Where Art Comes to Life: Inside the Pageant of the Masters’ Grand Finale

There are some Southern California traditions that have to be experienced to be truly understood. The Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach is one of them.

For its grand finale, the red carpet brought together actors, artists, television personalities, and longtime members of the Pageant community for an evening celebrating art, creativity, and the extraordinary tradition of tableaux vivants—“living pictures” in which real people are transformed into remarkably detailed recreations of famous works of art.

Actor Esai Morales served as host for the evening, and before the performance began, I had the opportunity to speak with Morales and other guests on the red carpet about what makes the Pageant so special, why the arts continue to matter, and, of course, which masterpiece they would choose to step into themselves.

By the end of the night, I had the opportunity to experience the Pageant for myself—and finally understand what everyone was talking about.

Esai Morales: Art That Comes From the Soul

When I asked host Esai Morales what keeps the Pageant of the Masters special and relevant year after year, he pointed first to the people behind it.

“I think the passion of the volunteers, the passion of the audience for art,” Morales said.

His answer also touched on something especially relevant today: preserving human creativity in an increasingly digital world.

“In a time where everything is so corporatized and digitized and computerized and AI-ed, you know? Here we give homage to human art that comes from the soul, that you can’t just program away.”

Morales also spoke about the Pageant’s ability to honor great artists while giving visibility to a new generation.

“You get to see a new generation of artists, up-and-coming artists whose work is for sale here,” he said.

When I asked Morales which famous work of art he would choose to step into himself, the conversation became a little more playful.

“There’s a couple by Monet that we’re very interested in,” he said, before adding with a smile, “I’ll leave it up to your imagination.”

Joe Mantegna: “There’s Nothing Like It in the Entire World”

Actor Joe Mantegna didn’t need many words to explain what makes the Pageant so extraordinary.

“Because there’s nothing like it in the entire world,” Mantegna said. “Not just in Southern California, but in the world.”

His message to anyone who has yet to experience it was just as straightforward.

“If you want to see something that you can never see anywhere else on the planet, you have to come.”

Orlando Jones Experiences the Pageant for the First Time

For actor and comedian Orlando Jones, the evening marked his first visit to the Pageant of the Masters.

When I asked what he was most looking forward to, Jones jokingly mentioned Morales.

“I’m looking forward to Esai Morales and his speech and shenanigans,” Jones said.

Beyond the humor, Jones was also looking forward to something that came up repeatedly throughout the evening: artists connecting with other artists.

“I think it’s always fun when you get a chance to interact with other artists,” he said. “So always lovely to do that. So excited to participate.”

Ginger Chan: A True Southern California Gem

For KTLA’s Ginger Chan, the Pageant is much more than an art show.

“It is such a spectacular event,” Chan said, describing the combination of local artists, music, energy, and the experience of watching art come to life.

That transformation, she said, is “almost indescribable.”

“If you’ve never gone to the Pageant of the Masters, it is a must-do, because this is one of the true gems of Southern California in terms of art and show and theater,” Chan said.

And then there’s the setting itself.

“It’s in Laguna Beach. Come on. Why would you not want to be here?”

When I asked Chan which masterpiece she would choose to step into, two came to mind.

She first thought of Pinky, with its sweeping pink dress, before turning to one of the Pageant’s most recognizable traditions: Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.

“Who would never want to be in The Last Supper?” Chan said. “It’s traditional, it’s iconic, and who doesn’t know The Last Supper?”

Anita Mangels and the Tradition of Living Pictures

Board Member Anita Mangels offered a fascinating perspective on the history behind the Pageant.

She explained that tableau vivant is an old European art form in which people recreate famous works of art as “living pictures.”

For Mangels, however, the Pageant also serves an educational purpose.

“It also gives some folks who don’t have an opportunity to go to museums and see some of these famous pieces in their original habitat, shall we say,” she explained.

Those works, she said, are recreated on the Pageant stage “very, very effectively and realistically.”

Mangels also has a particularly memorable personal connection to the production. Having appeared in the Pageant herself, she recalled being one of the few women ever featured in its recreation of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. Her appearance came during the height of interest in The Da Vinci Code, when theories surrounding one of the figures in the painting had captured widespread attention.

“I had the privilege of being one of the few women ever to be in that tableau,” Mangels said.

Mitch Ridder: Inspired by Norman Rockwell

Board Member and exhibiting artist/photographer Mitch Ridder has experienced the Festival of Arts not only through his leadership role, but also as an artist himself.

