History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

THEATRICALS AND FESTIVITIES.
sions festivities were held. 23 Sometimes the guests
contributed toward the expense of the entertainment,
the amount that each one was expected to pay being
stated on the card of invitation. 24
In winter, theatrical performances were given by
the Deseret Dramatic Association at the social hall,
and in summer at the bowery, the parts being well
sustained and the orchestra and decorations well appointed.
25 At the former, private parties were given
when the gathering was too large for the residence of
the host; in the basement were appliances for cooking,
and adjoining was a dining-room with seats and tables
sufficient for three hundred persons. All entertainments
were opened with prayer; then came dancing,
songs, and music, followed by supper, the guests being
dismissed with a benediction at an early hour.
The public festivities of the Mormons were always
conducted under the auspices of the church, and none
were allowed to join in them who were not in good
standing. To sing, dance, and rejoice before the
Lord was regarded almost as a religious duty, but
only those must rejoice whose hearts were pure and
whose hands were clean. Thus, toward christmas of
this year, 1849, regulations were issued by the high
council for the observance of the approaching holidays.
They were to commence on the 20th of December
and last until the council should declare them
at an end, officers being appointed to preside over the
dances. No person who had been disfellowshipped
23 The-christmas festival of 1851 is described in the Deseret News, Jan.
'
24, 1852. On the 24th,' writes Brigham in regard to another occasion, * I invited
the wives of the twelve apostles, and other elders who were on missions,
with a number of my relatives, to dine at my house. Seventy ladies sat down
at the first table. I employed five sleighs to collect the company; the day
was stormy; near my house the snow drifted three feet deep.' Hist. B. Young,
MS., 1850, 2. .
24 Contributions were often made in the shape of eatables, and an in-door
picnic extemporized. Ferris' Utah and the Mormons, 306.
25 In May 1851, the second act of ' Robert Macaire' was performed at the
bowery, the performance concluding with the farce of 'The Dead Shot.' Contributor,
ii. 271.
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