Scream Will Shatter Tradition at Pudding

A 170-year-old anti-feminist tradition will end with a shriek at the Hasty Pudding Club when Lucy Barri '55 screams from the wings for 20 seconds in this year's Pudding Show, "The Happy Medium."

The show's female impersonators, who have always kept ahead of the torso problem, acknowledged defeat last week in the tonsil division. Baffled in their quest for someone to deliver a blood-curdling scream from the wings in the Act One Frankenstein scene, Pudding casters had vainly tried out every boy in the Club.

"But their screams weren't blood-curdling enough," Miss Barri explained, "and Denn Fischer, the director, finally had to admit he know someone who could shriek beautifully--me."

"That Awful Noise"

Fischer's attention was directed to Miss Barri's vocal power last week, when someone tickled her and she screamed during the rehearsal. A half hour later, Fischer held his hands over his ears and said, "I can still hear that awful noise--that's the scream we need for the show."

Since Miss Barri does not appear on the stage, the tradition is not totally violated. "Her scream is unmistakably feminine, though," Walter D. Littell '55, Chairman of the Show, said, "and I expect an avalanche of letters of protest from old grads when they find out."

Members of the east, however, are enthusiastic about female infiltration. Stephen M. Bolster '55 said "Lucy's done all the make-up and costumes for us, and I'm glad she can get her scream in the Show."

When asked whether or not she was worried about losing her voice halfway through the show's run, Miss Barri cocked her head surely and said, "Of course not. I project."