SoCal with Val 8 15 25 Guest Sharbie Higuchi Episode #15

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:22):
What if I told you that right here in southern
California there's a place where world famous paintings and sculptures
come to life. Literally. Now this isn't gc I or
some special effects studio. This is real people transformed into
stunning masterpieces right under the stars in Laguna Beach. It's

(00:42):
called Pageant of the Masters, and it's one of the
most jaw dropping, spellbinding and unforgettable experiences you'll ever witness.
And it's not just a performance, it is a stunning production.
Today we're pulling back the velvet curt and stepping inside
the magic with someone who knows it better than anyone,

(01:06):
Sharbi Gegucci, the PR and marketing director. And I think
your title also includes merchandising managers. That correct, Now we've
added them for the Festival of the Arts and Pageant
of the Masters. From how these living pictures are created
to the heartwarming stories of volunteers who make it all happen,
and they're all volunteers, you're going to hear some things

(01:27):
that you never knew about this ninety year tradition. So
don't go anywhere because by the end of this show,
you'll be calling your friends booking your tickets and saying,
how was it that I've never seen this before?

Speaker 2 (01:40):
So let's step in and get started. Welcome Sharbie Ugucci.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
Hi Valarie is so glad I'm here with you today.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yes, thank you very much. You have such an interesting story.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
We do want to hear a little bit about how
you got to where you are because it is interesting.
We all have a journey, and I know our viewers
and our listeners with love to hear yours.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
Well, it's kind of crazy. I grew up actually in
West Virginia, Morgantown in West Virginia, went to college at
George Washington University, and during my Christmas breaks, I used
to come out to California and visit my sister and
I came out with visitor every Christmas break, and the
last Christmas break, she was like, wow, did you ever

(02:23):
consider after graduation, you know, coming out here and to California. Well,
at that same time, I have to be honest, I
also went on a blind date and two who is
now my now husband of nearly thirty five years, So
that might be a little bit of the reason why
I moved off to California as well. So so off

(02:46):
I came to California. Wasn't sure exactly where I was
going to land, actually, so I was helping her start
a small business. I have to remember, this is before
there were Google Maps. I was actually designing these wedding
maps that wanted to beautiful invitations wedding invitations, but I
had to actually go through Do you remember the Thomas Guides?

Speaker 2 (03:07):
I do, absolutely, I have one still. Actually I had.

Speaker 3 (03:11):
To actually go through those guys and try to figure
out how to get to different weddings. And it was
kind of funny because here I am a girl from
you know, West Virginia trying to tell people how to
get to different wedding locations. So these beautiful maps. So
I wasn't exactly what I was going to do with
my life. So not only was I helping her, but
I was also working at a chiropractor's office for a

(03:33):
short bit and then and then I was working for
at a marketing agency, and I really fell in love
with marketing. And I was very, very fortunate that my
boss just really saw something in me, and she really
encouraged me to move forward in that career and really
was my mentor, I have to say. And as time

(03:57):
went on, I moved my way up into the company
a senior account executive, and one of my clients just
happened to be the pageant of the Masters and Art.
So my predecessor when he was leaving, he actually said
to me, hey, I'm leaving, and you know what, I
think you would be wonderful for the job. In fact,

(04:17):
he said, you probably know more about the festival and
the pageant than I do. So I said, you know,
why not? That would actually be my dream job. Then
that phone call came, and that was twenty seven years ago,
and I became the marketing pr director of the festival,
Arts and pageant, The Masters. I've never looked back. It's
truly a dream job. I love what I do. I

(04:38):
love the company that I work for and what it represents.
It does so much good for community and for the arts.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
Congratulations because not only to get to where you did,
but to be able to stay there and to be
of value to the community.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
And a funny story is part of the reason my
well is my husband now, Darren won my heart. Art
is when I came out here, I was really always
into the arts. You know, when I came out here
to California, Southern California. It was like, where's the art,
where's the activity? And our first state was going to
the Pageant of the Masters.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
Oh my gosh, I got.

Speaker 3 (05:13):
Chills just telling you the story again. We actually sat
way in the back and everything and it was just
magical and I couldn't believe that I would actually end
up working there.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
That's great.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
So tell us, for the benefit of our viewers and
our listeners who aren't as familiar with it as you
and Iron, just give us a little brief history of
the Fest of the Arts, the Pageant of the Masters,
how to begin and was originally meant to be what
it is now.

Speaker 3 (05:37):
A lot of people don't realize that the Festival Arts
and Pageant the Master is a nonprofit art organization and
our mission is really support the arts of arts education.
But it started way back in nineteen thirty two, actually
during the Great Depression that the Olympics were going on.
The Olympics are alway, is that right? Oh?

Speaker 2 (05:56):
The Olympics weren't thirty two.

Speaker 3 (05:57):
In Los Angeles, And so the artist of Laguna Beach
and the town folk was trying to figure out how
can we possibly draw people down from the Olympics and
La down to our little city of Laguna Beach and
hopefully they would buy our art. And again it's great depression.
We just need some people to come down and purchase

(06:18):
things and have a tourist attraction. They came up with
the idea of this festival of arts, and at that
time it was really a celebration of the arts throughout
the entire city of Laguna Beach. And there was one
location and it's between where Hotel Laguna and Luguna Art
Museum is today, and that was where there was a
little art show and the artists hung their work on

(06:42):
trees and fences, and that was the really humble beginnings
of the festive Arts. And during that time was like
I said, it was a celebration throughout the entire town.
So they had equestrian show, teased with artists, all type
of other activities and it worked. It was very successful
and that is how the use to arts started. But
so they decided let's do it again and in in

(07:05):
nineteen thirty three. Those artists are very very clever. They
came up with a very unique idea. They dressed up
with famous works of art, very very simple pieces like
the Mona Lisa Girl of the Golden West and Atlas,
and they paraded around the city of Laguna Beach and
they had the people follow them into where the art

(07:27):
show was at that time, and just kind of like
the pied Piper, if you will. And then at that
location they had this very small stage and they posed
very briefly, and that was the humble beginnings of the
Patch and the Masters. It was actually a parade and
a publicity stunt to the finite to the art show
at that time. So it was a way of bringing
people in to view and hopefully purchased some of the

(07:50):
work of our artists. And that's how it started, just
like that.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
Well that's an amazing story.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
So I have to ask, so were there any famous
actors or any one that was involved in that parade
or in showing off the.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
Art or they all local artists.

Speaker 3 (08:04):
They were mostly all local artists that paraded around. You know,
we have had quite a celebrity following and people that
have participated over the years. So it started, as I said,
to the publicity stunt. And then there's this gentleman by
the name of Roy rob who came along. That was
in nineteen thirty five, and he is considered the father

(08:25):
of the Pageant and the Masters because he went to
our board of directors and he said, you know, there's
something really special in these living pictures. I think I
can do something better with them. I want to make
a theatrical production out of it. And he said, I'm
going to list my wife, Marie. She's going to help
with the costume, the make up, the scripting and everything,

(08:46):
and my neighbors are going to help out, and we're
going to create a show for the Festival of Arts
and I'm going to call it the Pageant of the Masters.
And that is how the Pageant became the theatrical type
of production it is. And everybody that helped out, and
this is the key and greeting of the Pageant, were volunteers.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
And still are volunteers.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
And the people who are in the cast today as
well as help behind the scenes, are volunteers. We do
have some full time staff that actually put the whole
thing together that are paid, but the key element are
those volunteers. And it takes today, it takes roughly about
five hundred volunteers to put on our show. That's a

(09:29):
lot of people. Yeahah, And by the end of the
summer they would have I think it's around sixty thousand
hours of time that they would have donated to us.

Speaker 1 (09:41):
And I'm sure some of those people work, not just
during the pageant itself.

Speaker 3 (09:46):
Well, all the volunteer mostly work, you know, during the
pageant itself. We do have some people that come to
help with our what they're called research volunteers. When the
director is trying to figure out what she's going to
pieces she's going to put in the show and everything.
They helped you some research. But the mainly the volunteers
help during the summer, and then we have full time

(10:07):
staff that put together the show itself during throughout the
entire year. The volunteers do have to come in once
they're selected to go through rehearsals and make up and
all that, and costume fittings, and it's amazing. I've actually
been in the show. My whole family's been in the
show in fact, and my kids especially when they were

(10:27):
growing up. So it's magical to be in the show.

Speaker 2 (10:31):
I'm sure it is.

Speaker 1 (10:32):
I'm sure it's I was even thinking while I was well,
I was going through the side that gosh, maybe I'd
want to be in the show one summer.

Speaker 3 (10:38):
You should try to be in the show. You could
be in the show. You know how you're selected. It's
all all based on your size. So how you're selected.
We have a casting call in January and people come
in and we take roughly about thirty five different measurements
and based on those measurements, that's how you're going to
be selected to be in the show. You do have

(11:00):
to be able to stand still for roughly ninety seconds
during the show.

Speaker 2 (11:03):
Too, That would be a challenge for sure.

Speaker 3 (11:07):
So what happens after we take all these measurements are
Richard Hill as our technical director. He will actually size
up a piece of art that will make it for
the stage or set size people size, and then he'll
go to our casting director, who has entered all this
information to the database and find a person of the size.

(11:30):
That actually has to find two. She has to find
two people of the same size for a particular role.
That's why we need so many volunteers because we actually
double cast or show because we're a two months summer
long production, so you can't imagine giving We don't want
to give your whole summer because it's every single day.
So we have to find two people to play a

(11:50):
role because we have the green casts and the Blue
casts and they alternate one week on and then one
week off and the next cast will come in. So
it's the fascinating process and you can see how important
those volunteers are.

Speaker 2 (12:04):
That's amazing.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
So how do you think, what role do you think
that it has played in shaping the Laguna Beach Festival?

Speaker 2 (12:16):
What role has Laguna.

Speaker 1 (12:17):
Beach played in keeping the festival together? And I think
there was a time when it was there was some
talk it would go to Sant Clementi or go to
a different place.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
How important is Laguna Beach to the festival?

Speaker 3 (12:30):
Well, I think that is part of the formula. I
can't imagine the festival and pageant without Luguna Beach and
vice versa, Luguna Beach without the festival pageant. You know,
Laguna Beach is really a renowned or has its identity
as an arts colony, and that started way back in
the nineteen hundreds when artists used to flock to Laguna
Beach because it has this beautiful coastlines and this golden

(12:53):
light that you can't find anywhere else and that was
very attractive. The plan air painters and it's those artists
that actually came up with the idea of the Festival
Arts and started it also. But you know, like I
said back in the nineteen thirties, so it is the
Festival vegets deeply woven into the fabric of Luguna Beach
and its identity, and the festival actually kind of, if

(13:18):
you will, it's like the grandmother of the festivals in
Lagunana Beach. We have two other festivals in town. One
is the Sawdust Art Festival and the other is the
Art Affair. The Sawdust Festival is a spin off from
the Festival Arts and the Art Affair is a spin
off of the Saldast. So you could say we're the
grandmother and gave birth, and then Luguna Beach has probably

(13:39):
I believe we're about thirty art organizations in town in
addition to all the artists. And there was a time,
I think it was the early two thousand, late nineteen
maybe late nineteen ninety nine, early two thousand, that there
was a talk of possibly moving to San Clementing. Thankfully
that did not happen. And what that debate was over

(14:01):
is what a lot of people don't realize. The site
where we're located today. We do not own that property
is actually owned by the City of Lucan Beach and
we basically rent or at least from them. So during
that time our lease was actually up in an in negotiation,
and the board of Directors of the Festwards at time

(14:22):
felt like it was too much, too high of a rent.
So there's back and forth, going back and forth whether
you know, the fest would be able to you know,
what amount they were going to pay. So I think
the board at that time decided, Hey, we can't get
the least we want. Well what do you do? You
kind of look elsewhere, and that's what they did. Thankfully,

(14:43):
there were people that were especially our artists, that said, nope,
that's not going to happen. We have to keep the
Festal Arts and pad to the masters in Laguna Beach.
That is its birth, that's where it belongs. And they
fought for that and they ended up actually recalling that
board of direct back in that time, and then a
new board came in and negotiated a pretty good least

(15:06):
with the City of Laguna Beach, and here we are
today and hopefully for many many years in the future,
and still at the exact same location. Correct, the location
that we're at at this time. We moved there in
nineteen forty one. So from nineteen thirty two to nineteen
forty one, the professor was nomadic. We went from different location,

(15:28):
different location throughout the town. So nineteen where we are
now is our home and it has been since nineteen
forty one. And that's the property that we do not own,
but rent from the City of Laguna Beach.

Speaker 1 (15:42):
Well, I'm sure that you share your vested interest in it,
both of you. It's a family property so to speak.

Speaker 3 (15:50):
Yes, absolutely, and it's really important for the community. You know,
we bring in I'm going to say nearly two hundred
thousand people will come and is the fast arts and
pageant masters through the summer, So you know that's significant
tourism revenue for Laguna Beach and also for the surrounding area.

(16:11):
The festivals also a very very giving organization, and probably
we get about scholarships to local high school students and
I think probably today we've given over three and a
half million dollars in art scholarships through a million dollar endowment.
We created a foundation that it also gives money to

(16:34):
local nonprofit art organizations and probably has given about the
same in grants, I would say about three million dollars
in grants, and not only a meant the fact that
we do, you know, pay a rent, and that's significant.
And then during the summer and we hire so many
people and probably gearing up with ushers and security guards

(16:58):
and other two hundred and fifty three hundred people, so
we also are of you know, heavily employed people. And
then and giving the key in our mission is giving
the opportunities to our artists. And that's the fine Art exhibit.
And we have one hundred and twenty exhibitors a fine
art show that's juried, and all of our artists are

(17:21):
from Orange County.

Speaker 2 (17:23):
And you do that intentionally correct, to keep it local.

Speaker 3 (17:26):
Yes, we do keep that intentionally. Originally it was only
Luguna Beach artists, but as the pageant and our audience expanded,
we had expanded out the boundaries to Olive, Orange County
for artists to apply, trying to give you know, more
opportunities and everything. And so it is true with the
volunteers volunteers of the pageant. Originally we're all from Luguna Beach. Now,

(17:52):
if you can believe it or not. They come as
far north probably as Los Angeles, south of San Diego,
Temecula of course Orange County. But that is true commitment
on their part and dedication to be a volunteer to
come from all over the place. We had one lady
that was on her bucket list to be in the
Pageant the Masters, and she flew in from Chicago, if

(18:13):
you can believe it, Yeah, just to be in the show.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
Well, good for her.

Speaker 1 (18:19):
So for people who have never attended, let's just give
them a brief overview of what makes the Pageant of
the Masters so unique.

Speaker 3 (18:27):
Well, I think the show itself is what makes it
so unique. So it's really hard to put in words.
And you did a really great job in the intro.
So what we do is we, you know, recreate famous
or works of art with real people. But it's stage
production and as we present these incredible tableau vivants for
living pictures on stage, it's accompanied by a story, a

(18:50):
live story actually under the stars. Our narrators Richard Doyle,
and he tells the story of each piece as they're
presented and usually how it fits with the theme. But
at the meantime, as we're telling the story opening the
curtain and showing these beautiful living pictures. There's also live
orchestra music, and I have to tell you the music

(19:11):
is especially good this year and there's roughly about I
think it's about twenty piece orchestra, so and they are
not volunteers. They are their union or county union orchestra.
But it is magical. There's nothing like it. I've there
might have been one off, so people try to just

(19:32):
maybe doing a living picture here and there, but not
a full production. And it's under the stars, so that's
part of the magic itself, and that makes for just
like a wonderful production. You're there with your friends, your
family and it and watching a spectacular show that just
is it's jaw dropping, Like when you first see the

(19:54):
person blank or move, you're like, oh my gosh, those
really are real people, because it really it does look
just like the painting that or sculpture that we're trying
to recreate. It is.

Speaker 2 (20:05):
It is absolutely amazing.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
It's it's almost unbelievable except that you know that it's true.

Speaker 3 (20:11):
Yeah, and those artisans backstage are so talented in putting
the show together. We have some workshops that are located
on the pageant grounds, festival grounds. Everything is actually built,
from the set pieces to the costumes, to the makeup design.
Everything is there, created right there in Lagana Beach, which

(20:34):
is quite remarkable too.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
Can you walk us through kind of the behind the
scenes magic of how these living pictures are created?

Speaker 3 (20:42):
So, oh gosh, the process. Well, first of all, our
pageant director, her name is Diane Sheellis Davies. She's been
director now for roughly about thirty years, and since she's
been on board, it's just where she's taken the pageant
to a whole new level. Is really amazing because she
is a person that introduced the idea of an organizing theme.

(21:04):
So each year now there's a theme for the page
and the Masters and that's really wonderful because that lets
our audience know that it's going to be a different
show from the year before. And so right now she's
actually in the process of selecting the theme. I actually
know it. I'm going to let you know what it is.
It's called the Greatest of All Time will be next

(21:25):
year's show. So she figured out the theme and the
next part will be what pieces or does she want
in the show. So there's a selection process. I think
I kind of refer to a little bit. We have
some research volunteers that will go out and they will
try to find pieces that seem to fit the theme
and they will present them to her, and then she

(21:49):
she's the final say what gets to go into the
show and what story she wants to tell with each piece,
along with our scriptwriter, a longtime scriptwriter, Dan Dowing. So
they talk of it, find in November, they'll know what
pieces they want to put in the show. And I
did tell you we are a nonprofit. So they present
the show at our November annual meeting to our membership

(22:11):
base as our board of directors. And then once that
is presented, then we have to get rights and permissions
unless it's public domain, for all the pieces that are
going to be in the show. And every once in
a while we do not get permissions, so we have
to change up the show a little bit with a
different things.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
Yes, So why would someone not give you permission? What
would be the reason why?

Speaker 3 (22:33):
Well, you know what, it's a lot of the time
they don't give us the permission because they don't really
understand it. Sounds weird what we do, right, I know,
and I try to explain it to my family, and
they don't understand what it is, even though we try
to send them videos and everything. And then some people
are just very protective of their work. We've been trying
to do a couple like the Sergeant Pepper Beatles album cover.

(22:56):
Wouldn't that be cold? That's a hard one to get
permission on. But anyway, so things like that there may
be a little bit more outside the box tends they'd
be more difficult. More and more things are public domain,
so we don't even have to worry about rights and
permissions as much as we used to, but we do
have to go through that process. It's an important part
of the process and to respect the work of the

(23:18):
artists who created those pieces, you know, so we want
to be thoughtful of that. Then I told you in
casting call begins in January, well in November, and once
they know what pieces are going to be showed, they'll
start working on the first set designs and so it'll
be cutting the carpentry department. We'll start building the sets
and making the sets based on the size of the

(23:41):
technical director has directed them to do so, and then
they at the very same time then are directors working
with the scriptwriter coming up with the script and where
she's also working on the music that's going to go
with each living pictures, So there's all these parallel paths

(24:02):
that are going on from a creative process. In January
we have our casting call and then our first rehearsal
will be in February. The costs, so we usually work
on three pieces of time at a time. Every Thursday
we will have rehearsals, and that is the set has
been paid in, the costumes have been made and painted,

(24:25):
the makeup design has been done. Everybody who's in the
show has to wear either a wig or a head
piece that so it looks like a painting or the
sculpture that we're creating. So those are all things that
we have to rehearse. And the main thing for the
rehearsal is the lighting because the lighting is actually the
secret of how the three D becomes the two D.

(24:48):
Because all those things I mentioned before, our scenic artists
is actually painting in the style of the artists work
that we're trying to recreate and are painting in the shadows,
the darks, the lights and everything, and those aren't painted
in by our scenic artists. So what happens is when
the light hits the artwork that we've created, the costumes,

(25:09):
the makeup and everything, it washes out the shadows of
everyday life, which gives us dimension and it looks like
and so the only shadows you see are those that
are painted in. So that's kind of like the process
of how it happens and how it's made. Takes a
lot of people to make it happen, a lot of
talented people to make it happen. So we're rehearsing all

(25:31):
the way from February through June, and everything the script
is being worked on. The music has been specifically composed
by some really incredible composers, some of which of Oscar
women Grammy winning composers who are doing the music. A
lot of people don't realize that's really special. And then

(25:53):
the orchestra is also practicing. It's not until and then
the volunteers before June only have been in practice once,
but then in June they have We have full rehearsal
with everything for each cast. Only probably four times do
we have it before we go live to the public.
So it's quite a process.

Speaker 1 (26:14):
Yes, it is, it is, and you've and I know
this is important. But I don't think people can grasp
the importance of this unless they actually see it is
the makeup.

Speaker 3 (26:26):
The makeup is really amazing. And what's really amazing our
makeup directors, Michelle. She teaches volunteers how to apply the makeup.
So not only do we have volunteers that are cast members,
we have volunteers that are in our makeup department, our
costume department. We have people that who are considered runners,

(26:46):
making sure people are where they're supposed to be at
a certain time. But you don't even have to know
how to apply makeup. We will teach you how. You
don't have to have makeup experience. We shall teach you
how to do it. And it is kind of odd
when you're back there, you know, especially with all the
characters next to one another. We have a cast patios
once they start being in costume and they're waiting to

(27:07):
go up on stage. You know that bar scene from
Star Wars and all the different characters. It's kind of
like that at the pageant because you could have Jesus
from the Last Supper next to a can Can girl
next to who knows how you know, something else in
type of culture. So it's really interesting to go backstage
when everybody's in makeup.

Speaker 1 (27:29):
And there was a little clip from Jimmy Kimmel. I
think we're one of his, yes, that was wanted to
come and play Jesus, but now that they made him
Judas instead.

Speaker 3 (27:41):
All that. That's a very popular clip. Yeah, Giermo, he
actually was in the pageant. We've been actually, we've been
on quite a few different televisions from Jimmy Kimmel. We've
been spoofed on The Gilmer Girls before. We have had
the two they show hosts come in and be in

(28:02):
the show. If you're familiar with Mike Rowe, he had
that show. Somebody has got to do it. He's been
in the show. So Terry Hatcher from Celebrity has been
the show. And many many years back, Betty Davis, who
used to live in Laguna Beach had been in the

(28:22):
show as well. So we have got to tite a
celebrity following too.

Speaker 2 (28:26):
Betty Davis. That's quite a long time ago.

Speaker 3 (28:29):
That is quite a wow. What's been around for a
long time.

Speaker 1 (28:33):
You know Betty goes to the Lido Theater in Newport
Beach because she was she was quite a a key
part in the culture of our whole Orange County Beach community. Yeah,
so what are some of the highlights of this year's
Festival of Arts that visitors should especially be excited about.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
Well, this year's theme for the pageant is Gold Coast
Treasures of California. So the what the story is about
this year is imagine if you are taking a road
trip from Sacramento down to San Diego and along the ways,
you're stopping at all these wonderful museums that are in
California and looking at the permanent art collection. So that's

(29:16):
what the show is about this year. So it's a
wonderful theme. And there's museum permanent art collection pieces from
the Getty and Norton Simon Museum, the Hilbert Museum, the
Bowers Museum that are being featured in the show this year,
so that we are actually recreated and it's been really
lovely to form collaborations with them as well. So it's

(29:41):
a wonderful storyline. I'm one of my favorite portions of
the show is regarding the Hearst Castle. There's some really
lovely there. Oh my gosh, stunning just to watch that
section of the show. So just the show itself is
just really magical. It's getting great reviews. It's definitely a

(30:01):
must see. It's so hard to put in words exactly
what we do. So I always say you have to
see it to believe it.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
And then but that's true.

Speaker 3 (30:09):
Yeah, that's true. True, it's hard to put it in words.
My job's one of the hardest jobs there is out there.
How do I explain this thing? Your good question?

Speaker 1 (30:19):
Well, I have to ask you something that I'm personally
curious about. I was looking through some of the old
scenes and the old festivals and paintings will call them,
but actually you don't call them paintings, do you.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
Are they called a vignette, living pictures or tableau vivon.

Speaker 1 (30:36):
Table Okay, Well, when I was looking when there was
a dog, So I have to ask are the animals real?

Speaker 3 (30:45):
Not? Well, it depends. I'm gonna say, if it's in
a painting, typically no, that is not a real person
that's usually painted it. However, with our director Diane chall Stave, you,
over the years, she's done added so much uniqueness to
the show. Like so, she's had added special effects to
the shows and parades. We've had a live dog in

(31:08):
the show before as well as a horse that walked
through as a part of the parade, So there are
could be and it go there varies from year to
year what she wants to surprise the audience with, and
there are surprises this year. I don't want to blow them.
I want people to go and see it, but so
you never know what it's going to do. In fact,

(31:29):
she's even had its snow in the bowl before, like
you know, like fake snow onto the audience and everything,
and there's parades and there's been fireworks and balloons, and
you just don't know what she's going to do to
add to it, and you know, you have to kind
of keep it interesting. As a younger a new audience
comes and you want to keep their interests. So she's

(31:49):
added some video and audio visuals as well, which I
think has really made made made it much more engaging
for people in her stand, especially this year, I would
say too. Yeah. And also your pageant ticket was two
shows that going on at the same time. So there's

(32:10):
the pageant, what is our nighttime performance and it starts
at eight thirty pm every night, but we also have
the fest Starts find Art Show and that's out in
front of the Amphitheater and there's one hundred and twenty
artist work that's being showcased. And they are artists. Their
mediums range from jewelry to painting, to ceramics to photography,

(32:35):
name it, it's there and every type of style from
very traditional to very contemporary abstract, but there's it's just
gorgeous work. And as I said before, they're all Orange
County artists and it's a juried fine art show. So
these people are selected to be in our show by

(32:56):
experts and it's an honor to get selected to be
in the Festival of Art. So while you come to
see ikes Heller, are going to come early, go to
the art show, walk around, talk to artists. Maybe you
see something that look great in your home or around
your neck or your ears, but on your table or

(33:17):
on your table, yes, absolutely. And then we also has
a lot of other entertainment too, so we have nightly entertainment.
Our music is becoming very very popular. We have anywhere
from really jazz nights to tribute bands to classical you
name it. There's wonderful entertainment. And then we also have

(33:40):
some fun things for the kids as well. Well. I'm
going to say kids of all ages, because we have
one lovely art center and there's art projects that you
can participate in and really and unique things from there's
a ceramic shop, workshops to printmaking to painting classes and

(34:00):
some of them are free and some of them are
paid for classes, but it's very unique. You need to
go on our website and see all the art classes
that are there. But one of my favorite stops is
that Junior Art Exhibit. So we have a junior art
exhibit that's on our grounds and it has artwork of
children's work from pre kindergarten all the way up to

(34:23):
twelfth grade, also Orange County. And it's interesting because some
of our artists, so pieces are submitted by the teachers
and that the kids art is selected to be in
the path in the festival arts to be shown and
the work of the kids are just amazing. And the
reason why this I think I Get Back started back

(34:44):
in nineteen forty seven, roughly because the idea was to
encourage young children to be interested in the arts or
have an appreciation for it and maybe even become an
artists themselves. And in fact, we have one of our
professional artists, Anthony Solvo, many many years ago, showed his

(35:05):
work in that little junior art exhibit and professional artists.
So there's lots to see, lots to do, and that
pageant ticket it's two shows basically for the price of one,
because you can hold on your pageant ticket and come
back to the art show all summer long. Take it. Yeah,
So you can come back, listen to the music, see

(35:26):
a concert you know another day that you want to come,
or you figure you're going to go do an art
punchet another day. But you can make it your art
destination all summer long.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
And well, there you go to our audience of listeners
and viewers.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
You have heard it right here on so cow with
vell that you can use your ticket and come back.
So if you're looking for something to do that's fun
and relaxing and a little different and get outside, this
is a perfect way to do that.

Speaker 3 (35:55):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (35:57):
How has the festival embraced new ideas while preserving its traditions.
There's certain things that you want to always remain the same,
But how do you come up with new ideas?

Speaker 2 (36:09):
How do you keep it fresh?

Speaker 3 (36:10):
Wow? I think I shared some of that with about
the pageant director and using new audio, visual and new technology,
incorporating that into the show, and you know the whole
We have to honor our traditions, but like you said,
we have to make sure that it's still relevant for

(36:32):
future generations. So and our main thing is we want
to continue to invest in the future of our artists
and expand and reach new communities as well. So that's
going to come into maybe what type of special events
that we put in, how people might view artwork. From
my perspective, which is the marketing. You know, I've had

(36:54):
to I've been out there for twenty seven years, but
how that has switched and changed, and how even how
we have to reach out to people to let them
know about the festival and pageant, for example, like through
social medias or like this podcast right now, Like we
have to reach audiences in new ways as well, because
you know, it used to be really easy. People read

(37:15):
their newspapers and watch television and listen to their radio
and that was it, right and now, oh my gosh,
there's all different ways that people consume information, and we
have to be sure that we're you know, on top
of that and getting the word out.

Speaker 1 (37:31):
Now you've talked already about your outreach and your involvement
with bringing children into the art community. So beyond the
pageant itself, what are some of the other programs at
the festival does offer to engage the community.

Speaker 3 (37:44):
Okay, one thing that people don't realize is the Festival
Arts has a really wonderful permanent art collection. So one
way that we support our artists is we purchase artwork
from our artists each year and it goes into our
permanent collection. I mean have artwork, very famous artwork goes
all the way back to a Joseph Kleisch forward to

(38:06):
we just purchased some work this year. It's quite extensive.
I would say there's properly about three oh gosh, probably
over three hundred pieces now of art that's in our
permanent collection and we will show it throughout the year
at different locations. We do have a it's called foa self.
It's actually in a little it's a room that's in

(38:29):
Active Culture that's downtown in Laguna Beach. But it's a
beautiful exhibit space for us that we will give opportunity
artists to be able to showcase the work or we'll
get we'll put our permanent art collection out there as well.
So those are ways we have a scholarship program and
ways that we keep engaged with the community. We also

(38:51):
sub lease out our grounds during the off season, so
we specifically sub lease out to nonprofit organization. We'll get
a special rate. So when we're not using our facility,
it has been used by Gosh, the local Laguna Art Museum,
has had fundraisers there, other organizations that well, La Papa

(39:15):
on the film festival. There's been concerts that have been
held there before. So we open up our grounds for
community use as well.

Speaker 1 (39:25):
That's great, that's great, and but let me ask about
the pieces that you buy, then don't you keep those?

Speaker 3 (39:32):
We do, They're in our permanent collection. We keep those
and we have some we're starting to be able to
digitize some of the work and putting it up on
our website and where people could see some of the
work and trying to reach out with you know, museums
and find out different ways to be able to get

(39:55):
the word out about like the festival perminter our collection
and put it out there. Even if you come up
to our grounds. We have really wonderful sculptures that are
on the grounds that are by many of our festival exhibitors.
In fact, this year in the pageant there's a piece
by Bradford Solomon. It's called the Marine Room. The Pageant

(40:18):
actually commissioned that piece to be in the show this year,
and Bradford is a former Festival arts exhibitor. That's something
unique about the pageant this year. We actually have three
either current festival exhibitors artwork being recreated in the show
or a former exhibitors, and those works are by Susan Hayne.

(40:43):
She's a current exhibitor. Her work focuses on interiors of
museums and people looking at art. In fact, her work
will open the show. And then a gentleman by the
name of Bill Liinbrook was a festival exhibitor many years ago.
He did the you know down in Dana Pointe Waterman
Plaza area. He did those beautiful sculptures and dedication like

(41:07):
to Hobi and famous surfers and skateboarders. Those pieces are
in the show and being recreated this year, So not
only do we do paintings, but we do sculptures. And
then finally Bradford's work, who also was a former festival
exhibitors work is also in the pageant.

Speaker 2 (41:25):
How exciting for them to come up in the rank,
so to speak.

Speaker 3 (41:30):
Yes, and and Susan Hayne had the very honor to
actually be in her piece as herself. So this really
interesting thing that happened. So she painted I think it
was a Vlachma painting, and in the painting she painted
herself looking at a piece of art. So she just

(41:52):
happened to be the right size for that person that
she had painted as herself. And she played herself in
the pageant and herself in her painting, so that made sense.

Speaker 1 (42:06):
But yeah, I absolutely did a great experience. That must
be the ultimate right, Yeah, something that's then chosen and
you get to be a part of it and coincidentally
are not that.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
It happens to be the right, perfect, great size.

Speaker 3 (42:23):
Yeah, And we've been really we've been clavering with local museums.
The Hilbert Museum, for example, I think there's like five
works of art that are being featured from the Hilbert Museum.
Those pieces are currently on display. The Heilbert Museum is
located by Chapman University and Orange but those five pieces
are currently being displayed. And we had a nice lecture

(42:45):
with mister Hilbert as well as our director and the
artist Bradford Solomon not too long ago. So those are
other things that we do during off season, maybe some lectures,
presentation tours, things like that. But it's been a a
really wonderful partnership with Hilbert Useum. In fact, mister Hilbert,
who's the founder of Hilbert Museum, was in our show

(43:08):
as well, so and he played himself this year. There's
a piece by Bradford Solomon and gosh, let's see if
I can think of the name of the piece. It's
the Crab Cooker. So the Crab Cooker is very famous
you probably know restaurant down in Newport area. And okay,

(43:30):
then you know what I'm talking about. Well, there's a
piece that Bradford did of himself, mister Hilbert and another
Gordon I forget Gordon's last name, but of them talking
about possibility of building a museum. And so is that
moment in time that they're sitting around at the diner,

(43:50):
you know, just talking about building this museum and we
are featuring that in the show. And mister Hilbert played
himself recently in our pageant in that recreation. Exciting.

Speaker 1 (44:03):
I'll need to go there and look for that actually yeah,
And you know, the Crab Cooker is quite historic and
went through a time when it was actually closed down
for a while. So those of us who live there
are so glad that it's back up and running. And
I will look for that piece.

Speaker 3 (44:17):
Yeah, I was just there not too long ago. Actually,
one of our exhibitors, Mike Towber, did some artwork that's
in there. So if you go in the Crab Cooker
and you go in their restrooms, there's some beautifully painted
towels and tiles in the bathroom. Okay, octopus and fish
and things like that, and that is by our one

(44:38):
of our festival exhibitors.

Speaker 2 (44:40):
Well, I'll have to go look at that also. I
have to go look at that.

Speaker 3 (44:46):
Bathroom a different way.

Speaker 2 (44:48):
I'll always look at it differently. I'll always go in
there for a different reason. So tell me.

Speaker 1 (44:53):
People want to know what are some of your favorite
moments or memories of working with the festival.

Speaker 3 (45:00):
Well, oh, my gosh, some of them. Well, of course
being in the show itself, because a couple of times
I've got to be in the pageant along with my husband.
So there was these beautiful porcelain figurines that were like
eighteenth century, right, and it's a kissing couple, and so

(45:22):
it was a magical moment that they are on a
turntable turning around, and they needed a couples who were together,
so because they look like they're kissing, but you're actually
like this close to one another, you know. And I
always tell them like did you take your men tonight?
And don't make me laugh type of thing. But as
you turn around into that piece, and it's magical to
hear the applaud of the audience and really all you're

(45:43):
doing is really standing still, you know, A funny story.
I always love to tell him, my son, and he's
probably tired of mother telling the story. But it is
a life show and you have no control what's going
to happen one from one moment to the next, and
one show's could be very different from the next show. Right,
So my son at gosh, she must have been six

(46:05):
or five years old, and he had his big sister
was in the show, and he always wanted to be
in the show. But he's kind of an active little boy.
So we're like, I don't know if he's ready to
do it or not. So but he did get asked.
Our youngest volunteer. By the way, I did not mention
that before. It's five years old, that's in the show
this year, and our eldest volunteer is probably eighty plus. Well,

(46:26):
he was asked to be substitute because the person that
played the role couldn't do it one night. And so
there it was a piece called alej And in the
foreground there's this beautiful flamingo dancer and the background there's
all these little mariacci players. Well, all little mariachi players
become of perspective, are played by five or six year

(46:47):
old children, right, and little mustache is on.

Speaker 2 (46:51):
And are holding trip in the background, right exactly.

Speaker 3 (46:56):
So so my son got to select it to be
in that piece. Well, two very special things happened to him.
Part of my job is I escort the VIPs around
and that night Priscilla Presley was coming to the show.
So you're not gonna believe it, but at six years old,
my son's hero and le loved his music was Alvis Presley.

(47:19):
So really yeah, so he got a very special treat.
He got to meet Priscilla Presley that night and then
also be in the pageant like his big sister. So
he met Priscilla Presley's very excited, and he's going backstage
getting his costume and makeup on, and my husband and
I are looking at him, saying, Sean, do what they say.

(47:39):
You won't get casted again. Hold your pose, do exactly
what you're supposed to do. Yeah, yeah, I'm on right,
right right, Okay. So backstage for the parents, there's some
TVs and you we can see the pieces being presented
during the show. So his piece comes up and he's
a Marriactu player part holding a guitar. So he's sitting there,

(48:01):
my husband and I glued to the TV. He's holding
his pose, holding his pose, and then all of a sudden,
the lights are just about to go down. We see
him strum the guitar. We're like, oh, no, on what happened? Dearde?
I can't believe he did that. I don't think he's
ready to be in the pageant. So he comes out,
you know, he's little, so we're like, honey, we kind

(48:23):
of saw you at the last minute spun that guitar.
What was going on? He goes mom, Elvis's wife was here.
He pretended to be Elvis President Priscilla Presley. So it's
a live show, you never know what's gonna happen.

Speaker 1 (48:40):
I know that's and that's one of the questions we
got from people is does anything ever happened where they
giggle or someone sneezes or giggles during their show.

Speaker 3 (48:48):
And I tell you another thing that happened many years ago.
Our narrator was Thurles Raven's Croth. You might remember that name,
very famous name if they're he was the voice of
Tony the Tiger. Well, he's also the very famous voice
of the pageant The Masters. And he had that deep,
bare tone voice and when he read the script, he

(49:10):
was like the voice of God talking to you. So
one night he's reading the script and he's listening and
he could hear the orchestra pit what's going on, sort
of shuffling going on down there, and they lost like
a violin and then a viola, and all of a sudden,
he goes, I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to
have to hold the show. There's a visitor that came

(49:32):
into the orchestra pit. But don't worry. He came properly
dressed in black and white. A skunk got into the
orchestra pit. So see it's mother nature. You never know.
It's a live show and we're outdoors. What's going to happen?

Speaker 2 (49:47):
You never know.

Speaker 3 (49:48):
Things that do happen.

Speaker 2 (49:49):
You never know.

Speaker 1 (49:50):
So all the time you've spent there, if you could
change one thing, or if there's something you would love
yet to have happen, what would that be.

Speaker 3 (49:58):
Oh gosh, that's a hard question. I don't know. I
love it so much and what we do, I just
think continue to do the good work that we do
and how we could work. I'm a big promoter of
art education, and so I think if we could do
even more for the arts education and aspect of it.
But really, this organization does so much good, and I

(50:21):
think could continue to keep our finger on the pulse
and what people are interested in in order to continue
to attract the next generation of artists to the festive
arts and new people to the pageant. So I think
that's really it. It's hard. It's such a great organization.
I don't really have anything that I would.

Speaker 2 (50:41):
Change, And you know, and people love the tradition of it.

Speaker 1 (50:45):
They love knowing that they're going to go and they're
going to see these life pieces of art. So I
don't think that the audience really wants to see a
lot of change, except just something that this year they
know it's a different show and a different theme. And
I personally am very excited about this theme for next year.
I can hardly wait. I'm sitting here thinking, well, I
wonder if they'll include does a dell include that you

(51:06):
don't have to work on the.

Speaker 3 (51:09):
Letting me know what pieces you think might fit that
theme and send them to me. I'll let the director know.
You never know.

Speaker 1 (51:15):
Oh, there's so well, there's so many different pieces, right,
it could be all kinds of adventures that.

Speaker 2 (51:20):
Can be that could be a part of that, and
so much history.

Speaker 3 (51:24):
Yeah, there's a piece that I remember many years that
were in the show that I think would fit this.
We recreated the Trevy Fountain on the stage of the
pageant the Masters. Had you gone to the show when
we did that, it was just stunning, a stunning presentation,
and I would hope that maybe that one might be

(51:47):
considered for next year. But we'll see.

Speaker 1 (51:50):
Is there any one piece of art that you haven't
had that you you personally would love to see in
the pageant?

Speaker 3 (51:58):
Gosh, so it has parameters, right, So you have to
make sure. Number one, there has to be people in
the picture for us to recreate, and then it can't
just be as close up portrait, you know, because it
has to be some way sized up. So I'm not
sure there's anything in particular. Some of my favorite artists.

(52:20):
I love a Henry Matisse artists, and we have done
a Matist before in the show, and even believe or not,
we've done a Picasso before and that was quite striking. Gosh,
a Monet swe've done. So there's so many this year.
There's some Degas that are in the show that are
beautiful ballerinas. They've done so much over the years. I

(52:46):
can't think of anything fresh and new that I would
want to see in there. It probably will come to
me later on, right when I'm.

Speaker 2 (52:52):
Like it will and you'll say, oh, why didn't I
say that one? I know, I know, I know.

Speaker 1 (52:58):
Well, it has been a delight having you with and
we certainly will spread the word and actually I will
be there before it closes, and hopefully i'll get to
see you there. But we'd love to have you back again,
and to talk about next year would be exciting.

Speaker 3 (53:10):
Well, absolutely love that You've been a joy to talk
to as well, and thank you and being easy to
get tickets. Pageantickets dot com is like the easiest way
to do it, to go on our website and yeah
and come and see us and hopefully all summer long.

Speaker 1 (53:26):
Yes, yes, So for our viewers and our listeners, if
you have ever doubted the power of community, creativity and
pure Southern California magic, you must see the Pageant of
the Masters. So a huge thank you to Scharbi for
giving us this behind the scenes tour and your time
during pageant season. Remember this is not just a show,

(53:48):
it's definitely an experience and there's still time to witness
it for yourself this summer, so be sure to get
your tickets and let us know what you think of it,
and we'd like to have your suggestions for next year.

Speaker 2 (54:02):
So I'm Valerie vandals Over.

Speaker 1 (54:03):
This has been so cow with val where we celebrate
the people, the places, and all the magical passion that
comes along with Southern California until next Friday afternoons, Stay curious,
stay inspired, and keep living Southern California beautifully. Thank you
Sharby very much for being on our show today.