Temple With the Live Moroni

The pageant started in 1969 on Fairgrounds west of temple as a stake production. It was intended to be part of the City’s Pioneer Day celebration.

The following year the production moved to a small stage on the west end of temple. The year after in 1969, they moved to the natural terrace on the south hill of the grounds. Problems with Audio and lighting indicated that, if the production were to continue, it would need serious upgrades.

In 1970 the production received those upgrades. New scenes and sets were added. Better sound and lighting were acquired. And, for the first time, an actor stood on the west pinnacle of the temple at one point holding a trumpet, and dressed in white flowing robes.

In those early days, the safety of the actor atop the flat west end platform was assured by the actor’s escort, John Henry Nielson, and later Dan Harmer, reaching up through the trap door and holding the actor’s ankles. In later years a tall pole with a waste high back brace would be attached to the 6-foot square platform. This would allow the actor to lean back slightly into the brace for stability.^[2]Merrilyn Jorgennsen, “Angelic Appearances Take Place During the Pageant,” Mormon Miracle Pageant 2018.  11 June 2018

Multiple individuals would play the Moroni atop the spire each year, allowing for more than 100 individuals to play the part in the just under 50 years the role was acted out.

Some of the individuals playing the part would deliberately wait until the spotlight upon them turned on to raise the trumpet to their lips, to ensure the audience new that it was a live individual up there, and not another fiberglass replica. ^[3]Merrilyn Jorgennsen, “Angelic Appearances Take Place During the Pageant,” Mormon Miracle Pageant 2018.  11 June 2018  

A few years into the new tradition, a small fan was placed in one corner of the platform for emergencies. The decision to add this came about one evening when the air was still, and, in an attempt to get the robes flapping again, John Henry Nielson blew on the robes himself, to no effect. ^[4]Merrilyn Jorgennsen, “Angelic Appearances Take Place During the Pageant,” Mormon Miracle Pageant 2018.  11 June 2018  

At the time the practice started, there were only two statues on temples world-wide, one on Salt Lake, and the other in Los Angeles. By the time the pageant ended in 2019, that number had grown to 141. There is a funny, though unverifiable story that is passed around about the annual practice. The story says that, an unwary traveler, slightly inebriated, was making his way down the road towards the temple, when, suddenly, an angel appeared in the sky high above him. The startled and intoxicated driver ended up on the edge of the road vowing never to drink again. As stated before, there is no evidence this event, or any of the variations of the story passed around, ever happened.^[5]Merrilyn Jorgennsen, “Angelic Appearances Take Place During the Pageant,” Mormon Miracle Pageant 2018.  11 June 2018  

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