The Pageant of the Masters has held its annual casting call for 2018 and is working to fill the slots in the art pieces that have been selected for this year, as those pieces change yearly.
What doesn’t change, except for two or three years in the past, is the concluding scene, “The Last Supper” and so those people are mostly cast from the same group each year, as they already fit that scene.
Those familiar with “The Last Supper” oil painting of Leonardo de Vinci, find that’s an overall favorite at the end of the Pageant; however, there are two other artists who have also painted “The Last Supper” that have been used to conclude the Pageant of the Masters.
Those are, “The Sacrament of the Last Supper” by Salvador Dalí, completed in 1955, after nine months of work and Andy Warhol’s synthetic polymer painting from 1986.
That having been said, Tony Loesch has portrayed Christ in de Vinci’s The Last Supper for 19 years and his nephew, Nate Loesch, both from Los Alamitos, has portrayed Bartholomew, which is the far left Apostle leaning on the table in the painting.
Nate, who sports no hair on top of his head in real life said with a big smile, “I have hair in The Last Supper picture.”
“In 2006 my wife and I moved to California and Tony and his two girls and wife were going to Laguna Beach to sign up for the Pageant and so we went with them to hangout in Laguna,” said Nate. “Tony said, ‘Sign up and see what happens’ and that’s when I got called to be Bartholomew because I was the right height and build.”
Tony said he hasn’t taken a break in 19 years of portraying “Christ” in, “The Last Supper” except for two years when the Pageant used Salvador Dali’s Last Supper scene. “I didn’t think I’d be doing the part this long, but now I’m mostly doing the Pageant with my youngest daughter, Lily, 15,” he said. My daughter Maggie, 20, is away at college and happens to also be the youngest-to-date holding the distinction of a ‘Life- time member’ of the Pageant,” he explained. “As a life time member you can be a member of the board; vote and get two free tickets to the Pageant each year for the rest of your life.”
For two years, Tony’s wife, Mary, portrayed “John the Beloved” in The Last Supper scene, as that figure has more feminine facial features and she fit the look.
Tony said being in the Pageant is a chance to be with other cast members and also to be with his nephew who’s been in the same seen with him for 10 years at the far left of the table in the picture.
“The cast members are such great people and I’ve been with my kids and so it becomes a very social atmosphere,” Tony said.
Besides being in the Pageant, Nate is a nurse at Los Alamitos Medical Center and Tony is a general contractor in the Huntington Beach area.
With the casting call complete and measurements recorded, the wait begins for the cell phone to ring of those who tried out.
It’s been said by participants that there’s no place on earth like the Pageant and that’s why they look forward to being there year after year because of the people they get to work with. A person who volunteers at the Pageant is there because they want to be, not because they have to be and so that’s what creates an incredible ‘working’ environment where it’s possible to make lifetime friends while helping to put on one of the most spectacular shows in the world.
One participant described the Pageant as, “Summer camp for adults.”
Pageant volunteers are not only needed for on-stage positions in the art pieces but also for positions in wardrobe, make-up and headdress departments, as well as cast-area coordinators and refreshment servers, to name a few of the positions.
Students volunteering for the Pageant earn credit toward community service requirements.
“It takes more than 500 volunteers, both onstage and behind-the-scenes, to put on the Pageant,” said Pageant director Diane Challis Davy. “We wouldn’t have a show without our volunteers and they have so much fun backstage, volunteers return year after year.”
Performances are nightly at 8:30 p.m. from Saturday, July 7, to Friday, Aug. 31, except for a special fundraiser on Saturday, Aug. 25. This year’s show, “Under the Sun,” is set to showcase lots of art depicting activities “Under the sun.”