Pudding Funds Cambridge Public Schools

Outfitted in yellow and silver lamé dresses topped with white feather boas and matching dyed wigs, leaders of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals (HPT) invaded Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) with a gift in hand: a check for $12,000.

Their Saturday night cameo—just before a high school production of “Little Shop of Horrors”—was part of the student organization’s initiative to enrich the arts in local schools.

From 2003 to 2006, HPT has donated $46,000 to the Cultural Endowment Fund, HPT 159 Producer Evan W. Eachus ’08 said. The fund, which allows Cambridge students to pursue unique cultural experiences, has subsidized tickets to theatrical performances, cultural events, and museum exhibitions.

Eachus, who wore a normal suit instead of a zany costume, said that the fund expresses his organization’s commitment to arts education.

“Arts education and our relationship with the city of Cambridge are of the utmost importance for Hasty Pudding Theatricals,” he said, his statements punctuated by applause from the audience. “We look forward to continuing this rapport.”

President Joshua M. Brener ’07, who wore the yellow dress and wig at the event, expressed the same sentiments in a press release.

“HPT has always felt strongly that the arts are fundamental to the education of all students, young and old, and we hope that our annual donation will make it possible for more lives to be enriched by the arts as ours have been,” he wrote.

Cambridge Public Schools Coordinator of Visual and Performing Arts Judith Contrucci accepted the check and recalled the first time that HPT came to her office to offer support for Cambridge Public Schools.

“I thought that that was a really wonderful gesture on their part,” she said to the theatre filled with parents and students. “I couldn’t be more surprised and awed and thrilled by their generosity.”

Cambridge Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Carolyn Turk accepted the check along with Contrucci on behalf of the schools, and said that the relationship between HPT and the school system represents the relationship that should exist between Harvard and Cambridge.

“You exemplify what Harvard should be doing,” she said. “It’s more than just the money. It’s about who you are, what you do, and how we work together.”

Before the group established the Cultural Endowment Fund for Cambridge schools, Hasty Pudding Theatricals made contributions to the Phillip Brooks House Association, Boston Children’s Hospital, and other non-profits.

The 159th production of the Theatricals, “The Tent Commandments,” will open Feb. 23 at the Zero Arrow Street Theatre.

—Staff writer Laura A. Moore can be reached at lamoore@fas.harvard.edu.