Stephen Pelton
Thank you all so much for your memories and stories—such an amazing outpouring! I am struck by how far reaching Trautein’s own love was, or rather, still is. Thirty years on, and we are all still carrying the flame of his maniac heart into our lives and work. That’s how intense his passion was, how great his love. Even in the midst of a tirade, we’d know it was the raging river of his love--for each of us, for the work and for music--that made him burst.
Two stories to add to the many already shared about this great man:
We were rehearsing Brigadoon when I was a senior. I was having a particularly difficult year and came to a rehearsal at which were supposed to already be off-book, without knowing my lines. He was absolutely furious. (Perhaps it had happened more than once that week.) He ranted at me and made me sit and watch rehearsal but not participate. Things calmed down and he went on to rehearse another scene while I sat there mortified and ashamed. In the middle of a sentence about something else he whizzed around to face me and shouted, “Don’t you see, Pelton, I love you.” He corrected himself, “I mean, we ALL love you.” It was so startling to hear him say those words out loud. I think he was a little startled himself, so he added, “Just learn your damn lines, Pelton!!”
The other one that comes up for me is a trip he and I made to NYC to shop for costumes to hire for The Mikado, in which I was playing Ko-Ko. We went to some rental shops and picked out a lot of the costumes that we ultimately used for the show. Then we went to see a matinee of a company that was doing The Mikado somewhere in the garment district. Afterward, he asked me what I thought of the show and I said that I thought the Ko-Ko was really good. He said, “Yes, he was very good. But you’ll be better.”
I feel SO lucky for those years at BBHS with all the incredible teachers who loved and inspired us and who we loved and, no doubt, inspired in return. I spend most of my time these days teaching and it has really impressed me how many of the people posting to this site are also teachers. I’ve studied from and worked alongside some truly incredible teachers in the past 25 years. But as for George Trautwein—we won’t see one like him again……….
Lots of love to you all,
SP
Thank you all so much for your memories and stories—such an amazing outpouring! I am struck by how far reaching Trautein’s own love was, or rather, still is. Thirty years on, and we are all still carrying the flame of his maniac heart into our lives and work. That’s how intense his passion was, how great his love. Even in the midst of a tirade, we’d know it was the raging river of his love--for each of us, for the work and for music--that made him burst.
Two stories to add to the many already shared about this great man:
We were rehearsing Brigadoon when I was a senior. I was having a particularly difficult year and came to a rehearsal at which were supposed to already be off-book, without knowing my lines. He was absolutely furious. (Perhaps it had happened more than once that week.) He ranted at me and made me sit and watch rehearsal but not participate. Things calmed down and he went on to rehearse another scene while I sat there mortified and ashamed. In the middle of a sentence about something else he whizzed around to face me and shouted, “Don’t you see, Pelton, I love you.” He corrected himself, “I mean, we ALL love you.” It was so startling to hear him say those words out loud. I think he was a little startled himself, so he added, “Just learn your damn lines, Pelton!!”
The other one that comes up for me is a trip he and I made to NYC to shop for costumes to hire for The Mikado, in which I was playing Ko-Ko. We went to some rental shops and picked out a lot of the costumes that we ultimately used for the show. Then we went to see a matinee of a company that was doing The Mikado somewhere in the garment district. Afterward, he asked me what I thought of the show and I said that I thought the Ko-Ko was really good. He said, “Yes, he was very good. But you’ll be better.”
I feel SO lucky for those years at BBHS with all the incredible teachers who loved and inspired us and who we loved and, no doubt, inspired in return. I spend most of my time these days teaching and it has really impressed me how many of the people posting to this site are also teachers. I’ve studied from and worked alongside some truly incredible teachers in the past 25 years. But as for George Trautwein—we won’t see one like him again……….
Lots of love to you all,
SP
