Made for the stage
Gordon Pinsent takes his bow at Stratford Legacy Gala
It ’s rare t hat you get to spend the night with not one but two international icons.
The incredible Gordon Pinsent was the 2016 recipient of the top nod at The Stratford Festival’s Legacy Gala at the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto recently.
The legendary Christopher Plummer bestowed the honour upon his longtime friend, who he described as “deliciously wicked.”
Pinsent first joined the Stratford Festival company in 1962, appearing in Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest and Cyrano de Bergerac. Plummer, who was starring as Macbeth and Cyrano that season, would become a lifelong friend of Gordon.
How wonderful to see
such mutual respect and enduring camaraderie.
The evening was masterfully hosted by journalist Lloyd Robertson and co- chaired by theatre champions Barry Avrich, Robert Badun and Wendy Pitblado. Event maestro Bill Fulgham did a terrific job of transforming the ballroom and creating drama though the décor.
“Gordon Pinsent is a great example of how the Stratford Festival has been a catalyst for the development of Canada’s finest actors not only on stage but on screen as well,” enthused festival Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino. “Stratford has given generations of the most promising talents a chance to meet, grow and create new work and relationships. Gordon was inspired by those he watched and worked with at the festival and he in turn has been an enormous inspiration to so many of us in the cultural community in Canada. It is this legacy of artists inspiring artists that we celebrate as we honour Gordon Pinsent’s remarkable career and personal leadership.”
Patrons were treated to a video tribute showcasing the actor’s massive breadth of work over the past 50 years, which director Norman Jewison said was like an emotional rollercoaster. Blue Rodeo founder Greg Keelor and Travis Good of The Sadies composed and performed a wonderful score set to one of Pinsent’s poems. It was pure magic.
Pi nsent s ummed it up beautifully as he gave an emotional thank you to the adoring crowd. “Being on stage . . . it’s your very own secret with the theatre, as if with every experience you’re taking the child in you to the circus for the first time, every time, chills and all.”
Hair standing on end!