Trautman during his performance in the play "Butcher" at GPLT (Photo: Grande Prairie Live Theatre / Facebook)

By Shane Clausing

GP live Theatre

Grande Prairie Live Theatre mourns loss of 40-plus year member

Jun 11, 2020 | 5:30 AM

On Tuesday, long-time actor with Grande Prairie Live Theatre, Gary Trautman past away at the age of 69, just six weeks before his 70th birthday.

Trautman was a member of Grande Prairie Live Theatre for over 40 years and appeared in hundreds of plays throughout his time with the theatre. He is being remembered as somebody his peers looked up to because of his tireless work ethic and dedication to the theatre.

“He was a superb actor and (he was able) to create many very distinct characterizations. He created characters in original plays based on Grande Prairie events and he had the lead roles in virtually every play that he was in,” said Wayne Ayling, the Manager of Grande Prairie Live Theatre.

According to the Grande Prairie Live Theatre Facebook page, Trautman served as the theatre’s manager for several years and his vision for the theatre moved it forward during his years as manager. He also created what are now called the, ‘Rising Star Summer Drama Camps’ for youth.

All members of the theatre, except for the manager position, are volunteers. Ayling says the theatre has 360 volunteers who help operate the theatre year-round. Trautman was one of those volunteers for a long time.

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“Gary was always eager to engage in spirited debates over the merits of different plays and events. He was always a gentleman, he accepted challenges, he threw himself into every role that he got, he (really) supported Grande Prairie and the theatre arts scene,” said Ayling.

One of the challenges that Ayling talked about included seeing Trautman having to learn a completely fake and made up language for the theatres premiere of the play ‘Butcher’ within two months. Something that not many people in the theatre world can do.

Darren Bennett, the President of the board at Grande Prairie Live Theatre, said that when Trautman was assigned that roll, the actors would all get together after rehearsals once a week to make sure everyone was on the same page.

However, Trautman would be so committed to his role that he would meet with the stage manager every night to make sure that he had his role and the fake language mastered.

Bennett says that Trautman’s talent was hard to ignore.

“He was fantastic at what he did. He would come in and give it 100 per cent of the time, he would help other actors if they needed it. For example, in Grapes of Wrath (performed by URSA Productions in November 2019) he had a role that was pretty important at the end of the show and the climax of the show rested on his ability to pull it off. We saw that 13 times and he’d have us in tears every night with his performance.”

Bennett also noted that Trautman wasn’t just a great actor, he was also a genuine guy outside of the theatre.

“His attitude towards helping people didn’t just stop at the theatre. I heard he worked a lot with the soup kitchen and stuff like that. He was a people-first kind of person, I only worked with him two times, but I’m going miss working with him.”

Plans for a memorial have not been announced by Trautman’s family, but the Grande Prairie Live Theatre says that they’ve offered their facility to his family if they would like to use it for a memorial.