The Hill Cumorah Legacy Project

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Part of Interview with Bryan Bywater, Thursday, March 24, 2022

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Interview with Bryan Bywater
Thursday, March 24, 2022
The Hill Cumorah Legacy Project
Recorded over Zoom
Interviewee: Bryan Bywater
Photographs by Bryan Bywater
Interviewers: Izzy Voegels, Randall Weber, and AJ Wells
Duration: 26:53
Transcript Application Used: Otter.ai (https://otter.ai)
Transcript
Note: Bryan Bywater is the former prop master for the Hill Cumorah Project.
[00:00]
AJ Wells: For the sake of preserving the history—
Izzy Voegels: Okay. [laughs]
AJ Wells: So, today is March 24, 2022. We—myself, AJ Wells—want to introduce yourselves?
Randall Weber: Randall Weber.
AJ Wells: And—
Izzy Voegels: Izzy Voegels.
AJ Wells: And we are here with—
Bryan Bywater: Bryan Bywater.
AJ Wells: Bryan Bywater, and we are here to interview you as your role as a prop master, and to
preserve your memories and your knowledge and your experiences at the Hill Cumorah Pageant.
So, the first question I have for you is, how did you originally get involved with the Mormon
Church?
Bryan Bywater: I was born a Latter-day Saint, so…
Randall Weber: You’ve been with the Church your whole life?
Bryan Bywater: Yeah, I’ve been a member of the Church my whole life.

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Izzy Voegels: Okay.
AJ Wells: And then, of course, the follow up to that is how did you end up being the prop master
of the [Hill] Cumorah Pageant?
Bryan Bywater: Well, so, I had no idea what the Hill Cumorah Pageant was.
AJ Wells: Okay.
Bryan Bywater: My wife wanted to go when she was 17 because her mother went back when
she was a young lady. And so, my wife said, “Hey, let’s go,” and we applied—and we got
denied.
AJ Wells: Oh. [laughs]
Bryan Bywater: Then we applied again, and we got in. So, that was my first experience with the
Hill Cumorah Pageant. And then, I just—we—after we got done—we have four kids, and as we
was driving back home to Utah, we asked ’em where they wanted to go next year on their—for a
family trip, and they all said they wanted to go back to the Hill Cumorah Pageant. So, my wife
and I talked about it, and we said, let’s see if we can make it work. And it did. And then, the
third year we were there, we went back again, and the third year, they asked me to be assistant
prop master. And then, from there, I just helped out for the third year, and the fourth year, I was
assistant, and then the fifth year, I was a prop master. So…
Izzy Voegels: Oh, okay.
AJ Wells: Interesting.
Bryan Bywater: Yeah.
AJ Wells: So, I guess the question after that is, when you were the prop master, did you have a
hand in designing the props, or were you more of—kind of like the quartermaster, in the sense of
you organized the props?

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Bryan Bywater: Well, there was props that was already there
AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: So what I did is, if something got damaged—
AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: I had to have it replaced or fix it before the next performance.
Bryan Bywater: And there was also times that they wanted to change a scene, and they didn’t
have the prop they wanted. Brainstorm and figured out what they wanted, and try to make it so
they approve it, so they could use it in the next scene. So…
AJ Wells: And—
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
AJ Wells: So, when you had to make a design, or make a prop from scratch, or design
something, how did you go about translating the stories of the books or previous Pageants into
the props?
Bryan Bywater: Okay, so, there was one that, when they were traveling out of the wilderness—
AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: They wanted something for—something that they thought people would be
carrying, like, their [baggage]—like, [what they have] on their backs and stuff. So, I come up
with a prop that I thought would be in that time—
AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: What it would look like, so I just kind of read the stories and pondered and
prayed about it, and then I just got inspiration by the Lord, and then that’s how I started doing it.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
AJ Wells: Interesting. Um, and then [best guess]…

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Izzy Voegels: If I may, can I add on a quick question?
AJ Wells: Yeah, of course.
Izzy Voegels: How big was your team? How many people were working on the props?
Bryan Bywater: There was me, and then I had a assistant. There’s only two of us.
Izzy Voegels: Oh, wow.
Randall Weber: Wow.
Izzy Voegels: Making all of them?
Bryan Bywater: Well, they were all made [5:00] before—
AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: But, like, all the other ones that needed to be made that they changed, we did it
there [on the?]…
Izzy Voegels: Oh, wow.
AJ Wells [best guess]: Huh.
Izzy Voegels: How many hours did you put—on average, how many hours did you put in to do
that?
Bryan Bywater: We would—I would get up about seven, and then we had a general meeting
with everybody, all the cast leaders. And then, I’d go from there, and we would start making it.
So, there are some times that—for instance, one of the young ladies misplaced a basket for the
harvest scene, so right then and there, I had to put another basket together just with stuff I had in
the prop shop—
Izzy Voegels: Oh, wow.
Bryan Bywater: So she could go onstage, so I didn’t get done until about six or seven at night.
Izzy Voegels: Wow. Wow! That’s a long time.

