Pageant of the Masters 2023 review

It's Not a Pageant. It's an Odyssey.  It's A Spectacle.

 It's a Living, Breathing work of Art.

Pageant of The Masters Is a Masterpiece in the Imagination!

Michael J. Herman, Critic At Large

Rarely as a writer have I ever found it challenging to find the right words as I now am? Never have I been completely dumbfounded by a performance like I was after last week's performance of Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach California, but Pageant of The Masters is a theatrical experience unlike any I've ever seen.

And quite honestly, I am unsure of where to start. It's more than an experience… It's an extravaganza! When you go, it's important to check expectations at the door, as the evening is likely to blow your mind!

Did I mention that the Pageant runs for 56 consecutive nights without a single break and most of the staff and cast are volunteers? "

 

"It's an act of love that we all share for this unique opportunity" says Liz, a multi-year volunteer and a first-time cast member.

A Quick Explanation:

Take a slew of masterpiece works of art; add pretty "actors", amazing storytelling, and one of the best orchestral symphonies I've enjoyed in years, and you start to get an idea of what's in store at Pageant of the Masters. But it's so much more than that. It's an experience that takes you through history and culture and delivers you to imagination.

It's a phantasm that gently takes your hand and faithfully lifts you into an illusion that dazzles and delights the mind and the soul.

You'll find yourself insisting you just met Rafael or Leonardo

 in person.

From the scenery, to the backdrops, the sets, the choreography and placement of actors, the size of the stage, the scope of the event, the immensity of the art, the captivating and enthralling demonstrations, and then the mastery of actors holding themselves absolutely, totally, and unvaryingly still for 90 seconds, as they perfectly replicate the great art of history, at once you're aware of the illusion and simultaneously, you're drawn into            its fascination.

It's a soft and subtle massage of the intellect and the badly needed stimulant for kindness, brotherhood, and humanity.

Well, that's sort of what it's about.

By utilizing and manipulating stage and set coloring and state of the art lighting, 2D painting looks 3D and 3D people look like paintings. I've never seen anything like it.

A statue made of solid, luminescent, shiny gold standing nearly 6 1/2' tall is revealed to be an actor, while the art of distraction allows giant sets of posed performers to move on and off stage without anyone noticing.

Nothing new for theater, right?

Wrong.

Everything about Pageant of the Masters is different than anything else in the world of Theater. Performance, music, dance, choreography, storytelling, real and unreal at once, and the masterful blending of all art forms at hand into one symbiotic seduction is unique.

Pageant of the Masters is a living, breathing, and come-to-life work of art.

Imagine, The Triumph of Galatea by Raphael, or Claude Monet's Women in the Garden; or The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt taking form in living flesh.

As I write it, this doesn't sound that groundbreaking, until you consider that to see these works of art in person would require traveling across the globe and through time.

To see these works of art interpreted as theatrical performances one only has to travel to Laguna Beach.

Themes and motifs masterfully blended like the strings and wind instruments in the orchestra. The audience is taken on an emotional and spiritual transformation as the artistry comes to bigger than life reality.

The performers task is to remain as perfectly still as humanly possible for the 90 seconds they are on stage, creating the very real illusion that art is real and reality is art. The audience's task is to find a single twitch or flutter from anyone on stage. Good luck!

Perhaps for me the best part of pageant of the Masters is not the art itself; it's not the staging or the incredible focus of the actors, but the auditory experience that the Symphony creates as it overwhelms with ubiquitous sounds of exquisite reverberations.

However, the most impressive of all its wonders is the way the production utilizes and manipulates light to make things unreal appear real and the real seem fake.

I truly got lost in the ubiquity and vastness of this totally unique experience.

Pageant of the Masters runs from July 7 to September 1, 2023.

What's worth noting is that directly across the street from Pageant of The Masters is  Festival of the arts, a massive and outstanding Tour de force of art and culture which runs from 10 AM to 11:30 PM daily. Here you will find hundreds upon hundreds of works of art that rival Chagall and Picasso. Heck, you may even find an original!

Pageant of the Masters should be required for every Art Student in America. I'm so glad I finally went and I cannot wait to go back.

Tickets are available at Tickets@LagunaPageant.com

Michael J. Herman is Critic At Large and Interim Editor In Chief at Luxury-Media Group. Follow Michael J. Herman on Substack.com.

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