Bringing Broadway to the Pudding

At one time or another most high schools in America mount a production of Guys and Dolls. This is not surprising: it's a solid performance piece with a clever story, jazzy songs and nothing too controversial or risque, unless your town is likely to be offended by dice games and chaste kisses. It's also weathered the years far better than most other golden age American musicals, with much more grit and character than, say, Oklahoma or South Pacific, which can really test the patience of even the most adoring parents. Plus, high school kids can be cute when wearing loud checkered jackets and faking exaggerated "Nu Yawk" accents.

There are several reasons to catch the current production of Guys and Dolls at the Hasty Pudding Theater, not the least of which is that everyone does look, well, cute. But it would be a mistake to write off this show, which packed the house for several performances last weekend, as something your high school could have done. True, it's the same old story and the same old songs, but there's something striking about seeing it at Harvard that makes this production especially noteworthy.

This Guys and Dolls is unusual with respect to Harvard theater for several reasons, one of which is the fact that it almost didn't exist. Director Colleen A. McGuinness '99 had assembled a small production team before applying for a spot on the Loeb Mainstage this semester; when their application was turned down, that seemed to be the end of it. Few other spaces on campus are large enough to provide the technical versatility necessary for a production of this size.

It is only by chance that McGuinness met Michael McClung, manager of the Hasty Pudding theater, who was looking for an interesting new way to fill the space. Guys and Dolls was thus resurrected in a venue that hasn't hosted any other student theater, except the annual all-male Pudding shows, for over a decade. The American Repertory Theater occasionally stages a play there, but often the space remains dark. Guys and Dolls should prove that there's no reason to reserve the space almost exclusively for cross-dressing.

Another distinguishing factor of the show is its diverse cast and technical crew, drawn from various corners of the Harvard arts scene. A popular complaint from students involved with campus productions is that Harvard's theatrical talent is stretched too thin. Indeed, McGuinness reports that there was some resentment directed at her show during common casting for precisely this reason: several other musicals were competing for the same pool of people. But Guys and Dolls, more than most other shows at Harvard, has attracted people from outside the regular theater community, from a capella to the Pudding to dance companies, and the result is a constant flow of energy and talent on the stage. The show makes a good argument for erasing some of the barriers between student arts groups at Harvard, if for no other reason than to increase the pleasure of their audiences.

Ironically, the show is also somewhat original by virtue of its traditional appeal. Many campus productions tend to be experimental, both in the works they select and their approaches to performing them. This Guys and Dolls isn't new or intellectual or re-interpreted in any challenging way, but it's fun. The show's very traditional aims (namely, to please) make it a rarity here, though less so in the commercial world of Broadway.

Certainly we should continue to have theater that is more rigorous and adventurous in its subject matter and approach to storytelling than Guys and Dolls is. This is especially important in commercial theater, where theatrical comfort food is increasingly all that audiences are willing to consume. But that doesn't mean we should forget old favorites, which, as Guys and Dolls shows, can be artistic and witty and refreshing. "Theater should make you both think and feel," says McGuinness, "but if I had to choose one over the other, I would say it's more important that a show make you feel." At Harvard, where the tendency to intellectualize everything tends to get in the way of having a good time, this seems especially important to remember.

Guys and Dolls reminds us that there need not be a separation between Harvard and the larger community; what worked at your high school might still be entertaining here. McGuinness claims that, even at Harvard, "something has to be said for having fun." And Guys and Dolls says this very well. Keeping the historic Pudding stage open to future student productions like Guys and Dolls would be a great way of maintaining that reminder.

Erwin R. Rosinberg '00 is an English concentrator in Mather House. His column appears on alternate Wednesdays.