Hasty Pudding Announces Man and Woman of the Year

The Oscars aren't until March, but Jamie Lee Curtis and Billy Crystal will be taking center stage later at Harvard this month, as recipients of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman and Man of the Year awards, the Pudding announced yesterday.

The Pudding honors two performers a year for "their lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment" with a good natured roast, a "Pudding Pot" trophy, and a well publicized visit to the Hasty Pudding Theater on Holyoke Street.

Curtis will lead a parade in her honor through the streets of Harvard Square on Feb. 10th. If tradition holds, Curtis will be surrounded by the Pudding's all-male cast, a group outfitted in glitzy drag.

At the Woman of the Year ceremony in the Hasty Pudding Theater, the Pudding cast will also preview its 152nd production, "The Jewel of Denial."

"Jewel" will open on Feb. 17, when Crystal is in town to receive his "Pudding Pot."

Curtis and Crystal will also hang out with the Pudding's cast and staff, have some fun and pass on some insights about show business.

"There will be a conference with the whole company. They'll talk about their careers and give some advice," said Elizabeth M. Darst '00. "It's a chance to get to know the actors more personally. They're very open to taking questions too."

Curtis got her first big break in show business with her starring role in the 1970's horror flick classic, Halloween. She earned critical acclaim for her work in 1988's A Fish Called Wanda and won a Golden Globe in 1994 for True Lies, where she co-starred with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Crystal, who earned a BFA from New York University in 1970, was a substitute teacher in New York, playing comedy clubs in the city. He joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1984, and went on to star in such big screen hits as The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally and City Slickers.

Besides hosting the Oscars for the seventh time this March, Crystal has won six Emmy Awards, six American Comedy Awards and seven Cable Ace Awards.

"Jewel," in keeping with Pudding tradition, is an original musical production, with a comedic script and score written by undergraduates.

The all-male cast, reveling in the organization's legacy of flashy drag, works with professional costumers, choreographers, lighting directors and set designers to produce a show with the largest budget of any student production on campus.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals' Woman of the Year award; the Man of the Year award was established in 1963.