Pudding Donates to Arts Education

Dressed as a giant bumblebee and a jumper-suited school girl, two cast members from the Hasty Pudding Theatricals presented Cambridge Public Schools with a $11,000 check Friday night as part of the Theatricals’ initiative to improve arts education in local schools.

The five-minute event, which took place at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, preceded the high school’s 7:30 p.m. production of “The Madwoman of Chaillot.”

Started three years ago, the Hasty Pudding Theatricals Fund for Cultural Enrichment has subsidized tickets for over 3,400 Cambridge Public School students spanning grades K-12 to attend theatrical performances, cultural events and museum exhibitions.

“Every year I’ve been a part of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, we’ve raised thousands of dollars for students to get an education in the arts,” said Theatricals Vice President Peter A. Dodd ’06. “At the end of every show, two dress-clad actors stand in the back of the theater holding out wigs and asking for money.”

This year’s donation came from charitable contributions made during the company’s run of HPT 157: “Terms of Frontierment.”

School officials expressed their gratitude for the Theatricals’ continued dedication to arts in education.

Judith Contrucci, K-12 coordinator for visual and performing arts for Cambridge Public Schools, said her reaction was one of “astonishment and joy.”

“The Hasty Pudding Theatricals have made one of the most altruistic gestures I’ve ever encountered in 33 years in education,” she said. “They feel so passionate about arts that they are willing to go to extreme lengths to give Cambridge school kids exposure to arts. It is very reassuring to know that the upcoming Harvard generation values giving back to the community.”

Explaining why the student tickets are subsidized and not paid in full, she added, “I believe it is really important for kids to know that the arts aren’t free. The kids always give a little something, even if it’s only a dollar, because we want them to know that the arts costs something.”

The money raised by the fund has already gone towards countless performances, cultural events and museum exhibits—364 students have toured exhibits at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Concord Museum, and over 700 students attended a performance of “The Island of Anyplace” at the Loeb Drama Center.

Pudding members emphasized the importance of supporting local arts at Friday’s event.

“The members of the Theatricals believe that it was arts in education that gave us the passion and practical skills to put up our annual show. We want public school kids to have the opportunity to experience the arts,” said Theatricals co-producer Mary Kate A. Burke ’06.

Cast member Justin V. Rodriguez ’07, who donned the bumblebee costume for Friday’s ceremony, added, “We make this contribution to remind everyone that while theater and arts are educational, they are also a lot of fun. Education in the arts gives you the self-confidence to realize talents you never knew you had.”

The Fund for Cultural Enrichment is not the Theatricals’ first contribution to charity. In the past, the Hasty Pudding Theatricals has donated to the Phillips Brooks House Association and the Boston Children’s Hospital. The Theatricals will continue its commitment to the fund by taking a collection at every performance and by holding a charity show.

“As we sail into our new theater with HPT’s 158th production, “Some Like It Yacht,” we intend to continue giving back to the community because we consider it a vitally important tradition of ours,” Dodd said.

The 158th production of the Theatricals will open Feb. 24 at its new location at the Zero Arrow Street Theater.