Warner said it is "yet to be determined" whether the pageant will be an annual production, as are other LDS pageants in various parts of the country. It's "an important year for us to assess this site and determine how we may move forward in the future."

He said lighting towers, a new sound system, extensive stages and side stages with lighting positions have been constructed, "all of it centered on the site to frame the temple in the distance. The reconstructed temple plays a very important part in story represented in the pageant."

Though it centers on early LDS history, Warner said writers and producers have taken pains to make the pageant a representation of "life values and a way of living that is really at the heart of the American ideal. The pilgrims came to this continent to build a community where families could live in peace and worship as they pleased."

"Latter-day Saints founded Nauvoo on principles of family and community and devotion to God." The story line projects what happens "throughout America today when people work together for a common dream."

Warner said the story line incorporates, but does not depict, Smith's incarceration and martyrdom in nearby Carthage, Ill., as well as the Latter-day Saint migration west across the Great Plains.

Jack Renouf, pageant president and LDS public affairs director in Nauvoo, said businesses in surrounding communities began calling him in February, asking if the church was hosting a special event because hotel bookings were filling up.

He expects the pageant to have a definite economic impact, and local government, civic and religious leaders will be invited to a special performance July 22. To help further incorporate the local community, the church has also invited area religious and civic groups to register as vendors for the event.

For more information, see www.historicnauvoo.net.

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com