"My nails match my heels, which I'm very proud of," he says. "And my shoes are very comfortable," he adds.

But being a woman isn't all it's cracked up to be, says Matt B. Bakal '97.

"It's harder to be a girl than I thought," he says.

Sitting in the audience and sweating in his costume, Bakal seems to be a little tired out from his role.

"Big breasts are hot," he complains.

Three-Inch Heels

Playing a woman can be pretty grueling. At the end of every Pudding show the entire cast performs a ten-minute long, fully choreographed kick line in high heels.

"We're up on our toes, which makes wearing heels even less appealing," says Charlie B. Grandy '97.

"It hurts," he adds. "That's when you question whether or not you've made the right decision in doing the show."

Performing full-ensemble dance numbers is especially difficult for a groups of guys who admittedly aren't very coordinated.

"I mean, we're not good dancers," Grandy says matter-of-factly.

Most of the cast have had little or no formal dance training, which makes the job of Dance Choreographer Karen Pasani Pastore all the more difficult.

After choreographing the pudding show for fourteen years, Pastore says, her most important job is to give the male cast moves that "look natural on their bodies."

"She definitely realizes the limitations of a bunch of goofy guys," Grandy says.

One week before the show starts, I watch one of the group dance numbers begin to come together.