Corinne Pageant Newspaper Articles

Corinne; The Gentile City

Standard Examiner
2005
By Nancy B. Fuller
Photos by Alan Murray
Standard-Examiner

Back to Corinne
(You know, the town with gambling and saloons and 'soiled doves,' the town where people went who didn't want to be Mormons --- they're having a pageant!)
Corinne -- This community's colorful past will come to life in its first pageant titled, "Corinne, the Gentile City." "No other Utah community has a history like this one. Corinne was raising a city in opposition to all the Mormons," said LaNan Donovan, one of the members of the Corinne pageant committee.
The Pageant will spotlight some of the fun historical trivia that happened during those boom years. There will be a gun-toting sheriff and a saloon fight in the pageant.
The community's divorce machine will also be spotlighted. "People could put 42.50 into the machine and a piece of paper would come out granting the divorce," Davis said. "When the town died down, there were about 2,000 couples who found out their divorces weren't really legal."
The 55 cast members all come from the community and include a harmonica player, a fiddler and a honky-tonk piano player. Mayor DeVerle Wells, with help from local young men of the two Corinne wards of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, made the scenery and Kelly Donovan painted the set.
The pageant will be performed for the public June 28 in hopes of catching people before they leave for the long Fourth of July weekend. "July Fourth was a huge to-do even from the very beginning of Corinne's history. We want to capture that excitement. We want this to be a fun summer activity," said pageant committee member Kim Davis. The pageant opens with a scene from Corinne's boom years of 1869-71. During that time Corinne had 15 saloons, 16 liquor stores, 70 soiled doves (or prostitutes) and several gambling establishments.
The pageant ends when Brigham Young comes to curse the community. The Lucin Cutoff, a wooden bridge that cut off from the Promontory Summit and instead went across the Great Salt Lake, completely rerouting the railroad away from Corinne, came after the cursing of Brigham Young. The population of 10,000 declined rapidly. Today Corinne is a community with a population of 650.
The idea for a pageant began with resident Beulah Wells. For three years she talked about having a pageant, but the idea fell through. This year, a former resident of Corinne, Diana Jeppesen, called and offered to help write the pageant. "We decided that this was the year it was going to be done, come rain or shine," Wells said. The pageant committee met and brainstormed, then Jeppesen went home and wrote the pageant and the music.
The free pageant begins at 9 p.m. and will be held at the Corinne City Park, five miles west of Brigham City. To get there, take Exit 368 off Interstate 15. A pre-show featuring honky-tonk, harmonica and fiddle music with a slide show of Corinne's boom years will start at 8 pm. Peach cobbler and popcorn will be sold during intermission. "The money from the concession will go toward obtaining grant money to expand the pageant for the years to come," Wells said. "Bring your own lawn chairs and blankets," Davis said. Donovan added: "It's just going to be fun. If anyone doesn't come, they will be so sad after they hear from their friends who did come of all the fun that we had." A divorce machine prop sits on the set of "Corinne, The Gentile City." The original divorce machine wasn't legitimate, but that didn't stop gullible people from paying $2.50 to use it.

Amy Merkley practices her role as Mrs. Shafley while Brent Hubbard portrays Mr. Shafley during a rehearsal of "Corinne, The Gentile City."

Standard Examiner 2005 By Nancy B. Fuller Photos by Alan Murray Standard-Examiner
Back to Corinne (You know, the town with gambling and saloons and 'soiled doves,' the town where people went who didn't want to be Mormons --- they're having a pageant!) Corinne -- This community's colorful past will come to life in its first pageant titled, "Corinne, the Gentile City." "No other Utah community has a history like this one. Corinne was raising a city in opposition to all the Mormons," said LaNan Donovan, one of the members of the Corinne pageant committee. The Pageant will spotlight some of the fun historical trivia that happened during those boom years. There will be a gun-toting sheriff and a saloon fight in the pageant. The community's divorce machine will also be spotlighted. "People could put 42.50 into the machine and a piece of paper would come out granting the divorce," Davis said. "When the town died down, there were about 2,000 couples who found out their divorces weren't really legal." The 55 cast members all come from the community and include a harmonica player, a fiddler and a honky-tonk piano player. Mayor DeVerle Wells, with help from local young men of the two Corinne wards of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, made the scenery and Kelly Donovan painted the set. The pageant will be performed for the public June 28 in hopes of catching people before they leave for the long Fourth of July weekend. "July Fourth was a huge to-do even from the very beginning of Corinne's history. We want to capture that excitement. We want this to be a fun summer activity," said pageant committee member Kim Davis. The pageant opens with a scene from Corinne's boom years of 1869-71. During that time Corinne had 15 saloons, 16 liquor stores, 70 soiled doves (or prostitutes) and several gambling establishments. The pageant ends when Brigham Young comes to curse the community. The Lucin Cutoff, a wooden bridge that cut off from the Promontory Summit and instead went across the Great Salt Lake, completely rerouting the railroad away from Corinne, came after the cursing of Brigham Young. The population of 10,000 declined rapidly. Today Corinne is a community with a population of 650. The idea for a pageant began with resident Beulah Wells. For three years she talked about having a pageant, but the idea fell through. This year, a former resident of Corinne, Diana Jeppesen, called and offered to help write the pageant. "We decided that this was the year it was going to be done, come rain or shine," Wells said. The pageant committee met and brainstormed, then Jeppesen went home and wrote the pageant and the music. The free pageant begins at 9 p.m. and will be held at the Corinne City Park, five miles west of Brigham City. To get there, take Exit 368 off Interstate 15. A pre-show featuring honky-tonk, harmonica and fiddle music with a slide show of Corinne's boom years will start at 8 pm. Peach cobbler and popcorn will be sold during intermission. "The money from the concession will go toward obtaining grant money to expand the pageant for the years to come," Wells said. "Bring your own lawn chairs and blankets," Davis said. Donovan added: "It's just going to be fun. If anyone doesn't come, they will be so sad after they hear from their friends who did come of all the fun that we had."		A divorce machine prop sits on the set of "Corinne, The Gentile City." The original divorce machine wasn't legitimate, but that didn't stop gullible people from paying $2.50 to use it. Amy Merkley practices her role as Mrs. Shafley while Brent Hubbard portrays Mr. Shafley during a rehearsal of "Corinne, The Gentile City."