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[laughter]
Bryan Bywater: Yeah, so… But it was worth it.
Izzy Voegels: Yeah, look—the props look amazing. We watched a clip from it, and it looked
amazing.
Bryan Bywater: Yeah, so…
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm. Sorry, AJ, you can continue.
AJ Wells: Oh, I was done, actually, if someone wants to pick up on question five.
Randall Weber: Yeah, I can take over here. So, what were your feelings when the Pageant
ended?
Bryan Bywater: I had mixed emotions about it, because seeing my kids grow their testimony
out there, and then, they come back and say, “You know what? I want to bring my kids back
here. I want to bring—I might want to make this [trip] as a family.” I kind of figured on 2019
that something was gonna go down, [in] 2020, but I wasn’t prepared for it. I kind of still wish it
was still going on because it brought a lot of people from all over the world to there, and it was
just a great to go out and mingle and visit with people and listen to their stories. And—yeah,
so…
Randall Weber: Okay. One of our other questions—I guess you may have answered this a little
bit—but how did you approach making props based on Native American culture?
Bryan Bywater: I just—once again, I just—there was a lot of props already there. There was—
Randall Weber [best guess]: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: The prop master I took over for, his name was Darren Mathews, and he was the
prop master for 10 years. And he lived right there in New York, right there by the Hill, so he
would come, and he would visit with me, and I would bounce ideas off of him, and he would

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bounce ideas off of me. And that’s—so, I had a lot of help, mainly from other people and the
Lord, also, to direct me and to guide how I was supposed to make them. And also, the directors,
they had a—kind of an idea of what they thought they wanted—
Randall Weber: Mmm.
Bryan Bywater: So I’d make something, and I’d take it to them and said, “No, let’s do it this
way. Let’s try to make it this way.” So, I’d go back to the drawing board and redo it. And—so, it
was a trial and error.
Randall Weber: Okay, so there was some back-and-forth between you and the directors on the
props.
Bryan Bywater: Yes, I worked—yeah, I worked hand-in-hand with the directors because
sometimes they wanted to change a scene, and I had to make that scene or different props for it,
so…
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm. Was there anyone during that time—so, I’m guessing, you were mostly—
I’m guessing—from what I understand is—revising and keep—upkeeping the old props and
adding in some new ones, but the majority of them came from the old Pageant?
Bryan Bywater: Yep, yep.
Izzy Voegels: Okay.
Bryan Bywater: Yeah, so, I added a few new props. Like, I added a prop where it was a big,
wood-like barrel when they were hammering in the steaks and stuff. So, I made a big giant one,
so you can see it, out of wood. I actually created a prop right here. My wife just went and got it.
It’s a battle-ax.

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Figure 1: Solid Oak Battle-ax
Izzy Voegels: Oh, wow.
Randall Weber: Oh, wow.
Izzy Voegels: That’s really cool! [laughs]
Bryan Bywater: They had these right here, but this is out of solid oak.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
[Either Randall or AJ says something indistinctly in the background]
Bryan Bywater: And the other one just—they weren’t as heavy as this. So—but I created this,
and they actually got to use it on the stage a couple times—
Izzy Voegels: Mmm.
Bryan Bywater: So it was fun. I had a lot of time to build props, and then, also, it—I had time to
do that, and then I had time to fix props too, so…
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.

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Randall Weber: [10:00] Thank you for showing us that.
Bryan Bywater: Yeah, my wife’s getting another one to show you.
[interviewers laugh]
Bryan Bywater: [indistinct words, then] out there. So… This prop I made, and I used it in the
nonbeliever [scene?].
Izzy Voegels: Mmm.
Bryan Bywater: So…

Figure 2: Nonbeliever Battle-ax (Right)
Izzy Voegels: That looks really well made. It—
AJ Wells: Interesting.

