The Norwell native will be honored with a parade and roast on February 4.
The awards keep rolling in for Jennifer Coolidge.
After snagging a Golden Globe statuette earlier this month for her role in “The White Lotus,” Coolidge was named the 2023 Woman of the Year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals on Tuesday.
The award ceremony will be a homecoming for Coolidge in more ways than one: The actress was born in Boston and raised in Norwell, and one of her most famous roles was in the 2001 film “Legally Blonde,” which was set around Harvard’s law school campus.
“We are so excited to welcome Jennifer Coolidge back to her hometown and to Harvard, the iconic setting of Legally Blonde,” Hasty Pudding Man & Woman of the Year Coordinator Maya Dubin said in a press release. “Her glittering personality and comedic presence are so Pudding.”
Coolidge will be honored with a parade through Harvard Square at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4, followed by a roast at 7 p.m., where she will be given the group’s Pudding Pot.
Coolidge joins previous Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year winners including Meryl Streep, Octavia Spencer, and fellow Massachusetts natives Elizabeth Banks and Amy Poehler.
Along with her roles in “White Lotus” and “Legally Blonde,” Coolidge gained significant attention for her role in the teen comedy “American Pie.” Other notable credits include “A Mighty Wind,” “Best in Show,” “A Cinderella Story,” and the recent romcom “Shotgun Wedding.”
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Jennifer Coolidge, who saw a career resurgence following her Emmy-winning turn as Tanya McQuoid-Hunt in the acclaimed HBO series “The White Lotus,” was named the 2023 Woman of the Year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals on Tuesday.
The Pudding is the oldest theatrical organization in the nation and one of the oldest in the world. Since 1951, it has bestowed this award annually on women “who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment.”
Coolidge, who also played Stifler’s sultry mom in “American Pie” and sage manicurist Paulette in the “Legally Blonde” movies, grew up in the Boston area.
“We are so excited to welcome Jennifer Coolidge back to her hometown and to Harvard, the iconic setting of Legally Blonde,” Man and Woman of the Year coordinator Maya Dubin said in a press release. “Her glittering personality and comedic presence are so Pudding.”
Coolidge will be honored with a parade through Harvard Square on Feb. 4 followed by a roast when she will be presented her Pudding Pot.
Her other film credits include roles in “Best In Show,” “A Mighty Wind” and “Shotgun Wedding” while she has appeared multiple television shows including “Seinfeld,” “2 Broke Girls” and “Nip/Tuck.”
Previous winners of the Woman of the Year Award include Meryl Streep, Viola Davis and Debbie Reynolds.
Bob Odenkirk was named the 2023 Hasty Pudding Man of the Year last week. He will be honored on Feb. 2.
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‘White Lotus’ star will be honored in Harvard Square on Feb. 4
The Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the oldest theatrical organization in the United States, has named actor Jennifer Coolidge as the recipient of its 2023 Woman of the Year Award.
From her iconic performances in “The White Lotus,” “The Watcher,” “Legally Blonde,” and “American Pie” among countless others, the Pudding is proud to celebrate a truly unique and impactful presence in the world of entertainment.
The Woman of the Year Award is the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ oldest honor, bestowed annually on performers who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment. Established in 1951, the Woman of the Year Award has been given to many notable and talented entertainers including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway, Kerry Washington, and most recently Jennifer Garner, the 72nd Woman of the Year.
The Woman of the Year festivities will begin 1:45 p.m. on Feb. 4, when Coolidge will lead a parade through the streets of Harvard Square. Following the parade, the Hasty Pudding Theatricals will host a celebratory roast for Coolidge at 7 p.m., after which she will be presented with her Pudding Pot at Farkas Hall, the Hasty Pudding’s historic home in Harvard Square since 1888. A press conference will follow the presentation at 7:30 p.m. Afterward, Coolidge will attend the opening night of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 174th production “Cosmic Relief.”
