My son, Nolan, is a 6th year senior at UF here in Gainesville studying acting. We knew he was to be (or not to be) in Hamlet which opened Friday. We had tickets for last night. He had told us all along that his role was to be that of the First Player. He did not tell us that two days after his role was cast, the original Polonius had to leave for family emergency reasons and that Nolan was recast in that part. He carried on the farce of his smaller role adding that he had also added the part of the disgruntled priest more recently - a total fabrication. I was, therefore, totally surprised and delighted to see him doing a remarkable job as Polonious to a second night of a sold out audience. The laughter itself would make a mother proud. The comments after did so as well.
(Oh - the reason he is a sixth year senior is that it is a four year specialized field of study for a Bachelor of Fine Arts and you have to get all four years in. He went to a community college his first two years and is now ready to go on to an MFA program next fall)
Then, during the intermission, my daughter who is a first year acting student said, "Mom, Now I know why I wanted to go to Florida School of the Arts. I am so proud!" (FloArts is a Florida mandated Fine Arts College in a community college setting taking only a total of 150 students per year. For her to be accepted meant a great deal.)
All I can say is that my burst buttons fell off the chest last night.
Thanks for letting me share.
Susan