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Diversions
SCSU professor will act to the end
By Adam Johnson
Published:
Monday, March 24, 2003
Upon meeting Bruce Hyde, the head of SCSU's theater dept., one immediately feels as though one is talking to a true classical stage actor. Hyde is at once larger-than-life and humble, exuding an aura of stoicism and warmth that is rarely found today.
His recent turn as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" has received rave reviews, but in real life this actor-turned-professor has led a far more exciting life than the devastated character he portrays.
After studying acting at the Northwestern School of Speech, Hyde moved to New York City to make a living in theater. The next six to seven years were spent between New York and Los Angeles performing in plays and on television, including a recurring role as Lt. Riley on the original "Star Trek" series, a role that would come in handy for him later in life.
In 1969, Hyde was cast in a San Francisco production of the rock musical "Hair," which he was a member of for a full year.
As it turned out, the role would help to determine the course of his life for the next 10 years.
"At the end of that year I decided that rather than playing a hippie, I wanted to stay in San Francisco and be a hippie," Hyde explained. "So I dropped out of acting and went in other directions."
Hyde helped support himself during his lost decade by speaking at Star Trek conventions, which were swelling in popularity during the 1970s and 80s.
"It's a real pleasure to have my toe in pop-culture history," Hyde said, proud of his involvement with the 40-year-old phenomenon.
Hyde then decided to give acting another shot and moved back to New York. After a year, Hyde packed up and traveled to Nashville, where he spent a year unsuccessfully trying to break into country music.
Finally, with nearly two decades of profound experiences behind him, Hyde decided to become a teacher.
This is Hyde's 14th year as professor at SCSU, and his first as head of the Theater Dept. He has also started teaching acting for the first time this year, and despite his extensive qualifications, Hyde found the experience very educational.
"I think the first time you teach anything, you learn as much as you teach," Hyde said. "Questions have come up (in class) that have made me think about acting in a new way, and so I decided I had to do some acting myself again."
So when the opportunity to audition for "Death of a Salesman" came up, Hyde just couldn't resist. The emotionally involved role has not only rekindled Hyde's love of acting, but has audiences buzzing that it may be the role of a lifetime.
The Star Tribune's Graydon Royce wrote that Hyde "...plunges into Willy Loman with an unrelenting ferocity." The critic went on to say that Hyde successfully "plays Loman as a desperate man driven by fits of optimism, anxiety and delusion, who is betrayed by the principles that he has worshipped arrogantly throughout his life."
"Death of a Salesman" plays through the month of March at the Loading Dock theater.
As for Hyde, he plans to continue acting as long as he can walk on a stage.
"I will always find it irresistible when someone offers me an interesting part," Hyde said. "I've been given the great opportunity to do something that I love for the rest of my life."
