Pudding Alums Perform in L.A.

Alumni from the Hasty Pudding Theatricals this week performed at a Harvard club benefit in Los Angeles, helping raise about $100,000 for a student scholarship fund.

The biannual fete, attended by such noted Harvard alumni as Jack Lemmon '47 and John Lithgow '67, was sponsored by the Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Southern California to fund scholarships for students from that region.

The Beverly Wilshire Hotel ballroom was filled by the 755 people who attended the $200-per-plate benefit. Gregory Peck, Sidney Poitier and Paul Newman were among those Hollywood notables on hand for the fete.

This year's benefit was the most successful so far for the alumni club. The gala raised $42,000 in 1981 and $72,000 in 1983, the last time it was held, said organizer Herbert D. Tobin '35.

Guest of honor Julie Andrews, 1983 recipient of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year Award, received a lifetime achievement award from the club, a City of Los Angeles award from Mayor Tom Bradley, and a certificate of merit from President Derek C. Bok.

The evening featured exerpts from past Pudding shows performed by the Los Angeles-area alumni who originally created the roles. Tobin had wanted members of the present cast to fly to Los Angeles for the fundraiser, but they declined because of scheduling conflicts.

The evening's show, produced by Los Angeles radio personality Ciji Ware '64, included a slide show tracing the Pudding's history, as well as Lemmon performing three of his songs the Pudding originally rejected.

Some of those who attended shelled out $5000 for a special "angel plate," for which they received a golden angel complete with rhinestone halo and crimson "H" emblazoned on its chest.