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HISTORY


The Princeton University Players (aka PUP) was established at Princeton University in 1987 to produce the original musical '' One Fine Day ''. In the ensuing years, the organization languished as an ad-hoc theater outfit, producing a sporadic show or two outside of the Princeton theater establishment.

In the mid-nineties, however, under the guidance of Cara Reichel (class of 1996), the organization began to develop a distinctive voice as Princeton's performance group dedicated to the production of established musical theater (thus complementing the Princeton Triangle Club 's original productions, and Theatre Intime 's non-musical productions). Building upon exceptionally strong 1995-1996 and 1996-1997 seasons, which saw productions of '' Hair '', '' Assassins '', '' Into The Woods '', '' The Fantasticks '', '' Guys & Dolls '', and '' Pippin '', PUP developed into Princeton's most prolific, and largest student-run theater organization.

All of this success was made even more remarkable by the fact that the group had no performance space to call its own, and instead made use of quaint and technically-challenging blackbox theaters and borrowed performance spaces, not to mention the fact that the group survived on grants, and had to return all profits to the University. In fact, to this day, PUP still does not have a performance space or a bank account to call its own.

Not only famous for its shows, PUP became notorious across campus for its creation and propagation of "Pass The Ass" , a take-off of the game of tag, played by mooning people. Originally started as a cast bonding prank for a winter production of '' Guys & Dolls '', the game took off like wildfire throughout the group, becoming a staple of membership until the game's disappearance in 2000.

The group entered a dark time during the 1998-1999 season, when the group was overtaken by a new undergraduate board that sought to elevate the artistic vision of the group. However, their selection of shows for the season proved largely inaccessible and unpopular, alienating both audiences and the membership of the group, many of whom departed to perform with other theater groups. The group's visibility floundered for much of the early 2000's, however in recent seasons, the group has returned to the "of the people and for the people" credo that inspired such loyalty during the group's heyday, and has once again become Princeton's most prolific performance organization.


PRODUCTIONS


A Chorus Line February 2005

Sex on Broadway December 2004

Into the Woods November 2004

The Best of Broadway May 2003

The Fix April 2003

Pippin February 2003

West Side Story November 2002

(More) Sex on Broadway: A Burlesque Spectacular October 2002

Ain't Misbehavin' May 2002

Chicago March-April 2002

Man of La Mancha February 2002

Falsettos November-December 2001

Kiss of the Spiderwoman October 2001

The Wiz May-June 2001

Beowulf: The Musical April 2001

The Mystery of Edwin Drood March-April 2001

The Secret Garden February 2001

It Had to be You December 2000

Is There Life After High School? September 2000

Godspell May 2000

The Who's Tommy March 2000

Assassins February 2000

Little Shop of Horrors December 1999

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown October 1999

Hair May 1999

Jesus Christ Superstar April 1999

Hello Again February-March 1999

Gypsy December 1998

First Lady Suite October 1998

Baby May 1998

Closer than Ever April 1998

Company February-March 1998

A Chorus Line November 1997

Cotton Patch Gospel October 1997

Once On This Island May-June 1997

Falsettos March-April 1997

Pippin February-March 1997

Guys and Dolls November 1996

The Fantasticks September-October 1996

You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown June 1996

Into the Woods March 1996

Assassins February 1996

1940's Radio Hour November-December 1995

Hair November 1995

Lucky Stiff October 1995

Man of La Mancha September 1995

Once On This Island February-March 1995

A... My Name is Alice September 1994

Personals February 1994

A Little Night Music November 1993

Kiss Me, Kate March 1993

A Chorus Line November 1992

Camelot March 1991

Pippin November-December 1991

The Bacchae April-May 1991

Closer Than Ever November-December 1990

You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown March 1990

The Fantasticks November-December 1990

Pirates of Penzance April 1989

Free to be You and Me November 1988

Godspell December 1987

One Fine Day February 1987


NOTABLE ALUMNI


Daniel Feyer (class of 1999) - Orchestrator and Music Director

John Griffin (class of 1999) - Broadway ('' Arcadia '') and film ('' Everyone Says I Love You '') actor, as well as composer for '' Who Wants To Be A Millionaire ''.

Marlo Hunter (class of 1999) Successful choreographer ( Diva Diaries ) and director

Pete Mills (class of 1995) - Accomplished playwright and lyricist ('' Illyria '', '' The Flood '', '' Taxi Cabaret ''), resident writer, The Prospect Theater Company

Cara Reichel (class of 1996) Co-founder and artistic director, Prospect Theater Company

Jordan Roth (class of 1997) - Broadway producer ('' The Rocky Horror Picture Show '')