Jennifer Coolidge has been a Hollywood mainstay since playing Stifler’s mom in the 1999 comedy classic “American Pie.” She recently garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal of the wealthy, unstable, and oblivious fan favorite character Tanya McQuoid in HBO’s “The White Lotus.” Her portrayal earned her a 2022 Emmy Award, two Critics Choice Awards, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a Gotham Award nomination and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
“We are so excited to welcome Jennifer Coolidge back to her hometown and to Harvard, the iconic setting of ‘Legally Blonde.’ Her glittering personality and comedic presence are so Pudding,” said Man and Woman of the Year coordinator Maya Dubin. “We know she’ll fit right into the Pudding’s musical spectacular, though she’ll still have to earn her Pudding Pot onstage.”
Coolidge was most recently seen reprising her award-winning role in Season 2 of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series “The Watcher,” opposite Naomi Watts, Netflix’s hit holiday film “Single All the Way,” and Magnolia’s film drama “Swan Song” opposite Udo Kier.
“It is an absolute dream for us to honor Jennifer Coolidge as our Woman of the Year on the heels of her recent accolades for ‘The White Lotus,’” said producer Sarah Mann. “We know our Pudding Pot will look phenomenal alongside her new Golden Globe, and we swear we won’t whisk her away to a palazzo in Palermo!”
Originally from Boston, Coolidge studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and was a nine-year veteran of The Groundlings comedy troupe in Los Angeles.
Coolidge will next be seen starring in Amazon Prime Video’s romantic comedy “Shotgun Wedding” opposite Jennifer Lopez.
Coolidge splits her time between Los Angeles and New Orleans.
Faro Café — a vibrant new coffee shop on the corner of Arrow Street — opened its doors last month, inviting passersby to step into the regenerative space for a hot cup of coffee.
Owned by Henry F. Hoffstot, Faro Café served its first cup of coffee on Dec. 14. Though it joins several other established coffee shops in Harvard Square, its owners say Faro aims to do more than just serve coffee: the vision behind the cafe, Hoffstot said, is around the “sensation” customers have when they enter the space.
“It’s about letting the space be something that people interpret how they want to envision it or define it or inhabit it,” he said. “We’re hoping that people make Faro what they want — what they need — and that the space can lend itself to a variety of different community-focused purposes.”
The cafe’s name comes from the Spanish word for “lighthouse,” a nod to Buenos Aires, where Hoffstot lived for four years.
Trading paper to-go cups for ceramic mugs and latte art, Hoffstot said he hopes Faro Café gives a more “romanticized” idea of coffee — something to be enjoyed slowly, instead of just being fuel for productivity.
Even in the quiet of an early Sunday morning, customers had already found their way inside, settling in with books and laptops.
Priyanka Saxena, a Somerville resident, chose a spot tucked in behind the soundsystem of the cafe.
“I come a pretty long way to get to a cafe early in the morning and it’s because it’s a really nice vibe,” she said. “There’s nothing too busy or ostentatious about it, but it’s cozy.”
“The pastries are great, the coffees are delicious, and it’s just a nice spot to relax in the morning,” she added.
Moonbox Production’s Sharman Altshuler, Cambridge Community Foundation’s Geeta Pradhan, and Arrow Street Arts’ David Altshuler pose in front of the building at 2 Arrow Street. Photo courtesy of Arrow Street Arts
A welcome dose of fresh energy will be arriving in Cambridge, bringing new performance spaces to the area by the end of the year.
Arrow Street Arts, a nonprofit founded by David Altshuler last year, will be moving into the building that American Repertory Theater‘s Oberon used to occupy in Harvard Square. Oberon, an experimental and alternative theater venue, announced its closure in 2021, and Harvard University began searching for a new tenant. The space will be renovated, creating a black box theater, street-front studio, and a rotunda reception area. Altshuler said that he is excited to help artists and organizations utilize those facilities.
