Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant

[1] With a 450-member cast, the 65-minute pageant depicts the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ using song and dance.

Previously, from 1928 through 1937, the Mutual Improvement Association (ages 17-24) of the LDS Church held an Easter sunrise service at the Teachers College in Tempe (later to become Arizona State University); and, in 1930, the Arizona Republic reported that an Easter service would be presented by the church's Second Ward choir on the lawn of the temple.

[5][6] Irwin Phelps, a local community college teacher and member took over control of the pageant in 1977, transitioning it into an evening event and writing a script for a play.

Each year, the even grew in size and grandeur, adding theatrical elements and staging, music, dance, and a cast of nearly 500--to earn the reputation of being the largest annual outdoor Easter pageant in the world.

[7] The Mesa Pageant runs Tuesday through Saturday evenings during the two weeks just before Easter, with translations done in Spanish with 400 headphones.