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Dateline: 18th May, 2007
Sandra Giorgetti attended a special event held at the National Theatre on 17th May, 2007, to celebrate the life and work of Steven Pimlott (18th April, 1953 - 14th February, 2007).Steven Pimlott: A Celebration was a profoundly moving and entertaining journey through a series of 'snapshots' of the life of an extraordinary man. The opening piece was a film of a roller coaster ride shot by him for a home video, the closing piece was "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel sung by the company, complete with a chorus accompanied by the audience. In between were pieces from Bizet, Gilbert and Sullivan, Sondheim and Schubert, Mozart and Lloyd Webber. It was itself a musical and spoken roller coaster ride that perfectly reflected Steven Pimlott's all-embracing taste in music and texts and the versatility he demonstrated throughout his professional career. After an education at the local grammar school and at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, his professional career took off with a job as a staff producer at English National Opera in the mid 70s. He went on to work at Opera North and Scottish Opera and then at the major regional theatre houses throughout the 80s. The following decade found him at the National Theatre, the Royal Court, the Almeida and the RSC. He took in his stride T S Eliot, Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams whilst also turning his hand to musicals as diverse as Doctor Doolittle, Sunday in the Park with George and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Steven Pimlott went on to become joint artistic director - with Ruth Mackenzie and Martin Duncan - of the Chichester Festival Theatre where he continued to find professional success and recognition. After three years he was back directing in the West End. As a child he found a life-long love of acting and singing and took up playing the oboe which became a great joy to him. In addition to a remarkable career in directing, Steven Pimlott also managed to fit in stints as actor, singer and oboist. At every stop along the way, his contribution was imaginative and incisive. But what became most apparent was that his enjoyment and love for his work spilled over to touch everything that he did and all with whom he collaborated. A Celebration was made up of songs, poems, soliloquies and musical pieces both classical and contemporary, punctuated by spoken tributes that were delivered with emotion-cracked voices and huge smiles at the memory of Steven Pimlott. There was also a time for reflection when a slide show of photographs illustrating his life was played accompanied only by Poulenc's Oboe Sonata. There were tears and intensely personal moments, none more moving than his young daughter playing a piano piece entitled, "Why?". But it was not a sorrowful affair: there were also anecdotes of Steven Pimlott's belief in the Jungian theory of synchronicity, avid interest in the plots of Midsomer Murders and legendary swearing - and of course a lot of laughter. Those who performed had been Steven Pimlott's collaborators so there was much tribute paid to his professional skills, but they had become much more than colleagues and what came across above all was the affection that they felt for the man. Such a varied and full life deserved such a diverse and love-filled a presentation as A Celebration. A website has been set up dedicated to the life and work of Steven Pimlott: www.stevenpimlott.org. Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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