ARTS TUESDAY: Classic Pudding Kitsch Still Reigns

The West is wild. And so is the Hasty Pudding.

Yet, offhand, the two don’t seem a natural fit. In fact, it is hard to imagine the over-the-top cross-dressing Pudding actors fitting into the fast-talking, rough-and-tumble world of the Old Frontier West. But the cast, crew, and creative team of the Pudding make this unlikely combination work with a kitschy and reliable formula all their own—one of talent, energy, and characteristically Pudding ridiculousness.

To say that one expects a Hasty Pudding Theatricals (HPT) show to be over-the-top in every possible way is an understatement—and the production HPT157: Terms of Frontierment does not disappoint those with such expectations. One opening line kindly predicts, “You came here to see a musical.” The song continues, “Well, darling, you’re not in Beacon Hill anymore,” making a reference to both the somewhat alien setting of the show and establishing from the outset the fact that HPT157 is obviously no ordinary musical.

As we have come to expect from Pudding productions, the script is full of unique wit in the form of frequent puns, inside jokes, and characters who are at once hilariously stereotypical and deliciously different. More than any other feature of the writing, this wit carries the show and provides the theater company productions with their unique appeal.

But the core of the show surely lies in the strength of its actors. The men of the show have a healthy sense of irony and a stunning willingness to put themselves on the line for laughs. And as if their genuine acting talent weren’t enough, each HPT man displays the singing and dancing skills that the musical demands. In particular, Samuel G. Rosen ’06, as Chief Lester Thamohicans, and Thomas P. Lowe ’05, as his daughter Pocahotness, shine in their performances.

Beyond the raw acting skills of the cast, the HPT production is also visually stunning. Costumes could not be more aptly designed, though even the show’s script includes references that poke fun at the outrageousness of HPT costumes, which tend to be designed according to stereotypes. Indeed, at one point in the show, Gay Caballero tells his partner-in-crime, an Asian railroad maven named Ho Down, that she looks “like a cocktail waitress for the Viet Cong.” She responds equally critically, commenting that he looks “like a rainbow collapsed on a naked man.” Set designs, too, are numerous and help to set a realistic stage—though, as a part of the backdrop, their role in enhancing the production is more subtle.

The sometimes-predictable music soundtrack is by and large very creative, with compositions spanning a wide range of genres and providing Frontierment with a steady and exciting beat.

That said, the show is far from perfect. There are times when the show’s sheer excess stops being fun and just starts being, well, overwhelming—and it is safe to say that Frontierment has its share of those times.

Some jokes just don’t seem to fly no matter how well they’re delivered, as in the case of one exchange between a ghost and an explorer. After a ghost (a female) makes clear her desire for an explorer (a male), the latter objects to the flirtation, giving the excuse, “Well, you’re dead and I’m a very devout Christian.” The female ghost responds, “Well, maybe you could show me a res-er-ec-tion,” delivering wordplay so obvious it would surely make even the most tolerant punsters cringe.

And some jokes are just carried a little too far in HPT157— as in one scene during which several characters sorting through a laundry basket speak in puns about the articles found therein. The exchanges work well for about the first four items, but the banter loses its charm by the time the characters come to discuss “tidy-whities,” at which point the humor of the situation has long passed.

There are also times, despite the clever lines and incredible performances, when the audience loses track of the thread of a compelling storyline, which usually impels the audience to remain attentive. Even for a farce, the HPT157 script seems to contain too many subplots and unrelated characters—and too little interesting action.

The audience is never left wanting. But perhaps this weakness of the production is actually an essential part of the HPT magic. After all, it is in the very nature of an over-the-top production to go far beyond satiation. In this case, every joke is carried to its natural end at the time it is made, characters are ridiculed as much as humanly possible when they are first introduced, and the show itself continues long past the conclusion of the actual musical with a lengthy, garish kick-line number.

This somewhat unexpected classic recipe for Pudding success remains unchanged and uncompromised in Frontierment . But the show is never less tasty than its predecessors. After all, let’s face it: there is something rather appealing about being entirely too full.

—Reviewer Marianne F. Kaletzky can be reached at kaletzky@fas.harvard.edu.