Show n salt lake tabernacle and choir to be r t n 1 used in film version of Cori anton I 1 r with david A smith jl president of the choir by dr M markus some time in january a producers syndicate will commence film ing conarton Co nanton the play whose author 0 U bean was hailed by i literary antics as the american i shakespeare and of whom one of the critics said he had out shakeh speared shakespeare p the largest part of the filming W will be done in the widely known de forrest studios in long island V but one part will necessarily have to be done in salt lake city be cause the world famous tabernacle y organ and the great tabernacle choir will be used in the sound synchronization of the film t the play its story its history f and its success arc common knowl edge Th estory of the play is tak en fram he book of mormon fre ri and erroneously called the mormon bible in addition f to being a religious document the book of mormon is in some refi aspects a history proven by discoveries the latest one of which is that ancient city the a remains of which have been ob ij served from the air by colonel a in his recent flight over M central america jungles such re raj iiams imams are expected to shed con Isid crable bigit on the american of i about half a thousand years before t the christian era how did hitcome about that the I 1 presidency jbf the mormon i church permitted the use of the t organ and the widely reputed j choir built and organized inmar f for acred and religious pur poses IB so secular an 1 ing as 9 ic this question caused me to seek an authoritative answer th logical man to give i hat answer s david A smith the i of the tabernacle choir arac interview was requested and to mhd inquiry as to the reason for granting that great and abaft privilege mr smith with a smile on his lips and a swift glance n the direction of the publicity I 1 manager present at the interview answered persuasion then quickly changing the course of his thought from humorous to serious mr smith immediately continued 1 the church has always been int in the play conarton Co nanton Mc its atory is taken from the boole of mormon on the stage f the subject is visualized and there corp morp easily remembered if seeney many it might give to many the incentive to want to 5 know more about ancient america abat america which is dealt with in the book of mormon and which is of unusual interest and great nna ot tance to american archa colo cuts entirely aside from jobs angles the book of mormon gives 01 ancient america a atory t that ha proven and authenticated by archaeological discoveries co of students are working on the remains of the language spoken by the americana Ameri cani r of thousands of years ago and are t among old bit of pro digging out the i craning of hieroglyphics they find nd restoring to something I 1 like grammatical order the various scraps of word and phrases one of building build ng ign whines and art rel c will be fitted ether like af pf a puzzle wi be able to read the story of america from centuries before christ down to columbus Is the interest in those things really of so general a nature was the next question the answer was if it is not we want to make it so that it does not confine itself to just a few is amply and convincingly vincin gly proven by the fact that so many people visit our tabernacle grounds and the organ recitals which we give in the tabernacle daily with the exception of sundays we have statistics showing that from a quarter to a half million people annually visit the recitals on account of this manifest interest we have made the elevating music of that world famous organ accessible to larger numbers and wider circles by permitting on two occasions the victor talking machine company to make records of the choir and organ lately we have made the instrumental and vocal music of organ and choir still more accessible to music lovers in general by having it broadcast over the radio does it have effect letters after letters are coming to this office expressing thanks and appreciation for the rare musical treat one letter just received here comes from a ranger deep in canadian forests a hundred or more miles away from civilization this good ranger is thanking us for bringing high class music into his recesses of the forest so far away from contact with civilization the tabernacle choir 1 known all over the united states not only through phonograph records and radio broadcasting but also through concerts which the choir in years past has given in several large cities of th united state among the cities visited was washington D C president taft was unable to attend the concert on account of previous engagements and after the choir had performed senator reed smoot came to the director telling him that the president would like to bear the choir and inviting us to sing that night in the white house we went we were taken to the spacious east room where the president cabinet members members of the diplomatic corps were assembled to hear us it had been agreed that we sing two numbers and after having finished them the president asked whether we would not do him the favor of singing some more of course we did the next morning the papers carried large streamers president and diplomatic corps listen to mormon choir and critics paid high compliments to the singers that day we bad to sing in richmond virginia where the clergy of other denominations had conducted a regular campaign against us painting as black as they could and warning people not to attend the concert but on account of these headlines and reports we had a crowded bouse and the most enthusiastic audience upon further questioning mr smith informed the writer that the church if maintaining the musical organization with three organists two chorister and nebout in the choir anthony C lund will direct the choir when for synchronization and tracy Y cannon will be t the console the two men need no introduction to musicians musi ciani and mm ic enthusiasts in our country or other coon |