“Arrow Street Arts was founded specifically for this project with Harvard,” he said. “Our core belief is that art creates community and that community creates belonging.” He explained that there is a need for performance spaces, technical services, and supportive services, aiming to “help artists and communities come together.”
Odenkirk is scheduled to receive his Pudding Pot award at a celebratory roast Feb. 2, after which he will attend a preview of Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 174th production, “COSMIC RELIEF!,” the group announced.
“When choosing our 2023 Man of the Year, I immediately knew we better call Bob Odenkirk,” producer Aidan Golub said in a statement. “We’re cooking up a lot of surprises to celebrate Mr. Odenkirk’s contributions to the world of comedy both in front of and behind the camera.”
Who has received the Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award?
Last year’s recipient was Jason Bateman, and previous honorees include Bob Hope, Dustin Hoffman and Sean Connery.
In the last decade, here’s who has been honored with the Pudding’s Man of the Year Award:
2022: Jason Bateman
2020: Ben Platt
2019: Milo Ventimiglia
2018: Paul Rudd
2017: Ryan Reynolds
2016: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
2015: Chris Pratt
2014: Neil Patrick Harris
2013: Kiefer Sutherland
2012: Jason Segel
When was the first Hasty Pudding Man of the Year awarded?
Hasty Pudding Theatricals, which dates to 1844 and calls itself the third-oldest theater group in the world, has handed out a Man of the Year Award since 1967.
The awards are given out to people who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment.
More on 2023 honoree Bob Odenkirk
Odenkirk reprised the role of Saul Goodman, aka Jimmy McGill, in “Better Call Saul,” which earned him three Critics Choice TV awards and multiple Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG Award nominations.
He is also the star and executive producer of “Lucky Hank,” adapted from the novel “Straight Man” by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo, which is scheduled to premiere on AMC and AMC+ on March 19.
Some of his other acting credits include “Nobody,” “Mr. Show with Bob and David” and “Girlfriend’s Day.”
He received two Emmy Awards for his comedic writing for “Saturday Night Live” in 1989 and for “The Ben Stiller Show” in 1993.
In 2013 Odenkirk co-wrote The New York Times bestseller “Hollywood Said No!,” a collection of unproduced screenplays, and his third book released in March 2022, a memoir entitled “Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama,” went to No. 2 on The New York Times bestseller list.
Yes. But the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ Woman of the Year Award, which dates to 1951, has not yet been announced for 2023.
“Alias” star Jennifer Garner was honored with the award last February, complete with a parade in historic Harvard Square. “This is crazy. This is nuts,” Garner said at the time.
Hasty Pudding organizers said they chose Garner based not just on her career as an actor but also because of her record as a philanthropist and entrepreneur.
Who else has received the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year award?
The Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year 2021 recipient was Viola Davis, and previous winners include Meryl Streep, Katharine Hepburn, Ethel Merman and Cher.
The 60-year-old entertainer was selected for the annual fete in Cambridge because he has made an “indelible mark on the world as an actor, comedian, and filmmaker,” the Hasty Pudding Theatricals organization said in a statement. Odenkirk is also known for his work on “Breaking Bad” and “Mr. Show,” and won an Emmy for his writing on “Saturday Night Live.”
“When choosing our 2023 Man of the Year, I immediately knew we better call Bob Odenkirk,” producer Aidan Golub said. “We’re cooking up a lot of surprises to celebrate Mr. Odenkirk’s contributions to the world of comedy both in front of and behind the camera.”
The Hasty Pudding production put on by the third oldest theater organization in the world will include a celebratory roast in burlesque fashion. It will take place on February 2 at Farkas Hall in Harvard Square.
Previous recipients of the Man of the Year award include Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood, Samuel L. Jackson, Harrison Ford and last year’s honoree Jason Bateman.
