Bruce Van Guilder was very young when he was born. His first experience with theater was in seventh grade, helping backstage for the Queensbury High School production of The Man of LaMancha. at the urging of his school english class teacher. He was often a class clown in school, with a love of music and playing guitar. He enjoyed watching live theater, but was always a spectator. It wasn’t until his son was auditioning for a play with the Hudson River Shakespeare Company’s production of Hamlet, when his son said Dad, YOU should audition”. That happened, and Bruce was cast in two roles: the ghost of Hamlet’s father, and the Gravedigger. It was the beginning of a second family, as the HRSC people were very welcoming and supportive. The first cast party was the premiere of many happy singalongs with Bruce’s guitar and vocals. Since then, Bruce has accompanied and performed many songs, some were Shakespeare lyrics set to music that he wrote, and some were original lyrics and music written specifically for the shows they were used in. One of his earliest was a duet titled “Love at First Sight”. Bruce has performed many HRSC productions, including title roles. His favorite role was playing Puck, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in which his character provided the music for his band of fairies, and Greater Tuna, in which he played several parts, male, female, and Yippee the dog.
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