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MANTI — It's show time in Sanpete County as the Mormon Miracle Pageant marks its 50th season this year.

The annual event transforms the small town of Manti into a busy place during the summer event that began in 1967. This year there is a lot of nostalgia, especially for pageant volunteers like Ted Olson who was in that first performance.

"I was in the orchestra in a role we don't have in the pageant any more. I was Moroni's trumpet," he said.

The first pageant performance was a one-night live show. Since 1970, a recorded soundtrack allows cast members to portray scenes from early LDS history and the Book of Mormon.

Doug Barton was also there the night of the first performance. "It has come a long ways since those early days," he said.

His role ever since has been to provide the lighting and sound for the production.

"We went to the elementary school kitchen and we borrowed some soup cans. For a dollar we were able to put together some impressive ground lighting that we used for many years in the pageant. It was very effective," he explained.

Merilyn Jorgensen was in the cast for 25 years, followed by many years helping with costumes.

"They didn't have a costume shop. Everything was done in homes," she recalled.

Now she's the pageant historian.

"A lot of the early costumes were made by the performers or their mothers. Everything was handmade, homemade. It was a homemade miracle," she said.

The storyline of the Mormon Miracle Pageant has remained nearly the same over the past 50 years. Organizers say the outdoor setting of the Manti Temple hill keeps audiences coming back year after year.

The pageant has brought an estimated 4 million visitors to Manti and involved thousands of volunteer cast members. Another one of them is Trevor Jensen, who this year plays the role of young Joseph Smith.

"It's a special time for the pageant, and I am 14 just like Joseph, so it is cool to play him," he said.

The Manti Miracle Pageant runs through Saturday, June 25, except for Sunday and Monday. For details, go to mantipageant.org.

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