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Izzy Voegels: Yeah. It looks cool.
Bryan Bywater: Yeah, so, just stuff that, when I didn’t have anything to make, I would just
make little props so people could take ’em out on stage and—
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: Perform with them.
Izzy Voegels: What got you into—just another—sorry, I keep adding on questions—
Bryan Bywater: It’s okay [best guess].
AJ Wells: That’s fine.
Izzy Voegels: Just, like, what got you into making props and got you into being like—we asked
earlier, what—how did you become a prop master, but what was your—how did you get
interested in doing that role?
Bryan Bywater: Oh, by trade, I’m a welder—
Izzy Voegels: Ah, I see.
AJ Wells: Okay, yep.
Bryan Bywater: So I can—I design things and I build things, so… It actually come pretty easy
to me, but that’s part of it. And I like to work with wood, too, so… So…
Izzy Voegels: Oh, okay. Sorry, Randall, go on.
AJ Wells: Yeah, go ahead, Randall.
Randall Weber: No, that’s all fine. So, talking about props, what was the biggest prop
catastrophe that ended up happening related to the Pageant?
Bryan Bywater: That I had to repair, or—?
Randall Weber: Just like an interesting story with props, or…
Bryan Bywater: Oh [best guess].

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AJ Wells: Like—
Izzy Voegels: Did something ever break during a show or right before a show?
Bryan Bywater: Yeah, yeah, it did. So, like I was telling you about that young lady that lost her
basket, and it had—it was a weaving basket, and then it had different materials in it, and the
materials were a certain color.
Izzy Voegels: Mmm.
Bryan Bywater: So, I had totes of different colors and stuff, but I had to go through and hurry
and make that basket with the same colors as the other basket—all the other baskets had. And
then, there was times, like, a prop broke right before, so I had a couple extra ones so I could give
’em one, but if not, I just gave him something else to go out and perform with. So… Yeah.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm. Did anything ever break onstage during the show?
Bryan Bywater: Yeah, I had a couple battle-axes, like that big battle-ax I showed you: When
they were performing, it broke—
Izzy Voegels: Mmm.
Bryan Bywater: And then I had to repair it. So…
Izzy Voegels: Oh, wow.
Bryan Bywater: So—but they were pretty good—so, the actors were pretty good, so if
something just happened, they just kept on going, and then they picked up—
Izzy Voegels: Oh, that’s good.
Bryan Bywater: So…
[laughter]
Bryan Bywater: So…
Randall Weber: The show must go on. [laughs]

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Bryan Bywater: The show must go on. That is true.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: Yep.
Randall Weber: So, next question, what happened to the props in-between the different
Pageants? Did they usually go into storage, [or did] people take ’em home?
Bryan Bywater: No, so—that was a great question—so, all the props stayed there at the Hill. So,
the Hill—
Izzy Voegels: Hmm.
Bryan Bywater: Had a bunch of dressing rooms that the women and men dressed in, and so,
after the performance was completely done on Saturday night, I had to put all my props—I
stored ’em all in a dressing room.
AJ Wells [best guess]. Oh, okay.
Bryan Bywater: So, they all stay there at the Hill. Nothing come from—off the Hill.
Izzy Voegels: Oh, wow.
AJ Wells: Huh.
Bryan Bywater: So…
Izzy Voegels: Okay. Where—
AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Izzy Voegels: Oh, wait. Continue, sorry.
AJ Wells: Yeah. And the two props you have now, is that because the show is over, or is [sic]
those personal?
Bryan Bywater: They’re personal.
AJ Wells: Okay.

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Bryan Bywater: So, I made ’em; I made ’em when—they gave me permission to make some.
AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: Then, when the show got over, they asked me if I had anything, and I said,
“Well, yeah, I made this, and I made that.”
AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: And so, when they were starting to distribute out props, they gave them back to
me, because…
AJ Wells: Okay.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: So, I didn’t think I was going to get ’em back, but they just gave ’em to me,
so…
Izzy Voegels: Oh, wow.
AJ Wells: That’s nice.
Bryan Bywater: So—but we also—I also drove back to New York, to the Hill, to get a bunch of
props to distribute out to the people in Utah that were—
Izzy Voegels: Ah.
Bryan Bywater: That were, like, the directors and stuff, that they had, so instead of shipping
’em, my wife and I took a trip back out there again, and we picked ’em all up and brought ’em
back out, so…
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: And then, most of them went to the historical sites and stuff.
Izzy Voegels: Ah, okay, [15:00] what historical sites?
Bryan Bywater: There was a historical site in Palmyra that took some of it.