He described the Pageant as something unmatched in both scale and quality.

“Nobody does this in the world,” Ridder said. “There are some shows that are similar, but not of this size, not of this quality. And this is truly unique in the world.”

A former painter and illustrator who now works in photography, Ridder told me that Norman Rockwell had a profound influence on his artistic journey.

“He had just an amazing way of visually telling stories,” Ridder said, “and that’s what I love to do with my camera.”

With several Rockwell works featured in the evening’s show, that connection felt especially meaningful.

Dan Duling: More Than Four Decades of Pageant Storytelling

Longtime Pageant scriptwriter Dan Duling offered a glimpse into how this unusual Laguna Beach tradition grew into the production audiences know today.

“A big part of it, I think, is that it evolved here literally from something that a bunch of town people thought would be a fun way to celebrate the fact that a lot of artists settled here and made this home back in the ’30s, and even earlier than that,” Duling explained.

What began as a local tradition has evolved into what he described as “spectacular entertainment every summer.”

Duling’s own relationship with the Pageant began unexpectedly in 1981, when the director called and asked him to write the script.

As the concept was explained to him, Duling remembered thinking, “This sounds ridiculous.”

Then he attended a rehearsal.

Walking into the Irvine Bowl changed his perspective.

Duling described the venue as a beautiful, intimate setting where audiences witness “stage magic” on a scale comparable to major Broadway or Las Vegas productions.

“Our designers and painters are fantastic, and everyone is so committed to making the show as exciting and fresh and original, and in some cases taking risks that we haven’t done before,” he said.

He spoke especially warmly about his collaboration with Pageant director Diane Challis Davy, calling their work together “one of the great joys and blessings of my life.”

Duling also offered one of the evening’s most personal reflections.

“I am by nature a fairly dark, cynical person,” he said.

But at the Pageant, surrounded by the joy of the volunteers, the dedication of the staff, and Challis Davy’s leadership, something changes.

“I can’t be cynical about anything,” he said.

The production combines its living pictures with orchestral music written for each piece and live narration. Duling also praised narrator Richard Doyle, describing his ability to take a script and make each audience member feel as though he is speaking directly to them.

For Duling and Challis Davy, keeping the Pageant fresh is both part of the challenge and part of the joy.

This year, Duling explained, the production placed particular emphasis on artists telling their stories in their own words while continuing to embrace the theatrical magic of tableau vivant.

Salone Davis: A First Look at the Magic

For actress Sloane Davis, the evening was also a first.

“I’ve never actually heard of an event like this ever, and I’m just so grateful to be here tonight because this is my first time,” Davis said.

She was especially looking forward to seeing the artwork and reconnecting with people she had worked with before.

Her anticipation echoed something I heard throughout the red carpet: whether someone had been involved with the Pageant for decades or was experiencing it for the first time, there was a genuine sense of excitement about what was about to unfold onstage.

And Then I Saw It for Myself

After spending the evening asking everyone else what makes the Pageant of the Masters so special, I finally had the opportunity to experience the performance for myself.

And suddenly, all of those red carpet conversations made sense.

Watching famous works of art appear onstage, with real people incorporated so seamlessly into the compositions, was remarkable.

What surprised me most was the stillness.

Knowing that I was looking at living, breathing people and watching them remain so perfectly composed that they seemed to disappear into the artwork was unlike anything I had experienced before.

There were moments when it was genuinely difficult to remember that the figures I was seeing were people rather than part of a painting.

The orchestra, narration, theatrical staging, and artistry all worked together to create an illusion that photographs simply cannot capture.

Earlier that evening, Joe Mantegna had told me there was nothing else like it in the world. Ginger Chan had called it a Southern California gem. Anita Mangels had described the centuries-old tradition of living pictures. Dan Duling had explained the enormous amount of creativity and collaboration behind the production. And Esai Morales had spoken about celebrating human art that comes from the soul.

After seeing it for myself, I understood exactly what they meant.

In an era when so much of what we see is digital, the Pageant of the Masters remains a celebration of something unmistakably human: artists, performers, musicians, volunteers, and audiences coming together to keep art alive.

At the Pageant of the Masters, you don’t simply look at a masterpiece.

You watch it come to life.

The Festival of Arts/Pageant of the Masters is located at 650 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach. The Festival and Pageant are seasonal summer events, typically running from July through the weekend before Labor Day.