Clarkston Pageant

Before the amphitheater was finished, local teacher Rhett S. James was asked to write a script for a pageant revolving around Martin Harris. James decided to create a musical, and began months of research with the LDS Church histories office and descendants of Harris.^[4] According to him, his "vision was to see to it that the misconceptions about Martin Harris were corrected" because "when people in the Church hear the name Martin Harris, they often think of the lost 116 manuscript pages".^[9] James went through several revisions of his musical, and just three weeks after the amphitheater was completed, the first production of Martin Harris: The Man Who Knew premiered in the amphitheater by the cemetery.^[10] Three hundred descendants of Harris had gathered together to view the premier. Though the producers felt like the musical was flawed, the descendants were very supportive of its telling of their ancestor. The first public showing was three days later. Approximately 27 thousand people watched the over 50 cast members in the first week that it was put on.^[11]

It was the only LDS pageant to be a musical, as well as the only one where actors actually say their lines, rather than lip sync them on a pre-recorded track.^[12] Before each performance, Rhett S. James gave a lecture and answered questions on Martin Harris in front of the crowd.^[13] Though tickets were required, it was free to attend.^[14] These early performances were funded by donations from the LDS church and community members, as well as profit from the published script in book form.^[15]

In 1990, once attendance began to reach new heights, the LDS Church made the pageant an official production with them running it.^[11] In the coming years, this change in management brought numerous changes to the musical, such as shortening the pageant from three hours to one hour, removing the pageant's narrator, addition of night performances, and only having the pageant on every other year.^[14] In 1996, 125 cast members and a production crew of five hundred (all LDS church members) performed it in front of thirty five thousand people.^[16] In 2015, there were 80 to 85 cast members and a thousand volunteers for a crowd of thirty six thousand people.^[14][17] The church used the pageant as a missionary tool, setting aside 8,300 tickets each year to be specifically given out to non LDS viewers, and reporting that after the 1997 performance, 2,000 attendees requested to visit LDS missionaries.^[18][16]

2017 was the last time that it was held, as the LDS church canceled four out of seven of their pageants the following year, including the Clarkston Pageant, stating they want church members to "focus on gospel learning in their homes and to participate in Sabbath worship and the Church’s supporting programs for children, youth, individuals and families", and that "Local celebrations of culture and history may be appropriate. Larger productions, such as pageants, are discouraged".^[19][20] By the end of its run, it is estimated over one million people viewed the pageant in its history.^[21]

• List of pageants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints