Posted by Larry Gleeson
CAMBRIDGE, MA (February 3rd, 2017) – The Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the oldest theatrical organization in the United States, welcomed producer and Golden Globe nominated actor, RYAN REYNOLDS, to Harvard University where he received his Man of the Year award.
The Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ Man and Woman of the Year Awards are presented annually to performers who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment. The Man of the Year award was established in 1963. Its past recipients include, among others, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Justin Timberlake, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Pratt and most recently, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who was the 50th Man of the Year.
The Man of the Year festivities, presented by RELATED, started early in the day, when Mr. Reynolds was given a tour of Farkas Hall, followed by a private seminar with the members of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals. In the evening, Mr. Reynolds was given the Pudding’s traditional roast and was then made to earn his Pudding Pot as punishment for not finishing college degree. Some of the tasks, which Mr. Reynolds had to perform, were acting out a “traditional” Canadian wedding, complete with lap dance, and auditioning for a role in Deadpool 2, which tested his ability to hurl Deadpool-esque insults at beloved figures, like Tom Brady and former Woman of the Year, Meryl Streep.
A press conference followed the presentation, which was the second to be live-streamed free and to the public via the Hasty Pudding’s Facebook (www.facebook.com/thehastypudding), as it happened. To close out the festivities, the Hasty Pudding Theatricals members gave the Opening Night performance of their 169th production, Casino Evil.
TO PURCHASE TICKETS to the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 169th production, Casino Evil, contact the HPT Box Office at 617-495-5205 or order online www.hastypudding.org
The show will be performed at Harvard University’s historic Farkas Hall, located at 12 Holyoke Street, from February 3rd until March 5th. The company then travels to New York to perform at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College on March 10th and 11th (call 212-772-4448 for tickets), followed by performances on March 15th-17th at Hamilton City Hall in Bermuda.
ABOUT THE HASTY PUDDING INSTITUTE OF 1770
The Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770’s philanthropic mission is to provide educational and developmental support in all aspects of the performing arts for the underprivileged, to encourage satire and comedy, and to cultivate young talent around the world. The Institute is comprises the Hasty Pudding Club (the oldest social club in the United States), the Hasty Pudding Theatricals (the third oldest theater group in the world, after the Comédie-Française and the Oberammergau Passion Players) and the Harvard Krokodiloes (the foremost collegiate a cappella group in the United States). Over the last two centuries, it has grown into a premiere performing arts organization, a patron of the arts and comedy, and an advocate for satire and discourse as tools for change worldwide.
(Source: image.net/hastypudding.org)
On the next 3-5 years, all exhibitors will need to focus on the customer experience to stay competitive, but this can look very different depending on their type. On the one hand, we are seeing the emergence of a technologically oriented cinema optimized for experiencing blockbuster fare. On the other hand, we are seeing a focus on human interactions and live performance – so called “live cinema” – as a rapidly developing segment of the exhibition sector, helping audiences both new and old to build relationships with institutions and curators. These ostensibly very different styles of exhibition have in common that they are immersive, allowing the viewers to place themselves socially or physically inside the story, or to engage with its themes together. The social aspect is also at the heart of the growing market for film festivals aimed at general audiences.
“One film, of course, is like an anchor film, which is the Oscar-nominated film I Am Not Your Negro from Raoul Peck. I Am Not Your Negro is a find that makes my heart swell, because it’s James Baldwin, [who is] not only an icon, as a brilliant writer, but an activist, a gay person at a time when that was basically not possible.”