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Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: And then, some of them went to Salt Lake. And then, there was a bunch of
costumes and stuff that they gave—they donated to Nauvoo [Illinois] and to some other schools
that did plays and stuff, so…
Izzy Voegels: Oh, okay, I see.
Bryan Bywater: Around [best guess] the community.
Izzy Voegels: Okay. And then, is [sic] the next four mine?
AJ Wells: Uh, yes.
Izzy Voegels: Okay.
AJ Wells: Just a few more questions.
Bryan Bywater: Okay.
Izzy Voegels: What was your favorite story from when you were working on the Pageant?
Bryan Bywater: [sighs] Probably it was the scene when Christ comes…
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: After the world gets destroyed, and then the Christ comes, because—it’s pretty
touching because there were 750 cast members, and at that one time, every cast member was on
the stage. So… And it was all focused on one spot, you know? And it was quiet, and it was
silent, and it just really brought the spirits. That was probably one of the most touching scenes
there that I enjoyed.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm. Was there any moments while working on something or interacting with
anyone else that you are really fond or have good memories of, or while working on props?
Bryan Bywater: Yeah, so, I mentioned earlier this brother, Darren Mathews, as a—
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.

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Bryan Bywater: So—I really—he really took me under his wing and showed me, and I really
enjoyed working for him, and he taught me a lot about the props. We actually went to—it’s kind
of funny, but you don’t think you’d see guys in—what’s the sewing store that you guys go to all
the time?
Unidentified voice, likely Bryan’s wife: Joann Fabrics.
Bryan Bywater: Joann Fabrics. So, it’s two guys going to Joann Fabrics, and we were going
through fabric, you know, pink fabric, purple fabric, you know, and all the ladies are looking at
us like, “What are you guys doing?” You know? And we just went crazy places like that together
to figure out what props we needed and what kind of material we need, so…
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: So…
Izzy Voegels: You took a lot of time just making sure that everything gets right?
Bryan Bywater: Yeah. Yeah.
Izzy Voegels: Oh, wow. Okay.
Bryan Bywater: Yeah, so, it took a lot of time.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: So…
Izzy Voegels: And then, which props or set of props were your favorite?
Bryan Bywater: Oh, set of props that were my favorite… It was probably Nephi. Nephi had a
wonderful sword. And Ammon had a nice sword. And then that battle-ax I showed you, uh,
Laman had one almost like that.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: So… There was flags that I made that—for the ladies and stuff, so… If I had—

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I mean, there’s just a few, but there was a lot of them that really touched me, that I felt the spirit
when people were using the stuff, so…
Izzy Voegels: Okay. Did you have any direct role while the Pageant was going on, or could you
go and sit and watch it? Or did you have to be on standbyed [sic]?
Bryan Bywater: Well, yeah, so, I never—when I become prop master, I never got to watch the
Pageant.
Izzy Voegels: Aw.
AJ Wells: Interesting [best guess].
Bryan Bywater: I was in my prop shop, just for—the fact is, people had to come in and get
props, and if something was missing, I had to go locate it before they went on stage.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: So, I never got to go out and watch it. But we had TVs around, so I could watch
it—
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: There, but I never physically got out in the audience. I always stayed backstage
and made sure every person had their props that they needed to be going on stage at their time.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm, mhmm. You did get to watch it before you became prop master, or have
you just…
Bryan Bywater: No, ’cause I would—
Izzy Voegels: No? Really. Wow.
Bryan Bywater: I was part of the Pageant. So, I was in the Pageant.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.

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Bryan Bywater: I’ve never watched it.
Izzy Voegels: Oh, wow.
AJ Wells: Oh, wow.
Randall Weber: Okay.
Bryan Bywater: So, the only time I’ve ever watched it was when it come out—the Church put it
out on TV.
AJ Wells [best guess]: Mhmm.
Izzy Voegels: Oh, wow.
Randall Weber [best guess]: Huh.
Izzy Voegels: Okay.
Bryan Bywater: Yeah, so, the first three years, I was part of the Pageant, so I was in it, and then,
the last two years, I was prop master, so I was in the back doing things, so—yeah, I’ve never
physically watched it.
Izzy Voegels: Okay.
Bryan Bywater: I wish I had, but I never did.
Izzy Voegels: Yeah.
AJ Wells: That’s too bad.
Izzy Voegels: Yeah, that’s too bad, yeah. And then, this is our last official question: Did you
ever make backups of any props? I know you were talking earlier that you might have a few that,
if something gets broken, [20:00] you might—there might be one that’s similar that you can give
to someone.
Bryan Bywater: Yeah, so I had backups with everything.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.

