The Hill Cumorah Legacy Project

Items

• Interview with William (Bill) Jones, Sunday, March 27, 2022
  William (Bill) Jones recounts his upbringing as a Seneca Native American and Latter-day Saint in Western New York. After discussing his views about Native Americans, race, and the Book of Mormon, he tells the story of how he, his wife, and their children acted in the 2019 Hill Cumorah Pageant. Particular emphasis is placed on the show’s casting process (including race and colorblind casting), Bill’s supervision of teenagers at the Pageant, the acting experience, and Bill’s strong emotions during the scene where Jesus visits the Americas.
• Interview with Patricia (Toi) Clawson, Thursday, April 7, 2022
  Toi Clawson was a public affairs director for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. She was a cast member in 1995 for the Pageant. In 2005, Toi and her husband were asked to do public affairs for the pageant. They did this until 2012. She worked long hours, with early mornings, and she had to stay until all of the reporters went home. She and her family were disappointed by yet understanding of the 2018 announcement of the Pageant’s ending. One of her notable social media attempts was when Toi shared information about the Pageant on Facebook around 2012. Unfortunately, she was contacted and asked to take down the social media page by the Church. Then, sometime later, a similar situation happened with another pageant in Arizona, but their page got so much positive attention in such a short amount of time that the Missionary Department re-evaluated its stance and began to think of Facebook and other forms of social media as tools to use for spreading religious information.
• Interview with Suzanne Stockman, Tuesday, March 29, 2022
  After a quick introduction, Suzanne introduced herself and her family. She then ran through the various jobs she had for the Pageant. Suzanne then elaborated on how she progressively gained more and more responsibilities within the pageant before taking the role from Daisy Murphy as Cast Team Director. She answered what a Cast Team was—the inner groupings of people within the production that still needed direction when they weren’t rehearsing. After her time as Cast Team Director, Suzanne helped organize community service projects for the teams to participate in for the last three years of her time working on the Pageant. Overall, she believes that the people acting in the Pageant got however much they put in, with those working the hardest having the best experiences.
• Interview with Patricia Randall, Saturday, April 9, 2022.
  In this roughly 60-minute interview, Patricia Randall—a professor of costume design at BYU Idaho—describes her experiences at the annual Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, New York. In 2012, she began her work as a seamstress for the Pageant and eventually became the head of wardrobe and costume design for the production. This interview explores in depth her experiences and work at the Pageant over the years. Additionally, this interview delves into the impacts of the Pageant on Randall and the role it continues to play in her life, even now that it has ended. The interview concludes with Randall’s hopes for those involved looking towards the future.
• Interview with Patricia (Pat) Rowe, Friday, April 15, 2022
  In this interview, Gerard Loughran speaks with Patricia (Pat) Rowe about her experiences working in the ladies’ dressing room at the Pageant, assisting female cast members with their costumes and wigs. Pat and her family participated in eight years of the Pageant as cast members and members of the Pageant administration. Topics of conversation include the Pageant application process, how families were split among cast teams, dynamics among family members in the Pageant, costume work, and the involvement of children in the Pageant. Pat also shares a few memories of attending the Hill Cumorah Pageant as a child. Near the end of the conversation, Gerard provides a brief overview of the Hill Cumorah Legacy Project.
• Interview with Matt Barr, Friday, April 15, 2022
  Matt Barr is an Australian photographer and videographer who now lives in Utah. In this interview, Matt tells how he was recruited in 2016 to film and photograph the Hill Cumorah Pageant. He returned in this role for several years and ultimately filmed the final run of Pageant shows in 2019. His resulting film of the Pageant is the one that is available on the Church website as of 2023. Matt explains the logistics of running such a large shoot, and he discusses his unreleased 4K HD version of the 2019 Pageant. The interview closes with a discussion of digital preservation.
• Interview with Marc Clay, Friday, April 8, 2022
  This is roughly a 25-minute interview with Marc Clay, interviewed by Myles Gaston and Leo Golia. The interview starts out with introductions and how Clay was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by the Pageant. Along with this, the interview touches on his experience working with the Pageant and his reaction to the ending of the Pageant. The interview also touches on steps the Church is taking to preserve aspects of the Pageant such as costumes and video. This recording ends with Clay talking about his roles and experiences in the Church.
• Interview with Kimberly Sorensen, Thursday, May 5, 2022
  Kimberly Sorensen is a Canadian immigrant and convert to the LDS Church. She attended the Hill Cumorah Pageant many times with her children in the 2000s¬–2010s. In 2015, she was called to assist with the wig shop for the Pageant. Kimberly had no prior experience with wig making, but she learned on the job under the supervision of her colleague Katie Maxwell. During this interview, Kimberly recalls the workflow in the wig shop, her children’s participation in the Pageant, and memories from performance nights. She also comments briefly on the Pageant dispersal process in spring and summer 2021, when all the props and costumes were given away.
