New College Theatre Opens on Historic Hasty Pudding Site
With the fall opening of the New College Theatre, a state-of-the-
art venue on the Hasty Pudding Theatre site, Harvard’s active undergraduate performing arts scene gets a big boost. The new 274-seat theater has been built behind the facade of the Georgian Revival building at 10-12 Holyoke Street.
The theater will have its opening ceremony on Wednesday, October 17 at 7 pm with Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust and other Harvard officials inattendance. The event will include a panel discussion sponsored by the OFA’s Learning From Performers program, “The Future of American Drama,” moderated by Robert Brustein, critic, playwright, director, educator and Founding Director and Creative Consultant of Harvard’s American Repertory Theatre.
Confirmed participants are playwrights John Guare (Six Degrees of Separation), Adam Rapp (Nocturne), Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive) and Melinda Lopez (Sonia Flew). Free tickets are required for admission, available through the Harvard Box Office, www.boxoffice.harvard.edu or 617.496.2222 (TTY: 617.495.1642).
“The opening of the New College Theatre is a milestone for Harvard’s theater community,” said President Faust. “Harvard has nurtured many great artists over the years, including a number of prominent playwrights, directors and actors. This space raises all kinds of creative possibilities for our students and faculty, including the possibility of artistic projects that span the barrier between the classroom and the stage."
Built in 1888 as the home of the Hasty Pudding Club and Theatricals, the historic building has been completely refashioned as an intimate theater within a six-level facility, constructed behind and adjacent to the restored facade and front rooms of the old Hasty Pudding. The front third of the building has been retained to carry forward the new facility’s historical significance. The redesign was spearheaded by former Dean of Harvard College Benedict Gross and created by architects Leers Weinzapfel Associates and Fisher Dachs Associates, with construction management by Shawmut Design and Construction (see related articles on pages 4-5).
Funded by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the New College Theatre—which also includes rehearsal rooms, changing rooms, a prop and scene workshop, orchestra and stage lifts, offices, and a reception area—will be managed by the Office for the Arts. It will serve primarily as a venue for undergraduate stage productions, and will also provide office space for the Hasty Pudding Theatricals and the a cappella groups Krokodilos and Radcliffe Pitches.
“The past few years have been an extraordinary time for the arts at Harvard with the opening of the Harvard College Dance Center,” noted Office for the Arts Director Jack Megan. “We’ve seen the proliferation of curricular courses in music, drama and dance that bridge the study and practice of the arts, the creation of artist development fellowships, and now the opening of the New College Theatre.”
Fall programming for the New College Theatre has also been confirmed.
