Illingworth Weighs Pudding Changes

The Hasty Pudding stage has seen its share of glitter, feathers and sequins over the years, as home to the Hasty Pudding Theatricals' annual drag burlesque extravaganza.

But all that glamour has taken its toll, and as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) sits poised to assume ownership of the Pudding building, the 124-year old theater on Holyoke Street is in dire need of renovations--paid for from Harvard's coffers.

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles said last Friday the planned renovations to the Pudding building will likely cost somewhere upwards of $10 million dollars.

Renovation plans will include a social space and new rehearsal rooms, and unlike any other performance space on campus, the theater will be supervised directly by the College.

The Institute of 1770--the graduate board of Pudding Theatricals, the Pudding social club, the Krokodiloes and the Pitches--signed a letter of intent last week stating it will transfer ownership of the Pudding building to FAS. In exchange, Harvard will forgive the group's significant financial debts to the University.

But Harvard isn't getting the Pudding for nothing.

The building needs extensive structural, electrical and plumbing work, said David P. Illingworth '71, associate dean of Harvard College, and it will have to be made handicapped accessible.

A start time for renovations has not yet been set.

Illingworth said the legal agreement that officially transfers ownership of the Pudding building to FAS is in the works.

"We may not be ready to start renovations next fall, so the question is, what to do with the building for the next academic year?" he said.

Illingworth said once FAS owns the building, Harvard will be liable for students' safety in the space.

The current decrepit condition of the building could pose safety hazards, and Illingworth said if the building is deemed unsafe, students will not be able to use the space until renovations are complete.

He said the renovated facility will likely include a "social space" but that the theater will take center stage.

"Performing arts, by the nature of the building, are a priority," Illingworth said.

The addition of another stage into Harvard's performance space line-up has the potential to relieve an already space-crunched arts community.

"The Pudding gives us more flexibility, even if we keep Agassiz Theatre," Illingworth said. "This adds another fully equipped theater [to the community]."

Illingworth will spearhead the renovation efforts along with Georgene B. Herschbach, associate dean of the College for finance and administration, and an advisory committee.

Illingworth said the College will likely hire a professional theater director to serve as an administrator to the Pudding theater and coordinate plans for the stage.

Unlike any other campus theater, Illingworth said the director will report directly to the College.

"We'll have some professional resident person to run things," he said. "But that director will work under the Dean's office of the College."

Illingworth also said he is exploring the possibility of adding to the backstage of the theater--the area behind the stage--to give more room to actors and stage crew.

"Can we enlarge the backstage? That's one of the problems with Agassiz, there isn't any backstage," Illingworth said. "I'm exploring if we can make the space larger and/or more efficient."

He also said that if FAS decides to use the Pudding space for dance performances, the stage floor would have to be replaced to be safe for dancers.

Illingworth said he also envisioned rehearsal areas and a "social space" inside the building.

"We might use some of the other spaces in the building for rehearsals of a show that is going into the theater," he said. "A social space would have to be flexible, and I don't see a permanent open space like Loker Commons."

"The problem to avoid," Illingworth continued, "is designing a space that attempts to be everything and ends up not being good for anything."

Last week's agreement between FAS and the Pudding's graduate board gives the College a new space dedicated entirely to undergraduates, and allows Hasty Pudding Theatricals to continue to use the space for its productions.

In 1986, Harvard bought the land on which the Pudding building sits, in an attempt to rescue the organization from financial ruin. The group was to pay rent to Harvard for using the land.

But the organization has long been remiss in paying its rent to Harvard, and graduate board members said they simply do not have the cash to keep up the building.