Puritans, Witches Wrangle In 137th Pudding Show

New Yorker Sara L. Luzarus, director of the 137th annual Hasty Pudding show, calls her upcoming affiliation with Harvard's most celebrated troupe of transvestites "every Jewish mother's dream."

In the new and as yet untitled show, which will be cast over the weekend of November 36, "The Pudding looks at the Moral Majority," says Alek P. Keshishian '86, co-producer of the all-male show.

Author Paul Sagawa '85, who co-wrote the script with Peter A. Miller '85 says it "looks at the Salem witch trials and takes jabs at "The Crucible," Nathaniel Hawthorne's books and the Puritan work ethic.

The action revolves around the struggle between the Puritans and a wanton group of women whom they accuse of witchcraft. Conflict brews when the Puritans enlist the aid of a skeptical angel, and a devil decided to champion the women's cause.

The show opens Febraury 20 at the Pudding, 10 Holyoke St., and runs through March 20. Then actors, artistic and management staff head to Manhattan for a four-day engagement at the Norman Thomas High School, and finish up with to days of shows over spring break in Bermuda.

The theatrical company selected Lazarus from a field of more than 140 people because of her energetic approach and considerable summer stock, off-Broadway and Broadway credits, according to Keshishian.

"I have achieved some major success," says Lazarus "but when I told my mother I would do the Hasty Pudding, to her that was the most exciting thing."