In 2005 the LDS Church announced that it would be putting on a new pageant in Nauvoo, Illinois to replace the recently retired “City of Joseph” pageant. Our family decided to go up and check it out. (We had been to Nauvoo many times. I had developed an interest in studying LDS history and theology and I would visit Nauvoo occasionally to relive the history.) Over the ensuing years we rarely missed a summer and the characters, Robert and Becky Laird really touched me.
In 2011 our relationship with the pageant would deepen. We found out that the Pageant Core Cast would be doing a performance of Our Story Goes On (OSGO) at nearby Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. My oldest daughter (Carrie) and I attended the performance. If you've never seen OSGO it is a beautiful, musical and humorous retelling of the journey of life. After the performance we went and talked with some of the cast members. I remember talking with Alex Debirk (who played Joseph in the pageant) and Darren Hill (who played Robert Laird). Darren was easy to pick out because he had that distinctive British accent. (Rob Abney and Ken Eklof were also part of that cast. I had the privilege of serving with them in the pageant this year). Darren and I struck up a conversation. Having been studying the LDS faith for most my life, I was fluent in “mormonese” and could blend in quite well. Until invariably Darren asked the question, “So, you're LDS?” Well, I couldn't lie. “No” I replied. Just then, it seemed like every eye in the place turned and looked at us! Darren made us promise that we would come and see the pageant that year (easy promise to keep, we we're going to anyway). Carrie started to leave. By the time we got outside, we were surrounded by close to a dozen missionaries. I felt like fresh meat in the Amazon being surrounded by Piranha! (Okay, it wasn't really that bad, but we were definitely surrounded.) A couple of the missionaries asked us if we had any questions, we said “no” and that was about that.
A few days later, my oldest son (who shares my interest in LDS history) and I went to Nauvoo to watch the pageant. It was great as usual and Darren and I had a lengthy conversation after the performance. That year they were offering the music of the pageant on CD. I loved the pageant and the music so I signed up to get a copy.
A couple weeks later a couple of missionaries and Bro. Lynn Ennis (who incidentally I had met at OSGO, but didn't know it yet) showed up at my house with the CD. They asked if they could teach a lesson. At first I declined—I had been through the missionary lessons so many times, I really didn't want to waste their time. I had the CD, that was all I really wanted. But they were insistent. So, we agreed that they could come back next week and teach a discussion, which they did.
5 YEARS LATER I was baptized on June 22, 2016.
In July 2016, I was in Nauvoo to see the pageant. President Ricks had heard about my story and invited me to give my testimony at one of the cast meetings. That was an amazing experience.
It wasn't too long after that, Carrie and another son, Caleb, asked me if we could apply to be in the pageant. I agreed and we applied. And we were accepted. Little did I know the adventure that awaited.
I was super excited when I found out we would be able to see the cast perform OSGO. In a way it seemed like a fulfillment of something that had started those six years ago. The first week of practice was next to miserable. It started off with some problems with our housing and some financial issues that arose. Our housing ended up costing us almost twice as much as I had anticipated due to some mis-communications that took place on both ends. It took several days for that to resolve, and it did with the Lord's provision. The rehearsals were long and hard and hot. And.....we had to dance! Now I'm not a dancer. Never have been. Never will be. And I was awful at it. (Stacia, if you read this...you were an awesome choreographer, and I love ya, and I can't thank you enough for your patience, but even you have to admit dancing = me= not so much). I couldn't believe I had spent that much money and vacation time to torture myself! But eventually, we made it through the rehearsals and (thanks to a few remedial dance classes during lunch break) the dancing.
Monday of week 2 dawned with the promise of the last full day of rehearsals, with performances beginning the next day. Things were looking up. Until..... I'm getting ready to exit upstage left and I hear my name “Bro. Ready!” I look down and see my daughter laying on the front of the stage. She had twisted her ankle and it looked like she was on the verge of slipping into shock. I ask for a blessing. Bros. Fackrell and Remund did the blessing. Carrie finally calmed down and the EMT said we need to go to the hospital to have it x-rayed. I will be forever grateful to all of you who prayed and for Sam and Tawnie who went with us to the hospital. Several miracles took place that day...the ankle wasn't broken, just a bad sprain; we were in an out of the emergency room in under 2 hours!; we discovered that the Lord had provided physical therapist and a message therapist in our cast!
Even with these miracles, I still had a very unhappy daughter on my hands. That would test us in a different way.
The next day was opening night, I had something special I wanted to accomplish. It was also my father's birthday. Back in 2002 my father and I had attended the Nauvoo temple open house. In 2007, my dad passed away. When I found out I was going to be in Nauvoo on his birthday, I determined to go to the Nauvoo temple that day and perform his endowment.
I had a very emotional experience that moment during the Nauvoo dress rehearsal. As I was walking through the “door” of the temple on stage, I looked up and saw the Nauvoo temple standing there, knowing that in just a few hours, I would be walking through those doors on behalf of (and with) my father. It was a very powerful moment.
Once the performances started, all the misery of rehearsals quickly faded away. Eternal friendships developed and the Spirit was just incredible.
Some other highlights included: District meetings; Torturing Jess Wadley during the healing scene in the Nauvoo pagean;t Eating real food on stage during the picnic scenes; Singing in the rain; Javier trying to teach me how to speak with a Scottish accent; Visiting the sites.
All to soon it was over, and it was time to go home.
Since we only live about 3 hours away, Carrie, Caleb and I decided to come up to see the last performance of the British Pageant. It was so much fun to see the look of surprise on so many faces when we showed up. Watching the British pageant that night was a very meaningful experience for me. Up until that point, the British pageant hadn't really resonated with me. We had seen it the year it was introduced in Nauvoo and maybe once or twice after. But I never really connected with the characters the way I did with Nauvoo. That all changed as I watched my friends on stage that night. They made the British pageant come alive for me. They made it personal. It's a connection I will always treasure.
Saturday we watched a couple of vignettes and visited as much as we could. Then it was time to say goodbye again. We decided not to stay and watch the performance Saturday night. We just couldn't bear to watch it close.
All in all, the Nauvoo pageant was one of the hardest, most amazing, most intense spiritual experiences that I have ever had. Getting to know everyone in Core and Red Cast. Getting to know the staff and crew, what a wonderful blessing for us. It's interesting, my family was a bit disappointed when we discovered that so many of the old cast members that we had watched for so many years, weren't going to be in the pageant this year. There were so many new faces. But having met you and worked with you and sweated with you I wouldn't trade our cast for anything. You guys were the best. We truly do love you Core Cast and Staff 2017!
So what does the future hold. I saw the pageant. I was converted (in part) through the pageant. I was in the pageant (and if it is the Lords will, I would be thrilled to do it again). What's next?
With love to all my pageant family,
Bryan Ready With Carrie and Caleb Ready
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