For years, the undergraduate arts community has raised its voice in a collective wail, bemoaning the dearth of performance space on campus.

The Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC) had a mere two slots on the Loeb Mainstage for undergraduate productions this past fall--the board got eight applications for the two openings.

And dancers have had no where to turn in recent years but to Lowell Lecture Hall, which has no off-stage area for performers, and the aging Rieman Dance Center in Radcliffe Yard.

But now, the College is just a few signatures away from assuming control of the Hasty Pudding stage, and members of the arts community are already eyeing the space, imaging the productions that could soon grace the Pudding stage.

With its gently sloping seating, a small basement set shop and a 124-year tradition of extravagant productions, the now worn Hasty Pudding theater is waiting for a face lift--to be funded by Harvard.

Students active in the arts have called the College's acquisition of the Pudding building 'incredible," "fabulous" and "amazing for the community."

"[It's] wonderful. The more resources for theater we have, the better," says Nick R. Parrillo '00, who was the campus liaison for HRDC last year.

Erica P. Rabbit '00, vice president of HRDC last year, produced "Guys and Dolls" on the Pudding stage and says the theater's location in the Square is ideal.