WrightStage Productions,LLC

 

 

 

       Mark Twain! Tonight! Is a one-man play devised by Hal Holbrook in which he depicts Mark Twain giving a concert recitation of his writings. Holbrook developed 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 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 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.”

 

Founding Wrightstage director, Neil Akins, toured a similar show in the 1970's after he had premiered a staging at a regional theatre in Port Jefferson, New York. Neil is perparing to remount his production for a command performance in 2010 in Augusta, Georgia. Prior to that event, he plans to tryout his act on local volunteers.