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Bryan Bywater: So… And they were there when I started, so I just made sure that they were
there and [that] people knew that they had backups if they needed them. So—
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: If something got broken and I couldn’t repair it right before, I gave ’em a
backup prop to go in, and then I repaired it for the next [scene?]—uh, the next day. So…
Izzy Voegels: Okay.
Bryan Bywater: So, like, if something got broke, I was back up at—after—the next morning, I
was back in there about eight, 8:30, and I was remaking or fixing or repairing it, so they could
use it for that evening’s performance [best guess].
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm. Okay. Well, that’s all of our—is there any more questions we want to
ask? Because that’s our—all of our questions that we have written down.
Bryan Bywater: So, I’ll just tell you something about another prop.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm!
AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: I don’t know if you guys watched it on the TV, this—when they come out [at
the start of the Pageant]—
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: But there was a bunch of angels with trumpets.
Izzy Voegels: Yeah.
AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: So, we actually built all those trumpets.
Randall Weber: Oh, wow.
Izzy Voegels: Oh, wow. Are they actual metal? Like, do they—

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Bryan Bywater: No, they’re not.
AJ Wells: Oh. [laughs].
Izzy Voegels: Oh, okay. [laughs]
Bryan Bywater: It’s funny! Because they look metal, but they’re just little plastic trumpets.
Izzy Voegels: Oh.
Randall Weber: Huh.
AJ Wells: Wow.
Bryan Bywater: And then, you cut the end off, and then you put—you add a piece of PVC pipe
on it.
Randall Weber: Huh.
Bryan Bywater: And then you spray ’em gold.
Izzy Voegels: Oh.
Bryan Bywater: They look just like a trumpet.
Izzy Voegels: Oh, got it. I think—did we…? I can’t [remember]; we watched a clip, but it—like,
I remember—everything in—while watching it was—like, it looked very—
Bryan Bywater: Real.
Izzy Voegels: Real. It looks—it was really well done.
Bryan Bywater: Yeah. So—yeah, so all those trumpets were just plastic.
Izzy Voegels: Oh, wow.
AJ Wells: Huh.
Randall Weber: So—
Izzy Voegels: Is there anything else you would like to share, like behind-the-scenes kind of
stories, or about items?

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Bryan Bywater: So, the youth—the youth really touched me because I had a lot of youth that
come up and said, “Hey, can I be in here with you? Can I work on some things?” Or “Can I
make something?” So, I had little bands [best guess; almost sounds like “bends”] and odds and
ends of things, so they would probably—they would come in, and they’d build, like, a little
sword or a little battle-ax or whatever, you know, and, and I let them take them home.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: And it was just neat, because I’ve seen a lot of youth change.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: So…
Izzy Voegels: Okay. Anything else you guys want to add on?
Randall Weber: Uh…
AJ Wells: So, it sounds like you miss this Pageant a lot?
Bryan Bywater: I do miss it.
AJ Wells: I know we touched upon that, but—
Bryan Bywater: I do.
AJ Wells: It sounds like it really changed you, and it changed a lot of people. [indistinct]
Bryan Bywater: It did. It actually changed me ’cause, earlier—see, I—you asked me if I was a
member—how long I was a member. I’ve been a member my whole life—
AJ Wells: Mmm.
Bryan Bywater: But I fell away from the Church. So, 25 years ago, I met my wife, and she got
me back into the Church.
Izzy Voegels, AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: So, it’s really changed—it really me. And I really didn’t really know of the

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script, the stories, until I went back to Hill Cumorah—
AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: And started reading the Book of Mormon and understanding ’em.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: So…
[AJ Wells says something indistinctly]
Bryan Bywater: It really—it was like a hole in my heart, because I met a lot of people. We still
stay in touch, but it’s like—when you go somewhere, it was a family. You knew you was [best
guess] going back to a family—
Izzy Voegels: Mmm.
Bryan Bywater: That loved ya, and you didn’t have to worry about the real world. You were
just there. The spirit was so strong. It was kind of interesting, because the second year, we were
leaving. We got—we started to come home. My kids are like, “What’s that? What’s that feeling?
We don’t feel the Spirit as strong as we did.” You know, so—
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: It was just a sacred spot at the Hill.
AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: And it was—and I really miss it.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: I wish I could go back and do it again.
Izzy Voegels: Do you ever think—
Bryan Bywater: I’ve actually went back… Go ahead.
Izzy Voegels: Oh, no, sorry; continue.

