Matt Miller
I can't believe Mr. Trautwein is dead -- just heard. I have so many memories and such tremendous gratitude for his influence. I also feel terrible to have lost touch with him over the years, and guilty that I didn't reach out to let him know just how grateful I was... I was listening to The Boyfriend on a long car ride last night -- can't even remember who was in it from our gang but I was in 9th grade -- often on long plane rides nowadays I'll play Gilbert and Sullivan on my IPod and will be conducting it like Mr. Trautwein did and people on the plane look at me like I'm crazy but who cares...All those great shows -- Where's Charley, The Mikado, Trial By Jury, HMS Pinafore, Carousel. From the age of 13 he was my model for excellence and professionalism and hard work and discipline in every endeavor! And energy! And passion! And silliness in the pursuit of the serious! And of course borderline insanity...the thrown chairs...the exaggerated tormented looks....I totally share the memory folks have of his finickiness about starting a show on time -- I have the same feeling ("Mr. Trautwein would never tolerate this") in every Broadway show I see if they start late...He was so rare and so important to so many of us -- what a wonderful gift to have lived this way. There were things he taught us about performing that I still use all the time in various venues...like never letting someone else upstage you....or miming your emotion before your line...and can still see and hear his droll, outsized vocal and visual poses as he thundered his decree or verdict of the moment....and so much wonderful music in choir -- anyone else recall "I'm Gonna Ride in The Chariot in The Morning, Lord" -- "David the king, was griev-ed and mov-ed -- he went to his cham-ber -- his cha-am-ber -- and wept..." I remember being in Rome with concert choir singing in St Peter's Basilica when one crucial note and phrase we finished (I forget what piece it was) rolled literally all the way to the end of the cathedral and came all the way back and we all looked at each other and shared this unbelievable spine-tingling reverent moment of like oh-my-God!.... Being in his orbit shaped my life enormously, and baked things into who I am as a person (not to mention sources of enduring joy) that I could not have gotten from my parents or from any other source...Maybe we need an annual Trautwein holiday to toast his memory and legacy somehow --and we could have it involve performances or something...I have to confess I never use Facebook (and always ask my 14 year old daughter why her life seems devoted to it...) but getting word today of his death makes me grateful there's a place to come to remember together...in fact I'm wowed and smiling just seeing names on this page I haven't seen in 30 years! By the way didn't GT also say "we plod onward"? As well as "we go on!" Or am I misremembering? It's impossible to do justice to Mr. Trautwein's influence (he'd say this post was a nice first draft but really can't you push yourself to get it right, Matthew...) and truly a reminder that teaching is the most valuable profession of all...
I can't believe Mr. Trautwein is dead -- just heard. I have so many memories and such tremendous gratitude for his influence. I also feel terrible to have lost touch with him over the years, and guilty that I didn't reach out to let him know just how grateful I was... I was listening to The Boyfriend on a long car ride last night -- can't even remember who was in it from our gang but I was in 9th grade -- often on long plane rides nowadays I'll play Gilbert and Sullivan on my IPod and will be conducting it like Mr. Trautwein did and people on the plane look at me like I'm crazy but who cares...All those great shows -- Where's Charley, The Mikado, Trial By Jury, HMS Pinafore, Carousel. From the age of 13 he was my model for excellence and professionalism and hard work and discipline in every endeavor! And energy! And passion! And silliness in the pursuit of the serious! And of course borderline insanity...the thrown chairs...the exaggerated tormented looks....I totally share the memory folks have of his finickiness about starting a show on time -- I have the same feeling ("Mr. Trautwein would never tolerate this") in every Broadway show I see if they start late...He was so rare and so important to so many of us -- what a wonderful gift to have lived this way. There were things he taught us about performing that I still use all the time in various venues...like never letting someone else upstage you....or miming your emotion before your line...and can still see and hear his droll, outsized vocal and visual poses as he thundered his decree or verdict of the moment....and so much wonderful music in choir -- anyone else recall "I'm Gonna Ride in The Chariot in The Morning, Lord" -- "David the king, was griev-ed and mov-ed -- he went to his cham-ber -- his cha-am-ber -- and wept..." I remember being in Rome with concert choir singing in St Peter's Basilica when one crucial note and phrase we finished (I forget what piece it was) rolled literally all the way to the end of the cathedral and came all the way back and we all looked at each other and shared this unbelievable spine-tingling reverent moment of like oh-my-God!.... Being in his orbit shaped my life enormously, and baked things into who I am as a person (not to mention sources of enduring joy) that I could not have gotten from my parents or from any other source...Maybe we need an annual Trautwein holiday to toast his memory and legacy somehow --and we could have it involve performances or something...I have to confess I never use Facebook (and always ask my 14 year old daughter why her life seems devoted to it...) but getting word today of his death makes me grateful there's a place to come to remember together...in fact I'm wowed and smiling just seeing names on this page I haven't seen in 30 years! By the way didn't GT also say "we plod onward"? As well as "we go on!" Or am I misremembering? It's impossible to do justice to Mr. Trautwein's influence (he'd say this post was a nice first draft but really can't you push yourself to get it right, Matthew...) and truly a reminder that teaching is the most valuable profession of all...