• Interview with Kimbery Gosselin, Friday, April 8, 2022
  In this interview, Kimberly gave us insight on what the Hill Cumorah Pageant was like, who would go to the Pageant, and how the Pageant worked from the volunteers’ perspective. Kimberly told us her story of how she converted to the Mormon religion, how it has helped her in many ways throughout her life, and what the Pageant is. She also told us her favorite story from the Book of Mormon that was shown in the Pageant. Kimberly showed us that the Pageant was more than just the show they would have on the grand stage, but rather an event that brought people together and created close friendships.
• Interview with John Rutkowski, Facilities Manager, Tuesday, April 5, 2022
  John Rutkowski is the current facilities manager for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and held this position for many years while the Hill Cumorah Pageant was being held on these grounds. During our interview, he discussed with us some of the manpower and equipment needed not only to set up and dismantle the Pageant each year, but also to care for the facilities and grounds year-round. We spoke at length about the end of the Pageant, his perspective on why the Church decided to end it, and his part in that process. He also shared with us his current role in the Hill Cumorah Rehabilitation Project and his role in that.
• Interview with Jennie Hedworth, Part Two, Tuesday, March 29, 2022
  Maddie Vanderpool interviewed Jennie Hedworth for the second and final time to follow up on topics such as the day-to-day activities of being a transportation coordinator for an event of this size, as well as expanding on topics such as activities done during the Pageant and Jennie’s personal feelings about the Pageant.
• Interview with Jennie Hedworth, Part One, Tuesday, March 22, 2022
  I interview Jennie Hedworth, who was the cast busing coordinator for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. We discuss the Pageant mainly, and what it meant to her and how it has impacted her life. She went to the Pageant for years, so she shares her experiences with me as an audience member, cast member, and busing coordinator. We also discuss her family's involvement in the Pageant and what it all meant to them and how she’s raised her sons going to the Pageant every year. Along with this, Jennie shares information about how the Pageant affected Palmyra and how the Pageant coming to an end has affected the area and herself. She also discusses her religion and how she grew up.
• Interview with Jeff & Kathy Hess, Work Crew Manager and “Mom,” Thursday, April 21, 2022
  Jeff and Kathy Hess were “work crew supervisors” for the work team tasked with setting up the stage and other various Pageant props from 2011 to 2019. This hand-selected group of 28 young Mormon men lived, ate, and slept on the Hill Cumorah site for over a month. They worked around the clock to ensure the Hill Cumorah was ready for the summer Pageant in addition to operating the lighting effects that occurred during the performance. Through a series of applications to perform in the Pageant themselves, and through other odd jobs around the Pageant, the Hesses were finally selected to lead this high-performing group of young men.
• Interview with James (Jim) Petery, Friday, April 22, 2022
  Jim Petery is an RIT alumnus who first saw the Hill Cumorah Pageant in the mid-1970s. In this interview, Jim discusses his family’s involvement in the Pageant, including his eventual service in the Pageant Presidency. Much of the interview concerns the Pageant’s logistics and physical plant. Topics include stage lights, cast housing, Zion’s Camp, the food services, youth activities, and various snacks that participants enjoyed. This interview will be of particular interest to listeners who are interested in the Pageant as a summer camp. Finally, Jim reflects on the Pageant’s spiritual messages and the miracles that he witnessed onsite.
• Interview with Ed Nabrotzky, Friday, April 1, 2022
  Noah Fox and Cam Garvey interview Ed Nabrotzky about his involvement in the Hill Cumorah Pageant, from his role as a cast member to his role in the Pageant Presidency. Ed details a brief history of the Pageant as it relates to the stories in the Book of Mormon and why the Hill in Palmyra is so important. He also speaks about how important a show like this is important to both interfaith activities and to others that were involved. For members of the Church, long-lasting friendships between cast members were made, and tens of thousands of people came every year to view the Pageant. For those that were not members of the Church, the tourism that this event brought was instrumental in their funding, and so seeing it end has made a lasting impact on the region.
• Interview with Dwight Schwendiman, Saturday, April 30, 2022
  Dwight Schwendiman is a retired research chemist and computer specialist who worked for Kodak. He first attended the Hill Cumorah Pageant in 1957 during a family vacation to LDS historic sites in the eastern United States. As a resident in the Rochester area, Dwight saw the Pageant change over time. He helped with logistics such as parking, led cast teams as a cast member in 1988, 1992, 1994, and 1996, and eventually served as Pageant President from 2006 to 2015. During this interview, Dwight also discusses his experiences in these different roles, Zion’s Camp and the Pageant dormitories, and the 2021 Church Internet devotional celebrating the Pageant’s history.
