedule to hit the stage Monday evening.
Pageant Production Manager Mike McCurdy told the Hill Cumorah Cast on Friday they were about to do something that just “doesn’t happen anywhere in theater.” In a matter of hours, directors cast 770 people into 1,200 different roles for the 2019 production. Enjoy this glimpse into the three-hour casting process that kicked off this year’s production.
Summers in Western New York often mean thunderstorms. And while the show and rehearsals go on rain or shine, lightening means seeking shelter. See how the 2019 cast reacted to their first summer New York thunderstorm.
The cast of the Hill Cumorah Pageant arrived today. At 760 members, it is the pageant’s biggest cast ever. Cast members registered, had their fist meal at the hill and met with their cast teams for the first time. And this year, more than 70% of the cast is new to the pageant. New or not, the connection to fellow members is obvious.
“The community here is already really obvious to me,” said Hannah Jacobson, of Provo, Utah. “You can really feel it.”
