Saturday, April 4, 1998

Kendrick Easter Pageant draws crowds

By LORETTA FULTON / Abilene Reporter-News

CISCO -- Curly the Camel drools as only camels can, responding to a kiss from his master and the promise of a bucket of snacks.

That's what Curly does with most of his time. He just hangs out, waiting for somebody to feed him.

"He's a typical teenager," said owner Phil Kendrick.

But also like most teenagers, when the time comes to perform his duty, Curly will be ready. That time will be 3:30 a.m. Easter morning, April 12, when Curly will take the stage along with a good portion of the residents of Eastland County in putting on the annual Kendrick Easter Pageant.

Billed in 1980 as the Best Outdoor Drama in Texas by Texas Monthly magazine, the pageant originated in 1965 and has grown in size and stature over the years.

Although as many as 20,000 people have squeezed into the outdoor pageant area, sometimes shivering in icy temperatures, the usual crowd is between 5,000 and 10,000, Kendrick said.

They begin arriving at the site located on old Highway 80 between Cisco and Eastland, as early as Friday night, some paying $6 for a camper hookup (call 254-629-8672 for information).

But most come on Saturday, with parking three-deep along the highway as far as people are willing to walk. At 7 p.m. Saturday, the site's other attraction, a religious diorama, will open with tours scheduled every hour until midnight through the 16 New Testament and 14 Old Testament scenes.

There is no admission fee to the pageant, but an offering will be taken. Tours of the diorama cost $2.50 for ages 12 and over and $2 for ages 6-11. Under 6 are admitted free.

At midnight, the tours end and singing begins on the pageant grounds until the two-hour pageant starts at 3:30 a.m.

"There's something going on all night out here," Kendrick said. "And at 6 o'clock I go home and go to bed."

Kendrick started the pageant in 1965 after he said a Christ-like apparition came to him while he was driving a van full of eggs to Fort Worth.

Startled, the 30-year-old poultry farmer, heard the message and responded with his outdoor Easter pageant. Kendrick, along with his parents and brothers Pierre and Bill, began work on the outdoor sets. They covered their swimming pool for the main stage and erected a platform on top of the bathhouse for The Last Supper and other indoor scenes.

A script was written, actors recruited and costumes made.

Today the 65-scene outdoor drama is produced in a vast amphitheater on the Kendrick farm, with 12 mini-stages sprouting from the 365-foot-long master stage.

Props and live animals, chiefly Curly, add to the authenticity of the pageant.

Until two years ago, the pageant was produced in the summertime, too, but now it is held just on Easter morning. Cast members come from Eastland County and surrounding communities to perform each year.

The narrative is taped with Kendrick's brother Pierre reading the story of Jesus' birth, public ministry, death and resurrection from the Bible. Kendrick directs from atop a raised observation stand. Kendrick's mother, who is legally blind and partially disabled, plays the organ on the tape but can no longer perform.

Even though the pageant is performed only on Easter morning, the diorama is open nine months a year, closing in December, January and February.

The diorama is housed in Kendrick's former 16,500-square-foot hen house. The 10,000 chickens had to find a new roosting place, while 142 store mannequins were moved in.

Getting them ready to be used as re-enacters of biblical scenes was no easy chore. They had to be twisted into the proper shape, cleaned, and proper wigs put in place.

The New Testament half of the diorama took 4-1/2 years to complete, opening in 1975. The Old Testament section took after four years and opened in 1980.

The scenes are eerily realistic. In the Garden of Gethsemene disciples lay prone.

"They're laying over there sleeping just like we're still doing," Kendrick noted.

A tape with wind and thunder, aided by strobe light-produced lightning brings even more realism to the scenes.

Future plans at the Kendrick farm call for a full-scale Noah's Ark, and a figure of Christ.

"I wish we could just twitch our nose and do everything we want to do," Kendrick said.