Pudding Picks Script, and a 'Tsar' Is Born

Last year, their script was rejected. But after revisions, the Hasty Pudding Theatricals finally saw something in the brainchild of Mark H. Baskin '95 and Jason M. Cooper '96.

For their 147th production, the Theatricals have chosen Baskin and Cooper's A Tsar is Born, a romantic farce set in the 19th century all-male town of Undergrad. The show will be cast in December and is scheduled to open in February for a four-week run.

"We were very excited about a Pudding show of our own" Baskin said yesterday. "Writing the show was a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears--mainly tears."

In the show, an all-male Pudding cast will play the villagers as well as the all-female troops who invade the town. "The characters really need love and companionship," said Theatricals President John S. Berman '95.

"It's not just funny," Berman said. "It talks about some very important themes in romance."

In interviews yesterday, the script's authors described the farce as "a play about love and second chances."

Baskin and Cooper said they became friends while working on Romancing the Throne, the Pudding show two years ago.

After acting in the past two shows, Baskin wanted to try writing. "I decided it was time to approach the Pudding from a different angle," he said.

Cooper said he saw writing as a way to stay in contact with the Pudding after joining the Din and Tonics, an a capella singing group.

The play was written and revised during multiple late-night sessions in Baskin's dorm room. Cooper said his co-author's roommates were very understanding of the demands of the creative process.

"The Pudding is a very emotional experience," said Cooper, who described his new play as Fiddler on the Roof meets Les Miz. "The play is about our journey as friends and what the Pudding has meant to us.

Cooper said he saw writing as a way to stay in contact with the Pudding after joining the Din and Tonics, an a capella singing group.

The play was written and revised during multiple late-night sessions in Baskin's dorm room. Cooper said his co-author's roommates were very understanding of the demands of the creative process.

"The Pudding is a very emotional experience," said Cooper, who described his new play as Fiddler on the Roof meets Les Miz. "The play is about our journey as friends and what the Pudding has meant to us.