Curtain Rises on Pudding

For years, the undergraduate arts community has raised its voice in a collective wail, bemoaning the dearth of performance space on campus.

The Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC) had a mere two slots on the Loeb Mainstage for undergraduate productions this past fall--the board got eight applications for the two openings.

And dancers have had no where to turn in recent years but to Lowell Lecture Hall, which has no off-stage area for performers, and the aging Rieman Dance Center in Radcliffe Yard.

But now, the College is just a few signatures away from assuming control of the Hasty Pudding stage, and members of the arts community are already eyeing the space, imaging the productions that could soon grace the Pudding stage.

With its gently sloping seating, a small basement set shop and a 124-year tradition of extravagant productions, the now worn Hasty Pudding theater is waiting for a face lift--to be funded by Harvard.

Students active in the arts have called the College's acquisition of the Pudding building 'incredible," "fabulous" and "amazing for the community."

"[It's] wonderful. The more resources for theater we have, the better," says Nick R. Parrillo '00, who was the campus liaison for HRDC last year.

Erica P. Rabbit '00, vice president of HRDC last year, produced "Guys and Dolls" on the Pudding stage and says the theater's location in the Square is ideal.

"With [the Pudding's] central location, a show is much more likely to attract [those] people in the Square for the afternoon, she said.

But the Pudding is not a cure-all to Harvard's dramatic ills.

Though the Pudding is a workable size for musicals and shows with dance elements, those in the artistic community say the stage is a bit too small for full scale dance productions.

"The Pudding theater is a small stage, but I want to figure out if is an option for us," says Liz M. Santoro '01, co-director of the Harvard Ballet Company. "As a dancer, I've performed in small places--you make due with what you have."

The College hopes a $10 million renovation project and the hiring of a full-time theater director will help students make the most of the Pudding.

Rabbit says the building's wiring is quite worn, and the mechanical system for hanging sets is outdated as well.

"It's an old theater," she says.

Rabbit also says the Pudding space took awhile to get used to when she was producing "Guys and Dolls."

The show's staff had to figure out the idiosyncrasies of the place--how the lights and sound system worked, how to hang sets with the antiquated "drop system."

But the College says it would like to hire a full-time professional to manage the space, and Rabbit says such a move would be a big help to students looking to put up a show on the Pudding stage.

"Institutional support is really important, that was a problem with 'Guys and Dolls.' There were so many things we had to figure out," she says. "Somebody who is continually with the space would be a big help."

The current stage floor at the Pudding also poses a risk to dancers, says Stefanie E. DeSantis '00, the captain of the Crimson Dance Team.

"Some wooden floors give more than others," DeSantis says. "Often, old floors don't give at all, and that puts you at risk for things like shin splints.

Dancers need to perform on a special type of surface called "marley flooring."

DeSantis says that despite its high cost, marley flooring is perfect for dance turns, and can be temporarily laid down over the Pudding's wood floor and then taken up if a theatrical performance requires wood flooring.

Still, Santoro says she hopes that the new stage will allow dance performances to have longer runs.

"We do one show a semester, with just two nights of shows now," she says. "A two weekend run would be great, and I think other dance groups would take advantage of the option."

The Pudding stage is fair-sized--more roomy in terms of depth than length--and has proven itself as a host of large musicals.

Rabbit says the orchestra pit is an advantage when staging a musical, and "the lay out works."

"The stage can handle 15 people, which is very hard to do," she said.

And though the Pudding stage is not ideal for all productions, with another stage in Harvard's repertoire, the College may have the space to do some shuffling, moving productions to the space to which they are best suited.

DeSantis says the Loeb Mainstage--with its massive performance space--is ideal for a large scale dance production.

"It depends on what kind of dance, but athletic dance moves a lot, and that takes up a lot space," she says. "Even Lowell Lecture Hall is a bit small. Sanders is a very difficult space to use. The Reiman Center, that is large enough. But the Mainstage is really good."

While it might not be the perfect space for every performance group, theater participants note the Pudding stage has a long history with students.

"There have been undergraduate productions in the Pudding besides the Hasty Pudding show over the past couple of years, and they have been very well received. I hope this is an opportunity for those productions to continue," Parrillo says.