The actor, comedian, filmmaker will receive his Pudding Pot at a Feb. 2 celebratory roast
Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the oldest theatrical organization in the U.S., has named actor, comedian, filmmaker, and author Bob Odenkirk its Man of the Year.
Odenkirk has won numerous awards for the character he originated in the television drama “Breaking Bad” and reprised in “Better Call Saul.” Recently he produced and starred in the action thriller “Nobody” and released a memoir that made The New York Times best-seller list.
“When choosing our 2023 Man of the Year, I immediately knew we better call Bob Odenkirk,” said producer Aidan Golub. “We’re cooking up a lot of surprises to celebrate Mr. Odenkirk’s contributions to the world of comedy both in front of and behind the camera.”
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.
This year’s festivities will take place at 6 p.m. on Feb. 2 at Farkas Hall, the Pudding’s historic home in Harvard Square. After a celebratory roast, Odenkirk will receive his Pudding Pot. A press conference will follow the roast, and Odenkirk will attend a preview of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 174th production, “Cosmic Relief.”
The Man of the Year award was established in 1967, with past recipients including Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Samuel L. Jackson, Ryan Reynolds, and last year’s recipient, Jason Bateman, the 55th Man of the Year.
Odenkirk’s work on “Better Call Saul” (2015-2022) earned him three Critics Choice TV Awards and Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG Award nominations. For his work on “Saturday Night Live,” he garnered an Emmy award for “Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program” in 1989. He co-created and starred in “Mr. Show with Bob and David,” which ran on HBO for four years (1985-1989) and has been called “the American Monty Python.” Next he stars and executive produces the mid-life crisis tale “Lucky Hank,” headed for television in March.
“When I heard that Bob Odenkirk would be Man of the Year, I thought, ‘“Lucky Hank?” More like lucky us!’ It’s funny, get it? Because Bob Odenkirk will be our Man of the Year. Wait, this isn’t actually going in the press release, right?” said Hasty Pudding President Lyndsey Mugford.
The tall front doors of 2 Arrow St. in Cambridge have been shuttered for almost three years. With little fanfare, David Altshuler unlocks the entrance and ushers me inside.
“Well, welcome to our space,” he says.
The foyer has been stripped bare. A ladder leans against one wall, and some of the wiring is showing. Gone is the narrow hallway that once led to the nightclub in the building’s belly. Now light filters through big windows.
In its most recent incarnation, this space was OBERON, the American Repertory Theater’s beloved second stage on the edge of Harvard Square. For more than a decade, it played host to drag queens and burlesque dancers and, most famously, the Shakespeare-meets-Studio-54 extravaganza known as “The Donkey Show.”
The A.R.T. announced in 2021 that it would not renew its lease at 2 Arrow St. as it prepared to move to a new campus in Allston. Many wondered what would happen to the theater. Would Harvard University, which owns the building, sell it off? Redevelop it? Rent it out to another theater company?
Now, Altshuler and his newly-formed nonprofit, Arrow Street Arts, have big plans for the space.
Altshuler leads us through the foyer into the theater itself, which has been gutted: no more catwalk, no more bar. The floor has been ripped up to reveal smooth concrete.
The plan, helmed by Charles Rose Architects, is to transform the warehouse-like room into a black box theater — a simple, flexible space that can be converted into various staging configurations.
Altshuler shows me a set of plans for the seating. The idea is to have seats that can be hidden away or pulled out from the wall, kind of like the bleachers in a high school gym.
“It’ll be a telescopic seating system so you can actually have it be either, you know, 12 rows deep and 240 seats, or it might just be three or six rows deep,” he says, excitedly. “The audience gets sized to what’s appropriate to that show.”
In addition to the black box, Altshuler is converting an empty storefront next door into a studio that will double as a small venue — 1,100 square feet with a capacity of approximately 100. A row of picture windows at the street level will allow passers-by to see inside.
Altshuler expects to invest $2.5 million, much of it his own, into the renovations. He describes it as kind of a “blank canvas” that producers can set up in every configuration imaginable.