• Interview with Darren and Sue Mathews, Sunday, April 10, 2022
  Alex Haurie and Ethan Herbst conduct a joint interview with Darren and Sue Mathews. Darren is a veteran of the U.S. Navy. Sue was born in the Philippines and was adopted by her uncle, who was in the Air Force. The couple lived in Utah for many years before relocating to the greater Rochester area. Sue discusses her experiences in the Primary Presidency of the Hill Cumorah Pageant, while Darren discusses his experience as a prop master. Particular attention is given to Darren and his daughter Jenna’s work on an Ark of the Covenant prop.
• Interview with Chris & Heidi Bjorling, Friday, March 18, 2022
  Chris and Heidi Bjorling are former staff members of the Hill Cumorah Pageant, with Chris having experience as head of security and president of the Pageant, and Heidi contributing to the choir and costume design and makeup. In this interview, they discuss how they originally became involved in the Pageant, what some of their roles and responsibilities were, what challenges they faced, any interesting or funny stories they recall of the Pageant, and their reactions to learning about the Pageant being discontinued by the LDS Church. They also discuss how the Pageant influenced their relationships with their family, coworkers, faith, and lives overall.
• Interview with Bryan Bywater, Thursday, March 24, 2022
  The transcript of the interview with former Hill Cumorah Pageant prop master Bryan Bywater. AJ Wells, Izzy Voegels, and Randall Weber interview Bryan about his thoughts, experiences, and memories as the Hill Cumorah prop master. The interview goes into detail about how some of the Hill Cumorah Pageant props were made, used, replaced, and organized for the Pageant. Touching on Bryan’s experiences, the interview also goes into detail on the effort it took to make and maintain Pageant props, as well as the creative process that produced those props. Bryan discusses his background in the Church as well. This 26-minute interview shows a piece of the lasting legacy that the Hill Cumorah Pageant left behind.
• Interview with Jerry Argetsinger, Monday, March 14, 2022
  Jerry Argetsinger was a longtime theater professor at RIT who joined the Hill Cumorah Pageant directing team in 1988, when the “New Pageant” was introduced, and he later directed the Pageant from 1990 to 1997. Argetsinger is a longtime friend of Orson Scott Card, who wrote the new script in 1988. During this interview, Argetsinger discusses the process of casting individuals through divine inspiration, bringing Hollywood-quality special effects to the Pageant, developing relationships with the Pageant’s non-LDS neighbors, and creating religious entertainment that would appeal to LDS and non-LDS audiences alike. Argetsinger argues that the 1990s Pageant triumphed because it was accessible, professional-grade theater. In his opinion, the Pageant declined in quality during the 2000s, when he felt it shifted to being an event primarily for LDS audiences. Argetsinger regrets the ending of the Pageant, but he expresses a strong appreciation for the experience.
• Interview with Gail Argetsinger, Monday, March 14, 2022
  Prof. Gail Argetsinger recounts her experiences designing costumes for the Hill Cumorah Pageant from the late 1970s to 1997. She first joined the Pageant administration when Jack Sederholm replaced Harold Hansen as director. Argetsinger designed new costumes, and what was intended to be a brief assignment continued for years, including after the 1988 launch of the “New Pageant.” Topics discussed in the interview include the logistics of Pageant costume design and construction, Argetsinger’s belief that the Pageant had run its course, Argetsinger’s disappointment that the costumes she made were later altered, and her testimony that miracles occurred during the Pageant.
• Interview with Amanda Lonsberry, Tuesday, April 5, 2022
  During this interview with Amanda Lonsberry, she described her position as the public affairs director for the Hill Cumorah Pageant held at Palmyra, New York. As the public affairs director, she was in charge of advertisement and the overall outside communications with members of the Church and the community. Lonsberry detailed her responsibilities relating to management of the media and press, as well as the weight of these obligations. She also spoke about the LDS concept of “callings.” Lonsberry stated that her time with the Pageant was not only fulfilling for her in her faith, but also for her children. She stated that participating and aiding in the Pageant strengthened their relationship with the Church and created many bonds that she and her children will hold for the rest of their lives.
• Interview with Aaron Zsembery, Wednesday, March 23, 2022
  Digital History student Caitlin Quinn interviews Aaron Zsembery on his history with the Hill Cumorah Pageant. The first question asked is how Aaron came to be a Mormon. The remainder of the questions are focused on Aaron’s past involvement in the Hill Cumorah Pageant and his feelings about the Pageant coming to an end. His responses reveal the particulars of being the tent master of the Pageant, how his family was affected by the Pageant and the effects it had on the surrounding area, the role children played in the Pageant, the connections he made with others throughout his years of involvement, the complexities of the dispersal of the Pageant in 2021, and what the dispersal of the Pageant means for him going forward.