By TR Robertson
This years Pageant of the Masters, in Laguna Beach, is celebrating 90 years of tableaux vivants (living pictures) with the production of Art Colony: In the Company of Artists. This year’s performance features the diversity of artists from around the world who have embraced various communities where they work and live and have inspired one another along the way. Incredible representations of art from nine of these artistic communities will be featured.
For this year’s performance, the audience will see the French Impressionists, Renoir, Manet and Monet and their work from the 1860’s to 1870’s featuring their bold colors in beautiful paintings of people and landscapes. The Italian Renaissance in Florence will center on the beauty of nature, people enjoying life and the expressions of emotion in the work of Robbia, Cellini and Buonaroti from the late 1400’s to early 1500’s. The progressive art school, from the Academie Julian de Paris in the Montmartre District, will include the paintings of Chalfont and Bashkirtseff from the late 1800’s. John Sloan and George Luks, from the New York City Ashcan School of the early 1900’s, gave the art world a look at the bleaker and “seedier” aspects of big city life in their unique oil work. From the Southwestern portion of the United States the audience will witness artistic pieces from the “Land of Enchantment” with the work of early 20th century artists like Bert Geer Phillips, Joseph Henry Sharp, and Ernest L. Blumenschein. The art colony of the Demimonde in Paris, in the 1890’s, featured the amazing work of Theophile-Alexander Steinlen and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, portraying the hedonistic lifestyles of people on the fringes of respectable society. Another art colony featured this year is New York City’s Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement that celebrated art and African American culture in the 1920’s and 1930’s. The beautiful work of artists like Aaron Douglas, Meta Fuller, Augusta Savage and Archibald Motley celebrate black life, identity and history. The East L.A. Chicano Art of Dan Medina, David Botello and Wayne Alaniz Healy will be on display as well as the artist Roger Kuntz, from Laguna Beach, a modern artist said to be on the “borderline between representation and abstraction”. As always, since 1936, the final living picture of the evening will be the unforgettable “The Last Supper”, by Leonardo da Vinci.
This wonderful selection of sculptures, paintings, drawings, and other artistic pieces will amaze and astonish the audience. There will be a few surprise selections included along the way as this years theme, featuring artistic endeavors from art colonies throughout history, unfolds on stage. Pageant Director Diane Challis Davy said, “I’m interested in what makes a place an ‘art colony.’ What are the essential ingredients to establish an art colony? Is there ineffable magic in the landscape, the light or the sky that draws artists? Is it a commitment to cooperation, camaraderie and shared love of art or something else?”
It takes an amazing group of people to put all of this together. A behind the scenes tour of the workshops of the Pageant of the Masters, led by Tori Elder, from Victori Solutions handling the PR for the Pageant, and Sharbie Higuchi, Festival of Arts/Pageant of Masters Marketing Director, led to meeting some of the incredible people who work diligently all year on preparing the artistic work for the Pageant. Artists themselves, people like Butch Hill, a 38-year veteran of the Pageant, and Bryan Carpenter, scenic painters David Rymar, Sharon Lamberg, and Brad Ellesberry as well as Erica Bradbarry, carving a massive foam absinthe glass, put in hours and hours to make each living picture as close to a large representation of the original as possible. Scenic painters, welders, carpenters, technic artists
working in material like foam and many other behind the scene artists make this Pageant a wonderful experience for the thousands of audience members who witness the performances each year.
Narrator Richard Doyle returns to read the script, put together by people like Scriptwriter Dan Duling, will weave the thematic story together throughout the production. Dan said his job is to “take the theme for this year and create a story that will also include the art of under appreciated artists and to find stories never before featured to highlight these artists, as well as find new and different stories about the more established artists.” The script is an entertaining and educational part of the production of the Pageant of the Masters.
Along with the staff of the Pageant, hundreds of volunteers put in hours and hours to assist with the performance. The 200-member cast is divided into two cast groups, color coded Green and Blue, alternating each performance.
This amazing Pageant of the Masters and Festival of Arts is a do not miss attraction for the summer. The town of Laguna Beach, for two months, turns its attention to the world of art in all its forms. Make a day of it, arrive early, enjoy the different art festival locations, have lunch at one of the great eateries in town, stop in the Festival of Arts on the Pageant grounds and visit with local artists, enjoy the entertainment on stage at the Festival of Arts and then get ready to take in the unique and highly entertaining Pageant of the Masters.
The Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters runs from July 7th until September 1st with performances nightly at 8:30 p.m. The location for the Pageant is the Irvine Bowl at 650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. For more information and tickets go to www.Pageanttickets.com or call 800-487-3378.
