Mark Twain Tonight! Is a one-man play devised by Hal Holbrook, in which he depicts Mark Twain giving a dramatic recitation selected from several of his (Twain's) writings, with an emphasis on the comic ones. However, a lengthy excerpt from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is always included.
The recitation's genesis was a show that Holbrook performed with his first wife Ruby where she would interview him portraying famous people in history, including Twain. Holbrook revised the concept into a one-man show in the 1950s, first performing it at the Lock Haven State Teachers College in Pennsylvania in 1954. He made his first New York appearance as Twain in the Off-Broadway engagement in 1959 and premiered it on Broadway in 1966. Holbrook's performance was first noticed by New York producer John Lotas at The Lambs Club in Manhattan. Lotas presented the show at the Forty-First Street Theatre, where it ran for 174 performances. He won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for that appearance and an Emmy Award nomination for the 1967 television broadcast (which was produced by David Susskind) on CBS.
Holbrook continues to tour in the play (on Broadway as recently as 2006) and alternates the material that he performs. The original program from the 1959 Off-Broadway engagement included the note “While Mr. Twain’s sections will come from the list below, we have been unable to pin him down as to which of them he will do. He claims this would cripple his inspiration. However, he has generously conceded to a printed program for those who are in distress and wish to fan themselves.” This still appears on programs for the show, as of 2012.
On the occasion of Mr. Clemens' 175th birthday, Holbrook performed Mark Twain Tonight! in Elmira, NY, at the Clemens Center in front of a sell-out crowd. The evening began with the singing of happy birthday to Mr. Clemens followed by Holbrook's appearance on stage. Remarkably, 2012 marks the 58th consecutive year that Holbrook has performed Mark Twain Tonight!.
Famous quotes containing the words mark twain, mark, twain and/or tonight:
“If the desire to kill and the opportunity to kill came always together, who would escape hanging?”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“All mothers need instruction, nurturing, and an understanding mentor after the birth of a baby, but in this age of fast foods, fast tracks, and fast lanes, it doesn’t always happen. While we live in a society that provides recognition for just about every life event—from baptisms to bar mitzvahs, from wedding vows to funeral rites—the entry into parenting seems to be a solo flight, with nothing and no one to mark formally the new mom’s entry into motherhood.”
—Sally Placksin (20th century)
“Often, the surest way to convey misinformation is to tell the strict truth.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Don’t you know there are 200 temperance women in this county who control 200 votes. Why does a woman work for temperance? Because she’s tired of liftin’ that besotted mate of hers off the floor every Saturday night and puttin’ him on the sofa so he won’t catch cold. Tonight we’re for temperance. Help yourself to them cloves and chew them, chew them hard. We’re goin’ to that festival tonight smelling like a hot mince pie.”
—Laurence Stallings (1894–1968)