LIFE IMITATES ART : Once Again, Laguna Beach Presents the Pageant of the Masters

The modern origins of the Pageant of the Masters, Laguna Beach’s peculiar summer ritual, are fairly well known: Started in 1933 to complement the Festival of Arts. Became an institution and tourist must-see. So on and so forth.

But what about the gestation of the idea, the tableau vivant , or “living pictures,” that inspire the pageant? Let’s take a look back, way back.

It probably began in the Stone Age, when cave dwellers tried to duplicate, however clumsily, their wall paintings and scribbles in the riverbank. Posing motionless as a bison while someone else posed as a hunter was considered great fun, and primitive festivals were often formed around these events.

The ancient Egyptians adopted the tradition, taking cues from the intricate hieroglyphics that marked their pyramids. People would stand still, arms akimbo in that “walk like an Egyptian” style, while the Pharaoh and his consort applauded happily.

A further evolution came in ancient Greece when Plato looked for ways to amuse his students during recess. . . .

OK, just cracking wise. The pageant, which opens Friday night, naturally gets our minds wandering to silly things. The notion of bringing to life great (and not-so-great) works of art with dozens of people in freeze-frame just makes us giddy.

Now, the story gets serious and real.

Actually, tableau vivants are said to have begun as much as 1,000 years ago in Europe as a celebration of the Bible. Nativity scenes were among the most popular. In following centuries, topics expanded to include mythology, art, history and literature, and the pageants became mobile, hauling the representations up and down streets on horse-drawn carts.

These were probably small-scale affairs, something that doesn’t apply to the modern Pageant of the Masters. More than 100 Orange County volunteers stand still under a total of 100 gallons of makeup, five gallons of latex and wearing costumes stitched from about a third of a mile of fabric to create more than 20 breathing forgeries of the art of Leonardo da Vinci, Norman Rockwell and Erte, among others.

Consider what goes into the sets. Almost 12,000 linear feet of lumber, more than two miles of the stuff, is needed. The backgrounds use 75 gallons of paint. The scenes involving sculpture require 500-plus sheets of Styrofoam and 50 pounds of glue to go with all the wood and chicken wire.

Everyone agrees it’s a monumental undertaking to create, as pageant marketing director Tim Wilcox puts it, “this unique performance (that is) difficult to explain but a delight to see.”

Besides the practiced ability to pose, perhaps the most demanding job falls to the artists who paint the exhibits’ backgrounds. That task fell this year to Leslee Turnbull and David Rymar, both noting that the original artworks had to be studied in detail to get the styles and brush strokes just right. After the backgrounds were done, a job that took weeks, Rymar and Turnbull then painted many of the costumes. To give the effect of the two-dimensions approximating the originals, Wilcox explained that “sophisticated” trick lighting is used in tandem with the makeup, costuming and “specially designed” sets.

The scenes, which last only a few minutes, are accompanied by an orchestra directed by Richard Henn and are introduced with a brief narration by Thurl (known as the voice of “Tony the Tiger”) Ravenscroft.

Ravenscroft, with that familiar booming voice, will, as usual, save his best for the final event, the unveiling of the pageant’s representation of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” Before that, some of the more ambitious offerings will be Edward Hopper’s “Office at Night,” Camille Pissarro’s “The Gleaners” and the re-creation of a crystal perfume bottle.

Future projects are said to include Andy Warhol’s tomato soup can series, early Picasso (not the Blue or Rose periods, but the abstracts) and maybe a Christo or two. Right, kidding again.

What: Pageant of the Masters.

When: Starts Friday, July 10. Performances nightly at 8:30 through Aug. 30.

Where: Irvine Bowl Park, 650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach.

Whereabouts: San Diego (I-405) Freeway to Laguna Canyon Road exit, south to grounds near downtown area.

Wherewithal: $9 to $38.

Where to call: (800) 487-3378.