“The space, as envisioned, is going to be this flexible multi-art space where, sure, it could be a nightclub one night, it could also be a dance recital, or it could be a straight play, or it could be a set of performing artists,” he says.
Altshuler is an entrepreneur with a background in tech, finance and nonprofit leadership. (Not to be confused with the other Boston-based David Altshuler, a pharmaceutical executive.) But this project is driven in part by his wife, Sharman Altshuler, the founder of Moonbox Productions. The small theater company has an annual operating budget of approximately $600,000 and won numerous awards. But Altshuler says she struggled to find a consistent place to put on shows.
“For years, I’ve sort of fantasized about the idea of, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to have, you know, your own space.’ And it was always like, ‘forget it,’” Altshuler says. “Financially, it just doesn’t make sense to have a physical plant as a small theater organization.”
Then she heard that Oberon was closing. She recalls having a conversation about it with her husband.
Arrow Street Arts in Cambridge will include a small performance space at 2 Arrow St. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
“And I said, ‘It’s such a great local theater, and wouldn’t it be cool if they actually end up staying a theater, and maybe Moonbox could do something,’” she says.
Her husband took the lead on the competitive process of selling the idea to Harvard. He pitched a plan with Moonbox as a resident theater company, using the space about a third of the time. The Cambridge Community Foundation is also a partner on the project.
Harvard declined a request for an interview, but said in a statement, “Harvard ultimately chose Moonbox because we were confident they could be a long-term partner, because of their team’s track record and financial, operational and creative capacity to succeed in such a project, and because of their goals for activation, community involvement and a diversity of projects.”
The Cambridge Community Foundation is charged with helping Arrow Street Arts find other local presenters to use the space.
“The idea is that we will reach out deeply into the community,” says Cambridge Community Foundation president Geeta Pradhan. “We will bring community groups in, have conversations with them as people, you know, make sure that they know about this opportunity.”
Arrow Street Arts hopes to subsidize an affordable rental model with private events. The Cambridge Community Foundation will also administer a fund, bankrolled by Arrow Street Arts. The fund will offer grants to groups that want to use the space but can’t afford to, “so that smaller groups, particularly BIPOC organizations and theater groups, can actually, we can subsidize the cost of their ability to be able to produce here,” Pradhan says.
Arrow Street Arts will also help raise money for the foundation’s Cultural Capital Fund, which supports creative work throughout the city.
The foundation got involved because it wanted to help address a huge problem for the arts in Cambridge: the loss of space. Pradhan points to studies from the city of Boston and the Mayor’s Arts Task Force in Cambridge that showed a dire need for rehearsal space and mid-size performance venues in the Boston area.
“Improv Boston, they lost their space. Green Street Studios lost their space. EMF building redevelopment resulted in a loss of space for musicians,” Pradhan says.
Arrow Street Arts will fill the void left by another big loss, the closure of Oberon — though Altshuler’s black box is different from its nightclub-like predecessor. It’s hard to predict if Oberon’s burlesque and circus performers will want to use the new space.
But some local producers are excited by the new design.
“The difficulty with Oberon was wing space, dressing room space. It was not an easy facility, production-wise,” says Sehnaz Dirik, the founder of Theater UnCorked, a small community theater. “The updating of the green room, the dressing rooms, all of that stuff for an actor is really important.”
Accommodating performers is a big part of the theater’s design. But Altshuler also wants to make the space super accessible. His plans include wider seats, more legroom and a perfectly smooth floor for wheelchair use. One of the most expensive renovations involves building all-gender restrooms with individual enclosed stalls.
“When an audience member or an artist comes here, do they feel welcome,” Altshuler says of the design philosophy. “Do they feel like they belong in the space?”
There’s a lot of work to do before that question can be answered. Altshuler has to hire a staff and finish the renovations. If all goes as planned, Arrow Street Arts will open fully at the end of the year.
