The Pageant of the Masters

Last night a colleague and friend and I went to Laguna Beach to experience the Festival of the Arts, Pageant of the Masters. I really had no idea what to expect, especially after hearing from every person I  spoke with RAVED about it! I was not disappointed.

The Pageant of the Masters is an annual festival held every summer. The event is known for its tableaux vivants or "living pictures" in which classical and contemporary works of art are recreated by real people who are made to look nearly identical to the originals through the clever application of costumes, makeup, headdresses, lighting, props, and backdrops.

It was unbelievable the amount of  theater skills involved here.  Not to mention the theater itself. There were huge scenes that turn and changed on each sides of the  crowd. The lighting alone to create the exact look of the paintings was masterful! So much work! Hundreds of volunteers every night all summer long! Plus a serious art market right outside the door of "the Bowl" (the theater). To recreate the  paintings they paint the people that are in the tableaux to look like part of the painting. Yo have to work very hard to tell if they are real people or 2D backdrop. They do give you a view of how it works with backstage video. More interest is added by a wonderful dose of art history given about each sculpture or the artist or the model and on.

These are all real people! Just phenomenal! Thank you Susan Spiegel for  letting us know about this so we could be in attendance!! AMAZING! Thank you Laguna Beach! What a blast!

xoxo

Jill