Redesigned Hasty Pudding Theatre is now New College Theatre

Harvard’s newest space dedicated to the performing arts, the New College Theatre — formerly the site of the Hasty Pudding Theatre, located at 10-12 Holyoke St. — will open this fall under the auspices of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and managed by the Office for the Arts at Harvard (OFA).

Constructed in 1888 as the home of the Hasty Pudding Club and Theatricals, the historic Georgian Revival building has been completely rebuilt as a state-of-the-art, 272-seat theater within a six-level facility constructed behind and adjacent to the restored facade and front rooms of the old Hasty Pudding Theatre. The redesign, which retains the façade (the front third of the building) to ensure the new facility echoes its historical significance, was created by architects Leers Weinzapfel Associates and Fisher Dachs Associates, with construction management by Shawmut Design and Construction.

The theater’s opening event will be held on Wednesday (Oct. 17) at 7 p.m. and includes a welcome by Harvard President Drew Faust and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael Smith. Also that evening, the OFA’s visiting-artist program, Learning From Performers, will present a panel discussion, “Does Playwriting Have a Future?” moderated by Robert Brustein, founding director and creative consultant of Harvard’s American Repertory Theatre.

Panelists will include playwrights John Guare (Obie Award, “Six Degrees of Separation”), Melinda Lopez (Kennedy Center Charlotte Woolard Award, “The Order of Things”), Adam Rapp (Elliot Norton Award, “Nocturne”), and Paula Vogel (Pulitzer Prize, “How I Learned to Drive”).

Tickets, for Harvard affiliates only, are available through the Harvard Box Office, which can be visited at http://www.boxoffice.harvard.edu or called at (617) 496-2222; TTY: (617) 495-1642.

New College Theatre 2007 events, productions

The New College Theatre’s programming for the fall 2007 academic term will be a mix of student productions and special events. “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feelin’ So Sad,” the 1962 absurdist drama by Arthur Kopit ’59, will be the inaugural production, Nov. 1-11, with an undergraduate cast directed by David R. Gammons ’92. Other programming includes “Beckett at 100,” three little-known radio plays by Samuel Beckett, directed by Department of English Professor Robert Scanlan with a professional cast (Nov. 15-18); a residency featuring the Silk Road Project with Yo-Yo Ma ’76 (Nov. 26-30); “Etudes and Attitudes,” traditional and contemporary dance works presented by the Harvard Ballet Company (Dec. 13-16); and “Children of Eden,” a production of composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz’s 1991 musical, featuring an undergraduate cast (Jan. 3-13). This year’s edition of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals show, “Fable Attraction,” opens Feb. 15 and runs through March 16.

The Hasty Pudding Theatricals, which will continue presenting its annual spring musical in the theater, will host “An Afternoon with the Pudding” on Sunday, Oct. 21, 3-6 pm. Including tours, an exhibit of Pudding memorabilia, and reflections by Pudding alums, this event is open to the general public.

For more information about the New College Theatre, visithttp://www.fas.harvard.edu/theatre; e-mail theatre@fas.harvard.edu, or call (617) 495-8726.