Citizens of Marion perform 89th annual Easter Pageant

The Easter Pageant returned to Marion for its 89th annual performance at the Grant County
YMCA.

“We got to be there early and hear the orchestra practice and just kind of got an inside look at
how much goes into it, because it’s a big production,” Dallas Levitt, one of the actors in the
production said.

The Marion Easter Pageant is a six-act theatrical production featuring a full choir, real dogs, a
large cast of actors, dancers, an orchestra and a tech and lighting crew, all made up of
community members and college students.

“I just loved the combination the work ethic between the actors, the orchestra and the choir to all
make this story come together,” Daniel Terhune, one of the tuba players in the orchestra said.

Admission to the pageant was free, thanks to the generosity of local churches, businesses, and
individuals.

The production ran March 30–31 and told the Easter story, starting from Palm Sunday and Jesus’
arrival in Jerusalem, and ending with His death and resurrection on Easter, all within an hour and
ten minutes.

“Just being part of a story like that, that’s about Jesus, it was really cool,” Levitt said.

After the performance, a time of praise followed, which included a chorus of “Hallelujah
Chorus” and then the Doxology, which the audience and choir joined together in.

“Hallelujah Chorus” is from George Frideric Handel’s Messiah, a similar performance that tells
the life story of Jesus Christ from birth to death, and His resurrection.

“We had combined music from the Easter pageant started back in the 1930s… and we mashed
them up, and it created a really cool dynamic shift, because at the beginning, it focused a lot on
dancing and art and acting,” Terhune said.

After 89 years of performing and storytelling, the Easter Pageant continues its three values:
honoring the past, engaging the present and planning for the future.

“It wasn’t like anything I’ve watched before; it was really powerful, I can’t wait to see it next
year,” Charlotte Scarlatos, an audience member at the performance said.