And the 2019 Pageant of the Masters Theme Is…

Fantastical stories that easily stretch hours into days, and fill the noggin with a swirl of colorful characters, and inspire a person to think larger, loopier, and in more creative ways?

They're pretty much a hallmark of the holidays, but December doesn't hold the trademark on such tales.

For Laguna Beach, come the summer, also holds a bit of a trademark on fantastical sights, thanks to its famous penchant for staging real, living, breathing, blinking humans posing inside paintings and sculptures.

It's Pageant of the Masters we're applauding here, the long- long- longggg-running "tableaux vivant" production that has become known the planet over over the last 8+ decades.

And it makes sense that an event known for imagination and whimsy makes a splashy point of announcing its upcoming theme as the most whimsical month of the year begins.

As Pageant of the Masters has now done, just ahead of December 2018.

So what's the big theme for the 2019 show, which will strike a pose nightly from July 7 through Aug. 31, 2019?

The Time Machine.

Goggles on, steampunkers and sci-fi lovers, for both genres will receive a tip o' the cap via the artworks selected to be staged. "The Time Machine," by H.G. Wells, served as an inspiration to director and producer Diane Challis Davy, so count on seeing a few fanciful pieces that pay homage to the time-traveling book's distinctive vibe.

Tickets go on sale on Saturday, Dec. 1, and, yep, they do sell out, or at least the seats nearest the stage have a way of going as fast as summertime seems to fly by.

Which means that if you'd like to see the people standing "inside" the paintings blinking, or occasionally twitching an eyelid or nose, you'll want to find your stage-close seat fast, or gift a loved one with tickets in this giftiest season.

Of course, all seats rock at the pageant, though binoculars do, of course, help out.

Board "The Time Machine" now, to the online HQ for "Pageant of the Masters," and learn more.