Ken Meddock wasn’t going to leave snagging his favorite seat in the Pageant of the Master’s outdoor theater to chance.
So at 7:45 a.m., he packed up his snacks, some red wine and a chair and planted himself close to the doors leading into the bowl on the Festival of Arts grounds in Laguna Beach.
Annika Nordlund, 13, left, gets her headpiece adjusted by Rome Fiore before a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Despite seeing the pageant for decades, the recent opening day of dress rehearsals for this year’s show, “Wonderful World,” was a not-to-be-missed occasion for him. And he was going to do everything to get to Row 8 in the orchestra section when the doors swung open hours later at 6:30 p.m. and everyone scrambled to get to their favorite spot.
Several dress rehearsals have been open to volunteers, their friends and families before the show goes live to the public on Thursday, July 7.
“We always try to invite guests who haven’t been here before,” said Meddock, who has been a regular substitute in the pageant’s tableaux vivants, or living pictures, for 15 years and as a volunteer gets a few free tickets.
He offers this word of advice: “People who haven’t been before judge the quality of the seats by how close they are to the front. Anything closer than Row 8 prevents you from seeing the lighting trickery. People become three-dimensional at Row 6 or closer.”
The popular summer show uses two casts of 150 people who rotate each week – along with fitting the specific measurements needed for their roles, the volunteer actors need to hold completely still for 90 seconds to perfectly replicate famous paintings, sculptures and other artifacts that then come to life.
Mannequin heads backstage keep the hair pieces for the annual presentation of “The Last Supper” during a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Annika Nordlund, 13, left, gets her headpiece adjusted by Rome Fiore before a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Volunteer cast members, from left, Sarah Giron, 16, Annika Nordlund, 13, and Liam Owens, 11, play cards in an outdoor patio as they pass the time before the start of a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Volunteer cast member Brian Rios of San Clemente waits in an outdoor patio for the start of a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A nervous Liam Owens, 11, of Laguna Niguel, a first time cast member, waits in costume with other cast members before the start of rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Cast member Janelle Rothman gets makeup applied by makeup artist Nancy Remley before a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Cast member Janelle Rothman, in full costume, waits in an outdoor patio with other cast members before the start of a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Volunteer cast member Heather Tobin has makeup applied before a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Volunteers Rita Moon and Ken Meddock, center, rush into the bowl to grab the best seats for a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Volunteers, friends and others scramble to find the best seats for a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Volunteer Roger Realsen, center with baseball cap, enjoys food and drink with his friends as they wait in line for a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Sharbie Higuchi, left, director of marketing and public relations at Pageant of the Masters, presents souvenir program to Isabella Moiso, 24, who was the first one in line for dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. Moiso is a former pageant volunteer who is now nurse in Kansas City but used to live in San Clemente. She arrived at 6:30AM to be first in line. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Volunteers and other guests wait in line for a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Makeup artists apply makeup to volunteer cast members before a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Volunteers and other guests wait in line for a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Volunteer cast member Annika Nordlund, 13, left, reflection is seen in a mirror as she waits for the start a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Cast member Bri Valles, 10, left, of Dana Point plays cards with her mother Megan Valles, also a volunteer cast member prior to the start of a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. This is Bri’s third Pageant of the Masters production that she has been part of. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Volunteers and others rush in to get the best seat for a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Rita Moon waits in line for a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Bradd Linn chats with friends as he waits in line for a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ken Meddock chats with friends as he waits in line for a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The pageant – celebrating its 89th year this season – was founded in the 1930s and has since become a Laguna Beach tradition drawing visitors worldwide. This year’s season runs through Sept. 2.
But, for pageant volunteers, seeing the show before it opens to the public is a special treat. It’s a reunion of sorts that kicks off summer for them.
Bradd Linn, a Laguna Beach resident, was among those hanging out with Meddock in line. While he doesn’t volunteer for the show, his partner, Carl Carter, has been in the pageant for 11 years and will be in two pieces this year.
And he’ll be fully clothed and not painted this year, said a grateful Linn. “It’s so hard to get that out of the sheets by the end of the summer.”
Linn was there to hold their spot in line. He wasn’t worried about competing for seats with Meddock; his favorite perch is the first row of the main tier.
“I can see the sides really well from there and I can stretch my legs,” Linn said. He should know, he’s attended the pageant for three decades.
With him was Rita Moon, of Laguna Niguel. The two are partners in crime, protecting each other’s turf. Moon’s husband, Ron Weldon, builds booths for dozens of artists at the accompanying Festival of Arts show.
“We love the music; it’s just something you can’t describe,” Moon said of the Pageant of the Masters. “I’m still in awe of how they put it all together.”
This year’s show, “Wonderful World,” is the 26th produced by Diane Challis Davy, the pageant’s director. It is being presented as a “love letter to the joys of travel and the wondrous art to be found in every corner of the globe.”
Scenes this year include art from 17 countries during the pageant’s 90-minute performance.
Cast member Janelle Rothman, in full costume, waits in an outdoor patio with other cast members before the start of a dress rehearsal for the Pageant of the Masters show, “Wonderful World,” in Laguna Beach on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Challis Davy worked with longtime pageant scriptwriter Dan Dueling and narrator Richard Doyle to create the show.
“One of my favorite heroines who provided inspiration for this year’s pageant is the intrepid American journalist Nellie Bly,” Challis Davy said. “In the 1890s, she attempted to travel around the world in fewer than 80 days, the challenge imagined in Jules Verne’s fictional classic ‘Around the World in 80 Days.’”
Challis Davy said the performance will answer whether or not she completed her mission.
The show also includes some unexpected “thrills.”
Those are some of the elements that Moon said she most enjoys.
“They made changes and added some songs and dancing,” Moon said, looking back over the past years. “One year, there was even a spaceship.”
As the day wore on waiting for the first dress rehearsal, the pageant volunteers in line caught up on each other’s lives. Some had seen each other just a few months ago in April when two longtime volunteers, who met at the show, got married on the Festival of Arts grounds.
“It’s like a family,” Meddock said. “Especially since last year, it’s good we all survived and we’re so happy to see each other again.”
