A youthful Pageant

St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School has figured out a way to make kids stay still.

And enjoy it.

For the fifth year in a row, the school has staged its own interpretation of a Laguna classic, the Pageant of the Masters.

At the school’s Masters Pageant on May 16, which was put on to thank parent volunteers, students donned Biblical garb, Victorian gowns and swim trunks.

They then positioned themselves before canvases painted as replicas of famous paintings, literally melting into them through clever lighting and makeup tricks.

When the curtains opened on the tableaux vivants, parents and students gasped to see the three-dimensional replicas of two-dimensional works.

Students also posed as the Statue of Liberty and as a statue of the school’s namesake.

Before the show, the cast and crew prayed together, and parents gave last-minute tips to their rambunctious charges.

Several classrooms served as dressing rooms, where kids sat at desks as parent volunteers applied pancake makeup.

All was carefully controlled pandemonium, as kids peeked out of windows and ran around to extinguish their anxious energy.

Ten minutes after the scheduled time, the lights went out, and the young audience members squealed.

Before the show, parent volunteers were lauded for their willingness to make peanut butter sandwiches, serve as chauffeurs and run out for poster boards late at night.

“But most of all, you pray for us,” narrator Charles Stephensen said.

The show was divided between works by the French impressionists and more modern American works.

The pageant was very similar to its namesake; before each tableau was displayed, the narrator gave the background of the artist or the piece.

The tableau characters perched on boats, enjoyed a summer’s day and played snap the whip.

Picasso gave the child actors some trouble; when they took longer than usual to debut his “Family of Saltimbanques,” kids and parents sang “America, the Beautiful.”

Between each tableau, kids sang, played piano and performed ballet.

Like its namesake, the show ended in Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”

Teachers and administrators also got into the act, appearing in tableaux like Jean Beraud’s “La Patisserie.”

But the most special guest actor was left unknown until his appearance.

Pastor Eamon O’Gorman of the school’s sister church had never been able to view one of the school’s pageants before, so the event was moved to a date he was free to attend.

To the surprise of the audience, rather than simply being an observer, the beloved priest became a part of the production.

Standing anonymously with his back to the audience in a tableau of Norman Rockwell’s “The Connoisseur,” hat in hand, he suddenly turned to face the audience, smiling as kids called his name and adults chuckled.

“Hallelujah!” a child called.

CANDICE BAKER can be reached at (949) 494-5480 or at candice.baker@latimes.com.