Living Pictures in Laguna Beach

For 75 years the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach has been reproducing notable paintings, sculptures and prints as “living pictures” using actors, perspective-crunching sets and illusion-creating make-up. The theme of this year’s Pageant of the Masters is “All the World’s a Stage.” Here Steve Bergjans prepares for his role in Daniel Maclise’s 1842 watercolor “The Play Scene in ‘Hamlet’.”

Read more about the annual event: (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Sept. 15, 2014 10:24 AM PT

One of the biggest attractions at the annual Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach is the tableaux vivants -- a series of notable paintings and sculptures brought to life by actors in costume and make-up.

Times photographer Lori Shepler recently went behind the scenes for “All the World’s a Stage” to document the preparation that goes into mounting this visually arresting production.

This year, actors assembled to re-create works by Edgar Degas, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, John Sloan, Leonardo Da Vinci and more.

For Sloan’s 1907 oil painting “The Haymarket,” actors were dressed to resemble the patrons of a notoriously shady concert hall of early-20th century New York.

Daniel Maclise’s 1842 watercolor painting “The Play Scene in ‘Hamlet’” features actors dressed as the royal Danish court observing the theater troupe performing “The Mousetrap” in Act III of Shakespeare’s play.

The Pageant of the Masters continues through Aug. 30. Performances of “All the World’s a Stage” take place nightly at 8:30 p.m. at 650 Laguna Canyon Rd.

Wayne Miller and his daughter Mackynzie, 12, have their makeup applied for their parts in the Pageant of the Masters show at the Festival of the Arts in Laguna Beach. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Skye Aust, 6, submits to the makeup process to play her role in the Pageant of the Masters show at the Festival of the Arts in Laguna Beach. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Thomas Harvey, 11, fine tunes his makeup for his part in the “Haymarket” painting in the Pageant of the Masters show at the Festival of the Arts in Laguna Beach. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

A group of actresses touch up their makeup for their roles in the tableaux “Apollo and the Nine Muses” in the Pageant of the Masters show with the at the Festival of the Arts in Laguna Beach. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Ashley Djavaherian, 8, waves to actresses dressed as muses take to the stage in the Pageant of the Masters show in Laguna Beach. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Keith Grabiel and his daughter Jade, 9, wait backstage before going on in to the “Haymarket” piece in the Pageant of the Masters show. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Girls pass the time by coloring as they wait for their time to take the stage in the Pageant of the Masters show. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Costume accoutrements in the Pageant of the Masters show are painted to help portray the tableauxs’ characters at the Festival of the Arts in Laguna Beach. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Busts of various characters in the Pageant of the Masters show line the top of the makeup room. Makeup artists use the busts to replicate the lighting and look for each character in the paintings being recreated on the stage. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Hayley Newcomb, 11, Rachel Newman, 9, and Timothy Swanson, 6, wait to go in to the “Haymarket” piece in the Pageant of the Masters show with the theme of “All the World’s a Stage”, at the Festival of the Arts in Laguna Beach. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)