Pageant director Diane Challis Davy smiled as she fielded a leading question: What keeps you coming back? “Two things: 1) Another opportunity to surprise and amuse our audiences; and 2) Since this has been my job for my entire adult life, I don’t know how to do anything else!”
Perspective. It’s something the past year provided in abundance. For the first time since World War II, when the West Coast security blackout shuttered the Festival of Arts and Pageant from 1942-1946, the organization effectively closed up shop and sent the lion’s share of the staff home, on furlough for a period to be determined. The 2020 Pageant was abruptly tabled mid-production, and until very recently, even the possibility of a production this summer was very much in doubt. But, as they say, the show must go on. So, “We’re BACK!” Having kicked production plans up to warp speed, the 2021 Pageant and Festival are determined and hopeful that the past year’s uncertainty and anguish are behind us.
For some of the key staff at the Pageant, last summer was also noteworthy for personal milestones that rolled over to 2021. For director Diane “Dee” Challis Davy, this marks her 25th season helming the Pageant, a directorial record unmatched in the Pageant’s 88-year history. It also marks the 40th Pageant script penned by Dan Duling, and the 10th season for Richard Doyle as our narrator who performs nightly in the Irvine Bowl. Together with Richard “Butch” Hill, the Pageant’s Technical Director for the past 32 years, Challis Davy, Duling and Doyle offered some personal perspectives on the Pageant, past, present and future. Even amid the frenzy of pre-production and the whirlwind of recasting, re-staffing and rehearsals, their enthusiasm for the Pageant was apparent.
Why do you think the Pageant retains its popularity?
DOYLE: It’s an event that celebrates who we are, what we would like to be and what we have done in service to the arts, science, technology… and most of all to ourselves. I believe on some level that’s why people return year after year.
HILL: Also, it’s so hard to explain it to someone, so they tell friends and family “you have to see it for yourself.” And there’s this wonderful setting in Laguna. Like they say: location, location, location.
CHALLIS DAVY: I think another factor is nostalgia for a simpler time, when a community pitches in and puts on a grand show that defies the odds.
DULING: Simply put, there’s nothing quite like it. It’s both familiar and strange at the same time: “living pictures” have always been a faintly preposterous theatrical conceit, but in fact, they allow us to see and feel the humanity revealed in art, history and the stories of artist’s lives. For me, that will always be very cool.
What is the most dramatic change that has taken place during your tenure?
HILL: When Dee (Challis Davy) took over as artistic director. Her decision to add themes and hire multiple composers to create original scores were key upgrades. And her inclusion of more live action theatrics brings more entertainment value to the production. As far as staging technology, we’ve benefited from the increasing use of video projection and special effects such as lasers, snow effects, cryogenics and inflatables assure plenty of surprises in our productions.
DOYLE: The biggest change for me has been my clearer understanding of my role in the Pageant. The moment I knew I was on the right track as the Narrator came early on after a performance. A woman had remained seated near the booth after the audience had left the bowl. She heard us talking and asked if I was the Narrator. “Guilty, ma’am,” I answered. She smiled and said, “How did you do that? I felt like you were talking directly to me.” It was then I knew she had described my performance goal: reaching out to every audience member as if I were telling the stories and events to them alone.
DULING: When I wrote my first Pageant script for Thurl Ravenscroft, I used a Selectric typewriter and carbons! And libraries, which I still love. But, now I take full advantage of instant access online for research and maintaining a connection to how we live today, always looking for ways to keep the show fresh and entertaining. I’ve also enjoyed the challenges of working with three uniquely gifted narrators. For the past decade, that’s been the consummate professional and theatrical master Richard Doyle, who is a terrific collaborator and intuitive performer. As a playwright, writing for an actor like Richard is a great pleasure.
CHALLIS DAVY: For me, the biggest change has been the addition of and constant improvements in our digital video projection capabilities. They’ve given us seamless ways to aid the storytelling with ever-changing illustrations.
Looking ahead, what are the greatest challenges facing the Pageant?
HILL: Trying to be aware of the evolving entertainment preferences of upcoming generations. Live theater has to compete with so many other options, so many screens. I’d like to think we’ll be able to maintain interest in this unique live production for another 88 years.
DOYLE: I agree. We have to find ways to bridge the generational gap in our audiences, and also be on the lookout for more ways to acknowledge and celebrate the amazing cultural diversity in our country, and in Southern California in particular.
DULING: It’s imperative that we get the Festival and Pageant back on track so we can reassure both our audiences and our volunteers that we’re every bit as dedicated to keeping the Pageant as smart, polished and compelling as ever.
CHALLIS DAVY: And, it’s our duty as paid employees to make sure that the volunteers have fun while they are participating, because without them, there is no show!
DULING: Amen!
DOYLE: Our “Pageanteers” will always be our not-so-secret weapon!
HILL: No show without them, bottom line.
Final thoughts on what keeps you coming back?
HILL: I’m working in a creative environment with creative people to produce a world renowned production in beautiful Laguna Beach. I also love the sense of pride and accomplishment that comes with knowing every year we produce a new original work of art: The Pageant of the Masters.
DOYLE: I’m an actor, and I know that at his or her core, an actor is a storyteller. In my experience, narrating the Pageant is an ultimate storyteller’s challenge. But, I’m inspired by my collaborators, our volunteers and staff, to accept and, dare I say, relish that challenge each and every night all summer long, of telling the Pageant’s stories.
DULING: What’s not to love? Art history never stops evolving, and I find the research always inspires me. This is such a privilege. I feel a tremendous responsibility not only to our audiences, but to my incredibly talented co-workers, and the volunteers who make this whole enterprise both possible and such a joyful experience. But, it’s my longtime creative partnership with Dee, our director, that will keep me coming back. For that, I feel supremely fortunate and grateful.
CHALLIS DAVY: One more thought: I LOVE it when the audience responds with laughter, applause or even silence, at the appropriate time of course. And at the end of the show, I like to see the audience linger a while, then exit in a happy mood, in time with the music.