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Bryan Bywater: Go ahead, go ahead.
Izzy Voegels: Oh, I was gonna ask, do you ever think that you’ll go back to the Hill or go visit it
even though the Pageant is not going on? Or, do you think that, in the future, that maybe schools
might try to do a smaller Pageant or anything like that to keep telling the story, or if they’re
allowed to do that?
Bryan Bywater: [sighs] So—I was just going to tell ya—we’ve actually gone back to the Hill
twice—
Izzy Voegels: Oh.
Bryan Bywater: Since the Pageant quit.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: We just love it back there, so my wife and I and our kids, we take trips back
there all the time. So… We went back there and watched them take down all the buildings and
stuff, some of ’em, and then… So… But I don’t think that any of the schools or anything will
portray the Pageant. I don’t think they will because it’s too big of a [25:00] Pageant to try to put
on.
Izzy Voegels: Okay.
Bryan Bywater: They don’t have the right directors and stuff, you know what I mean?
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: So…
Izzy Voegels: Okay. Well, thank you for sharing that. We really appreciate it, and for everything
[best guess], for sharing those stories and all the—
AJ Wells: Mhmm.
Izzy Voegels: Stories about behind the props and the people.

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Bryan Bywater: You’re welcome. Was there anything else—any other questions you have?
Izzy Voegels: Um… By chance, can we get an email or picture of the props you showed us, just
to have along with—
AJ Wells: Oh, yeah.
Izzy Voegels: The dialogue?
Bryan Bywater: [faintly] Yeah.
Randall Weber [best guess]: Great idea.
Bryan Bywater: Yeah.
AJ Wells: ’Cause this is an audio recording.
[laughter]
Bryan Bywater: I actually have a picture of all the props.
Izzy Voegels: Oh! It would actually—
AJ Wells: Oh.
Randall Weber: Yeah, that’d be—
Izzy Voegels: If, by chance, we could get [those]—some of those files, or we—or something like
that, we could—I could ask—get in contact with our teacher and ask if he would like to try to
archive any of those, ’cause we’re putting this into, I think the Mormon archive—
Bryan Bywater: Uh-huh.
Izzy Voegels: Down in Utah.
Bryan Bywater: Yeah. Yeah, I actually took a picture of all the props in my prop shop, so I have
those that—I did that so I knew where they went back, when I went back the next year, to set
’em back up.
Izzy Voegels: Oh, Okay.

23
Bryan Bywater: [laughs] So—yeah, but I can send you those props that I showed you—
Izzy Voegels: Okay.
Bryan Bywater: Those—the pictures [best guess].
AJ Wells: Yep.
Izzy Voegels: Alright. Thank you so much.
AJ Wells: Thank you so much.
Bryan Bywater: I’ll try to find some other pictures and—
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
Bryan Bywater: Send ’em all, so…
AJ Wells: Awesome!
Izzy Voegels: Okay. Well, thank you—
Randall Weber: Thank you so much for taking this time and speaking with us.
Bryan Bywater: You’re welcome.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm. We’ll keep in touch with—about the photos, and thank you for the—you
know—telling us everything. I hope you have a good night.
Bryan Bywater: You, too.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
AJ Wells: Thank you so much.
Izzy Voegels: Thank you!
Randall Weber: Thank you.
AJ Wells: Alright.
Bryan Bywater: Alright.
Izzy Voegels: Bye-bye.

24
Bryan Bywater: See you. Bye.
Izzy Voegels: Mhmm.
AJ Wells: Bye.
Izzy Voegels: Bye!

Dublin Core Metadata for the Interview
Title: Interview with Bryan Bywater, Thursday, March 24, 2022
Subject: Props, Hill Cumorah Pageant, Theater, Manufacturing, Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, Utah, Travel, Youth
Description: 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.
Creator: Bryan Bywater, AJ Wells, Izzy Voegels, and Randall Weber
Source: Hill Cumorah Legacy Project
Date: Thursday, March 24, 2022
Contributor: AJ Wells, Izzy Voegels, and Randall Weber
Rights: Produced under an oral history collaborative deed of gift agreement with no restrictions
and nonexclusive license.
Format: M4A (audio), PDF (transcript)
Language: English
Identifier:
• Bryan_Bywater_Pageant_Prop_Photos.pdf
• Wells_Voegels_Weber_BryanBywaterInterview_03-24-22.m4a
• Wells_Voegels_Weber_BryanBywaterTranscript_03-24-22_Edited.pdf