THEATER 2.0

Deep within the bowels of the building at 10 Holyoke Street dangles a cardboard poster bearing the words, “Danger: Live Steam!” Set among gently whirring machinery and a maze of gleaming white pipes, the excitement of the sign’s tone is a much more apt description of what is going on upstairs.

Three stories above the basement, the sounds of student artists at work ring out. Someone strikes a piano chord and a roomful of Radcliffe Pitches answer its call. In a nearby office, student assistants copy press releases for upcoming events, and on the building’s sixth and uppermost floor, professional director David R. Gammons ’92 offers criticism to the undergraduate cast of “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feelin’ So Sad.”

With so much activity already in swing, it might be surprising to learn that the building is still operating at half-speed, weeks away from its official opening. In fact, the New College Theatre (NCT), formerly the Hasty Pudding Theatre, is currently bracing itself for an even heavier onslaught of student traffic in the coming months and years.

THE CUTTING EDGE

Dana Knox, the new Production Coordinator of College Theatre, is eager to show off the new space. The theater’s recent upgrades include a 272-seat theater with computerized, industry-standard lighting; a mechanized orchestra pit; and a convertible rehearsal and performance space the same size as the main stage.

The NCT also provides ample office space for the three student groups who will call it home: the Hasty Pudding Theatricals (HPT), the Harvard Krokodiloes, and the Radcliffe Pitches. Two 13,800-volt electronic transformers provide the building with more than enough power, infrastructure Knox sees as a commitment to future improvements.

“Technology is moving at such a speed that you need to over-accommodate to anticipate growth. When in 15 years the hottest new lighting gear requires more voltage, we’ll be able to handle that,” he says.

Jonah C. Priour ’10, a cast member of “Oh Dad,” will also co-direct the NCT’s first entirely student-run show, “Children of Eden,” this January. He says that the theater’s introduction of such cutting-edge technology will raise the standard of student theater offerings.

“I can remember lots of past productions where there were so many wonderful ideas that students just didn’t have the resources or the connections to make that stuff happen,” he says. “As of right now, I think that we’re only getting ready to unravel the possibilities.”

HPT President Evan W. Eachus ’08 is no less impressed by the NCT’s new technological capabilities. “It’s just going to increase the production levels of everything being put up,” he says, noting that such refurbishments did come with a trade-off.

“Of course everyone was a bit nostalgic,” he says of losing the former theater where Pudding shows had been performed since 1889. “At the same time we recognized that these renovations were necessary. I think the renovations did a pretty good job of keeping all the history intact.”

PLAYING IT SAFE

Renovations began on the old Hasty Pudding Theater in 2005, after what Jack Megan, director of the Office for the Arts (OFA), calls, “a very long and detailed process of talking and looking at theaters and asking ourselves how we wanted to proceed.” According to Megan, the decision to rebuild and refurbish the theater was neither sudden nor surprising.

“There was always a certain momentum towards doing this project. It was a steady and ever-growing realization that the theater was in a state of increasing decay. Safety issues and production issues were being compromised.”

Knox agrees that student safety has been a major factor in the planning of the new facility.

“The single most important thing when doing academic theater is student safety at all times. The old theater was a firetrap. It had history but it wasn’t ADA [American with Disabilities Act] complaint and it wasn’t the safest building. Now all of that is completely alleviated,” Knox says.

With improved safety and handicap access to the building, the dilemma now is what to do once inside. Currently, the NCT calls itself enriching the theatrical community at Harvard, but just exactly what that means is something Megan refers to as “the million dollar question.”

“Ultimately it’s not about the building, its about the work that happens in the building,” says Megan. “There was a desire to push the envelope in terms of our understanding of what theater could be at Harvard, so there was also a question of what happens programmatically.”

According to Megan, future programming for the NCT will focus on educating students as much as giving them the chance to perform.

“We want as much as possible to bridge the study of art and the practice of art. That means bridging the curricular and the extra curricular,” he says.

QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY

For both Megan and Knox, an important part of fulfilling this mission will be the incorporation of theater professionals into the program schedule. “Learning From Performers,” a visiting artist program in conjunction with the OFA has in the past welcomed guests with an array of talents, from actor Jack Lemmon ’46 (a former member of the HPT) to singer Bonnie L. Raitt ’72.

Tom Lee, Communications Manager of the OFA, says he hopes to hold future events in the series at the NCT. The annual Hasty Pudding Man and Woman of the Year awards will draw still more attention to the new theater when their ceremonies return to the building this year.

“We hope that the theater becomes the focal point of Harvard arts,” says Eachus. But he notes that the new building will not necessarily mean more plays overall.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily about increasing the volume of theater on campus. I think it’s about increasing the quality and I think that this theater will help catalyze that movement,” he says.

“The point of the New College Theatre is not to do a new 10 or 12 plays when we already do 40 or 50. It’s not like we need more volume,” agrees Megan.

“I think that this building is a big challenge and how it is used and what the highest and most exciting use will be is the one we haven’t thought of yet.”

OPENING NIGHT

In the meantime, the NCT staff and the OFA have concentrated on creating a successful opening season and getting out the word about the theater’s revival. Christine K.L. Bendorf ’10, an intern at the NCT and board member of the Harvard Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players, believes that the general student body is already curious about the recent reappearance of the NCT’s Georgian façade, “Something that the New College Theatre has is that it is right in the middle of the College,” she says. “We walk by every day and notice the posters in the window and see this big beautiful building and theater.”

“Children of Eden” co-director Nelson T. Greaves ’10 agrees.

“Everyone that gets involved really, especially the OFA staff, it’s like this big parade of giddy school children, just totally excited with this new toy. They’re as excited as we are and I think that that excitement breeds new excitement.”

An official opening ceremony on Oct. 17 will precede the season’s opening night. In addition to welcoming remarks by President Drew G. Faust, “Learning With Performers” will present a panel discussion on the future of playwriting with speakers including Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel.

As exciting as the opening ceremonies promise to be, Megan says that the first performance of “Oh Dad” will serve as the theater’s true introduction.

“I’m especially excited for the first show,” he says. “Nov. 1 at 8 o’clock, above all that’s the red letter date for me. I can hardly wait. It’s going to be amazing.”

In addition to all the other distinctive features of the evening, playwright Arthur L. Kopit ’59 will be in attendance on opening night to participate in a post-show discussion of his work. Priour maintains that his level of excitement is almost indescribable.

“Unspeakable, that’s what it is, I have no words. Hopefully that will not be the case when the curtain opens.”

—Staff writer Nayeli E. Rodriguez can be reached at nrodrig@fas.harvard.edu.