The Independence, Mo., pageant "A Frontier Story: 1833" counts its success not just in the numbers who attend - 13,000 this year - but also in the needs it fills for members and non-members alike.
There is a great spirit on the pageant hill, said director Cheryl Blasnek of the pageant, which concluded June 24. "I think it's a credit to the cast that for an hour they show the audience good times and really bad times; people who really loved each other as well as bitter contention between peoples. By the time we get to the end and we sing about love, everyone feels so good that it really drives home the message that contention is not good," said Sister Blasnek, who lives in nearby Kansas City.Approximately 300 cast and crew members, most from surrounding communities in Kansas and Missouri, share the 160-year-old story of the Saints' arrival and subsequent departure from Jackson County, Mo. Perhaps two-thirds of the pageant performers are teenagers; the rest are family groups.
"Some very unique experiences brought them to the pageant. They came wanting something spiritual out of this experience for their families. When you have that kind of a spiritual appetite you get some very interesting things going on," Sister Blasnek noted.
Many families return to participate year after year for the spiritual lift, the association with other members, and also out of tradition. The Guy and Mary Ann Miller family of nearby Liberty, Mo., has been involved in Church pageants at Independence for 20 years. In fact Brother Miller and his sons Dennis, Gary and Randy helped clear the land of trees and bushes prior to the first pageant two decades ago. Since then family members have created special effects, done makeup and sewn costumes as well as acted in the pageant. Two sons, Dennis and Randy, met their wives on the set.
This year Guy Miller, who portrays an early Independence sheriff, had the following family members join him at the pageant in a variety of capacities: three sons; a daughter, Deanna Schultz; a son-in-law, Rob Lunnen (married to daughter Debbie), three daughters-in-law: Shannon (married to Gary), Tamara (married to Randy), and Lisa (married to Dennis), several grandchildren and a niece and nephew.
Brother Miller acknowledged that he had a few tears and lumps in his throat as he watched the pageant this year. "It's been the biggest event to get us all together. I won't say it's held us together, but I can say it's one of the neatest experiences," he said.
