Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Sunset on the Mississippi

This is Sister Camp, and the lady at the piano is Sister Robertson. Elder and Sister Camp have the assignment from Salt Lake to oversee all the Nauvoo shows except the pageant. They came out this winter and did some major overhaul to Rendevous, and they've cut this show from an hour and a half to one hour, which is really nice. They also have moved the stage so the audience doesn't have to sit directly facing the sun. They are amazing people.
This is our director from the missionaries, Sister Meyers. She is so much fun, as is her husband. She also helped bake 59,613 cookies for the bakery this summer.

Preparing hats for the children's parade prior to the show is one of our assignments. Last winter, while we were SOOO SLOW, I folded over 1000 hats for this summer. The kids decorate them, then they wear them in a parade onto the stage beating sticks and tamborines and waving the flag. Every time I see tamborines, I think of President Hinckley telling David Warner about the Nauvoo Pageant, "Lose the tamborines." But I don't think he'd mind for the children's parade.


The Nauvoo Brass Band. These young adults are incredible. They start playing around 9:30 in the morning, they ride on a horse drawn carriage for most of the day, playing their instruments, they come play for Sunset on the Mississippi and in July, they will play before the pageant.



This is about 15 minutes prior to the show. It's 80 degrees, but 100 percent humidity. In our baskets, each of us carries a jug for the jug and bottle band, water to keep from dehydrating and a copy of the order of the acts. Now that would be very helpful if the narrator got the acts in the right order instead of using an old script. I personally carry mosquito repellant, a fan, Kleenex, throat discs, an umbrella, a copy of the script, my keys, a cloth to wipe away persperation, and an extra bottle of water.




This is me narrating Suset on the Mississippi. That any missionary remembers, I am the first female narrator of the show since its inception. Behind me is the Nauvoo Brass band and the man looking like, "What are you doing?" (which is a common look I get from many people around here) is Elder Blackington, their director.





3 comments:

Mr C said...

Boy did that bring back some memories (except for the female narrator!). I LOVED Sunset on the Mississippi. It looks really fun, but I can't imagine the heat and humidity! We have heat here now, but we are VERY dry! Doesn't do much for the skin, but it is more bearable. I hope you survive this summer!!!!

Julie said...

Three cheers for the Nauvoo Brass Band!

Bressler Bunch said...

So you get to be busier now than in the winter, but you also get to walk around in those heavy dresses in the heat? Is that a good trade off? : )