The Big Picture

This year the Pageant of the Masters celebrates its 80th year by paying homage to the art of film. The Big Picture is a look at the masterpieces that have informed and inspired the films of the past and present. Everyone from Vermeer and Michelangelo to Rockwell and Hooper make an appearance, or two.

Laguna Beach Arts and Culture featured at John Wayne Airport

The Laguna Beach Visitors & Conference Bureau formed a committee of the major non-profit arts destinations of Laguna Beach to showcase Laguna’s art past and present as part of John Wayne Airport’s exhibition program titled: “Orange County: Destination Art & Culture.”  The exhibit debuts on July 15^th, 2012, and runs through October of this year.

The Laguna Beach exhibit entitled “A Legacy of Art” features – Laguna Beach Yesterday, Laguna Beach Today and images from Sawdust Art Festival, Art-A-Fair, Festival of Arts/Pageant of the Masters, The Laguna Playhouse and Laguna Art Museum, dating from 1904 to the present.

John Wayne Airport Orange County launched the new program in conjunction with the opening of its new Terminal C in November 2011. The program allows the airport to highlight Orange County’s non-profit arts and cultural venues to the millions of passengers and visitors who travel through the airport each year.

“Laguna Beach has long been synonymous with the arts – both visual and performing,” said Alan L. Murphy, Airport Director. “We are delighted to help showcase these amazing venues and hope that passengers and local residents alike will be moved to see some of them first-hand in beautiful Laguna Beach.”

The 11 wall-mounted art display cases are located along a pedestrian walkway between Terminal B & C ticket counters, prior to the security checkpoints, and are open to the general public for viewing.

“We are honored that Laguna Beach has been chosen to feature its wealth of arts and cultural organizations in the summer/fall 2012 exhibit at John Wayne Airport,” said Judith Bijlani, president and CEO of the Laguna Beach Visitors & Conference Bureau.

Cynthia Fung, exhibit curator and Marketing Director for Sawdust Art Festival, explained “the showcases tell the story of the arts of Laguna Beach and the history of our festivals through both two and three- dimensional works of art and photographs.”

The Genius, 2012 Pageant of the Masters

Up close with a "living picture"

There is an excitement in the air this time of year in Laguna Beach. The town is flooded with visitors and locals enjoying the summer sun with the hot topic on everyone’s lips being ‘art.’ It’s no wonder because with the warming of the weather it means it’s festival season and time for the world-renowned production of  Pageant of the Masters. Celebrating their 80^th anniversary, the Pageant of the Masters has been combining the world of theater and art by creating tableaux vivants – “living pictures” of some of the world’s most well-known works of art.

Each year the Pageant comes up with a new theme, new tableaux vivants, an original score and other unique surprises. This year, Director Diane Challis Davy chose a theme of power and strength that explores the relationship between art and advances in science and technology, The Genius. “I’m curious about the materials and techniques used by the old masters,” Challis Davy said. “One hundred and fifty years ago, artists had to make their own paints! In a way, you had to be a chemist. I’m fascinated by the huge roles played by developments in optics and photography when painting realistic works. But, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to enjoy The Genius.” In fact, you only need a sense of wonder (and maybe a cozy blanket) to enjoy the show.

The lights go down, music from the live orchestra plays and we hear the narrator announcing the start of the show. The curtains part and we see the first tableaux, Samuel F.B. Morse’s “Gallery of the Louvre.” The audience sits spellbound seeing this life-sized picture. We all know that there are volunteer actors in the roles of the people featured in the painting, however it is difficult to distinguish them...as there is no movement. The narrator tells us that Morse featured himself front and center in the painting and as he says this, the actor playing Morse breaks his pose and turns to face the audience. All at once we sigh with the shock of seeing him move. The show continues like this, repeatedly putting the audience in a place of awe and wonder when seeing famous works of art (by Michelangelo, Manet, Rockwell, Rodin, van Gogh and many others) come to life right before our eyes.

There is a famous quote by Vincent van Gogh that is featured in The Genius that I think sums up the show just perfectly. “For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars make me dream.” While you sit in the outdoor amphitheater, under the starry sky, watching this extraordinary production, you too will be moved to dream.

See Genius nightly at 8:30pm

July 7- August 31, 2012

Tickets start at $15

By Anne-Marie S.

Only Make Believe

Starting as a tradition 78 years ago, the Pageant of the Masters continues to wow audiences year after year. This year’s theme “Only Make Believe,” continues in the tradition of capturing imagination and bringing to life some of the most iconic masterpieces in the art world.

What is Pageant of the Masters?


Its ninety minutes of tableaux vivants or "living pictures" - incredibly faithful art re-creations of classical and contemporary works with real people posing to look exactly like their counterparts in the original pieces. An outdoor amphitheater, professional orchestra, original score, live narration, intricate sets, sophisticated lighting, expert staff, and hundreds of dedicated volunteers have won recognition for the Pageant as the best presentation of its kind.

This year’s Pageant of the Masters is venturing into magical artistic realms. Only Make Believe will be your passport to explore worlds populated by ancient and modern superheroes and strange, mythical creatures. It will also showcase the creative expressions of artists who devoted themselves to conjuring everything from Victorian historical fantasies, illustrations for fairytales beginning "once upon a time," to futuristic visions of things to come, all in a breathtaking performance of "art that lives and breathes."

Some Highlights:

Children fairytale classics such as Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland are brought to life with vibrancy.

Other tales explored were the illustrations of Virgina Sterrett’s “Arabian Nights.” To see this great story brought to life in this unique way was breathtaking. Dragons and knights also made an appearance capturing that childhood awe we all had when we first learned of these mythical creatures.

The Pageant didn’t just present the land of fairytales, but it leapt into a world of Greek gods, myths and monsters. Some pieces explained what the future might be imagined to be. According to artist, Sandow Birk, his piece “In Smog and Thunder: The Great War of the California’s,” showed a fictitious depiction of war between San Francisco and Los Angeles. We were also treated to the future, as it was imagined in the late 1920s by Frank R. Paul, in his ‘Jet Man, Invisible Man and Astronauts’ magazine covers for Amazing Stories.

As always the Pageant of the Masters was closed with a depiction of the last supper. Instead of the traditional showing of Leonardo Divinci’s, “The Last Supper,” the Pageant team thought another version may better fit the theme of ‘Only Make Believe.’ This year Salvador Dali’s “Sacrament of the Last Supper” was chosen. Dali is arguably one of the most iconic surrealists of all time and I’m sure would have been delighted to be included in the world-renowned Pageant of the Masters.

Pageant of the Masters

Now thru August 31

For tickets click HERE

 “From the mythological legends of ancient Greece to evocations of classic stories of buried treasure, spooky encounters and the simple pleasures of playing dress-up, the 2011 Pageant promises no shortage of fantasy fun for the entire family.”


–Pageant of the Masters