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The Heart of the Pageant of the Masters: Community Volunteerism
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Title
The Heart of the Pageant of the Masters: Community Volunteerism
Series Title
Collection Guide (External)
Created Date
June 2014
Published Date
March 18th, 2015
Description
Dan Duling, Pageant of the Masters Scriptwriter (1981 - present) on the vital tradition of community volunteerism that makes the Pageant possible. Recorded in Laguna Beach, California.
Transcript
This is being a part of an extended family committed to art that lives and breathes, that's how Marie Ropp described it in 1939 and that's a term that still holds sway and gives to me - puts a human face on the artistic experience. And really for years now, what I've said the subtext of the Pageant of the Masters is, is that art is inclusive. That is has something for all of us. It can enrich all of our lives in ways that [we] very possibly never imagined. And our show is a way of encouraging people to see that possibility and to enjoy it and, first of all, to be excited about coming to a theatrical experience. We have a family of volunteers, sometimes as many as four generations of a family involved. We've had a grandmother, mother, a child, and a grandchild all working different parts of the show. Just amazing. And you've got a hundred and fifty people going through makeup, headpiece, costume, upstairs, into their sets. Loaded into their sets, strapped into their, you know, their positions. posed by the posers, and moved into place on the set; and this is happening - it's all choreographed within an inch of its life. This is a professional - five hundred people working in sync together with a common goal - kind of miracle. And still the possibility that things could go wrong at the last minute. That's live theater. And that's what keeps the excitement level up backstage and also, I think, in the audience. People volunteered to get involved with it because it was so exciting to have the demand for more performances than they could possibly do, for more opportunities to see more living pictures. And there really wasn't anything like it and this many years later there still really isn't. There've been attempts and there's been interest by, you know, corporate entities like Disney and, you know, places like Las Vegas. But they cannot recreate that essential basis in community volunteerism. Today was have over thirteen hundred people who volunteered to give half their summer to be a part of the show this summer. Of those, roughly five hundred will be involved backstage in one of the two complete casts of one hundred and fifty each or all of the other assistant positions and vitally important positions backstage; from runners to coffee bar to many assistants in the makeup areas and the costume areas and they are the heart and soul of the pageant. Again, if this were just a community theater though, it would not have endured and the reason it has, to my way of thinking, is - beginning in 1964, and with the original impulse and impetus and really model of involvement and commitment that Roy Ropp and Marie Ropp demonstrated in the thirties, we have had three Directors of the Pageant since 1964: Don Williamson, Glen Eytchison and for the last nineteen years, Diane Challis Davy. And they are artists in their own right. They are uniquely qualified, dedicated, theater artists who have brought, in their own way, a completely professional vision to this show which sets it apart, again, from just about anything you'll see. I would put the quality of stagecraft and technical accomplishment in this production up against anything in New York or Los Angeles.
Creators and Contributors
Creator:
Orange County Public Libraries
Interviewer: Gilliom, Jon
Camera: Zehdar, Ziba
Interviewee: Duling, Dan
Interviewer: Gilliom, Jon
Camera: Zehdar, Ziba
Interviewee: Duling, Dan
Subject Topic
Subject Entity
Genre
Spatial Coverage
Temporal Coverage
1933 to 2014
Language
Media Type
Format
mp4
Extent
1
File
Color or Black and White
Color
Silent or Sound
Sound
Copyright Statement
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This item may be used for non-commercial and educational purposes.
The opinions expressed in OC Stories do not necessarily reflect the position or policies of OC Public Libraries or its partners and no official endorsement should be inferred.
Images are courtesy of story tellers and affiliate organizations or used in accordance with fair use and Creative Commons.
Music and sound in accordance with fair use and Creative Commons [ http://creativecommons.org ].
Country of Creation
United States
Contributing Organization
Contributing Organization Contact Information
Email: ocstories@occr.ocgov.com
Phone: 714-566-3055
Phone: 714-566-3055
Organization Websites
Link to Internet Archive
Additional Technical Notes for Item
Original file was named Heart and Soul of the Pageant of the Masters Dan Duling.mp4, which was renamed as corcl_000072_prsv.mp4. Original has a low bitrate, so prsv file was copied for access state and named corcl_000072_access.HD.mp4.