Sacrament Meeting Pageant in conjunction with the Ward's 13th Anniversary Celebrations

Before there was My Turn on Earth, before there was Saturday's Warrior, there was It Could Happen to You. What is that? Read on.

When I read about the "touching pageant" that was part of the 13th Anniversary of the 9th Ward, and the "unusually fine performances" of several of the ward members along with those who offered technical assistance, I was intrigued. 

I thought there was a chance that the clerk had written about this Sacrament Meeting in the ward's minutes and so checked there to see if I could find more information. He had, along with the name of the pageant that opened up new avenues to research.

 "A Beautiful presentation entitled 'It Could Happen to You' was presented. Directed by Brother Basil R. Asay and Sister Jean Hart, the characters were as follows: Bishop Glenn B. Goodrich as 'Anthony' Bishop S. Lloyd as 'Charles," Brother H. Boyd Mortensen as "The Recorder," and Sister Donna Hansen as "Margaret." This presentation stressed the importance of Temple work and was enjoyed by the large congregation as part of our Ward birthday observance."

There was a large number in attendance at Sacrament Meeting, 547.

With the title of the play, I next searched the Church History Catalog to see if I could find the script of the play. I found a 1949 program from the performance of the San Bernardino Second Ward Genealogical Society, "'It Could Happen to You': A Sacred One-Act Pageant Depicting a Scene in the Spirit World After Death." The names of the characters pretty well matched those found in the meeting minutes. 

I decided next to search a database of Latter-day Saint publications and struck gold, several articles about different groups performing It Could Happen to You during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Below is a photo from one of those articles. 

I learned from another article the name of the person who had written the play. The article written in 1950 stated that Dr. Edmund Crowley had written the play a dozen years earlier while serving in the California Mission. I also found that the play was called Could It Happen To You?

With the name of the playwright and an alternative title to the play, I went back to the Church History Catalog and, to my surprise and amusement, I found the play. 

As you read through the script, imagine ward members including our very own Glenn Goodrich performing this in Sacrament Meeting.

Did this story age well? How is the doctrine? The instructions for picking the characters are fun, though I'd like to think that my Grandpa might be bald in heaven, though I'm sure that some of you could point to scriptures to argue that won't be the case. Still, I'll hold out hope. It suited him well. And curious that the woman character was supposed to have long hair and Charles should be taller than her.

What influence do you think Could It Happen to You had on people's perceptions of the hereafter? Is anyone else wanting a repeat performance by Glenn Goodrich?

As I said earlier, "the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there." But it sure is fun to visit.