Hasty Pudding Theatricals was formed in 1795 as a
social club for
Harvard College students to cultivate the social affections and cherish the feelings of friendship and patriotism. On December 13, 1844, the Pudding put on its first full performance – William Barnes Rhodes' burlesque opera
Bombastes Furioso. After a period of producing popular comedies by established playwrights, student members of the Pudding began to write their own shows, starting in 1882 with a production of
Dido and Aeneas by
Owen Wister. The event was interrupted for 2 years during each of the
World Wars and once more in 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The cast was limited to only men (often performing in drag) until 2018, though women played a role in the company for many years, primarily as
costumers. In 1948
Felisa Vanoff became Pudding's first female choreographer, and in 1978 Diane Nabatoff became its first female producer. In 2009
Megan Amram and
Alexandra Petri became the first all-female team to write the musical comedy. The technical crew, band, and business staff has been co-ed for many years. ==Notable alumni== •
BJ Averell, Grand Prize winner,
The Amazing Race •
Megan Amram •
Paris Barclay, Emmy-winning director and producer for dozens of film and television projects including
NYPD Blue,
Sons of Anarchy and
Glee, and in 2013 was elected President of the
Directors Guild of America •
Nell Benjamin, who herself wrote the award-winning play
The Explorers Club •
John Berman, news anchor for
CNN •
Andy Borowitz, humorist •
Josh Brener, actor in
Silicon Valley,
Maron, and
The Big Bang Theory, and former Pudding President •
Francis Cabot, American financier, gardener and
horticulturist •
Henry Ives Cobb Jr., artist •
Edward Everett, politician and orator at Gettysburg •
Fred Gwynne, Actor •
William Randolph Hearst, newspaper publisher •
Rashida Jones, actress in
Parks and Recreation,
The Office,
Boston Public, and the film
I Love You, Man •
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., physician, poet, and polymath •
David Javerbaum, playwright who has won 13
Emmy Awards, including 11 as head writer for
The Daily Show •
Jack Lemmon,
Oscar winner •
Alan Jay Lerner lyricist and librettist notable for collaboration with Frederick Loewe •
J. P. Morgan Jr., financier •
Dean Norris, actor in
Breaking Bad and
Under the Dome •
Mark O'Donnell, librettist who won a
Tony Award in 2003 for co-authoring the book for
Hairspray •
Michael O'Hare, Actor •
Laurence O'Keefe, actor and composer, wrote the music and lyrics for the Off-Broadway shows
Bat Boy: The Musical and
Heathers: The Musical •
Mark O'Keefe, co-wrote and co-produced the movies
Bruce Almighty and
Click •
Alexandra Petri •
Joe Raposo, composer, songwriter, pianist; for stage, screen, television
Sesame Street etc. •
Mo Rocca, comedian and former Pudding librettist and president •
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, US President •
Theodore Roosevelt, US President •
Felisa Vanoff (1925–2014), who became the company's first female choreographer in 1948 (although women had been included as costumers for many years prior) •
William Weld, former
Governor of Massachusetts •
Fairfax Henry Wheelan, American businessman, philanthropist, and political reformer. •
Owen Wister, novelist and biographer ==Origins of name==