Mark Twain News

A lineup of top entertainers including, Julie Andrews, Lucie Arnaz, Tony Bennett, Tim Conway, Tina Fey, Rashida Jones, Vicki Lawrence, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Rosemary Watson and others will salute Carol Burnett at the 16th Annual Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday, October 20, 2013 at 8:00 p.m. The evening will pay tribute the humor and accomplishments of Carol Burnett, and will be taped by WETA Washington, D.C. as Carol Burnett: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize. The program will air on PBS stations nationwide November 24, 2013 (check local listings). Artists are subject to change.

WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin today announced the directors for the Company's 2013-2014 Main Stage season at the Addison Theatre Centre. Directing the season opener, Hank Williams: Lost Highway (October 11-November 3, 2013) will be Michael Serrecchia. The Game's Afoot (or Holmes for the Holidays) (December 13- January 5, 2014) will be directed by Robin Armstrong. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (January 24-February 16, 2014) will be directed by Emily Scott Banks. Spunk (April 11-May 4, 2014) will be directed by Akin Babatunde.Good People (June 6-29, 2014) will be directed by Rene Moreno and Dogfight (July 25-August 17, 2014) will be directed by Terry Martin.

The National Jazz Museum in Harlem has added a slew of new events with Jonathan Batiste. Below you will find the entire calendar of events for September with three new Jazz Is:Now! additions. The museum is also happy to announce that Greg Thomas will host next Tuesday's 'Words on Bird' event accompanied by pianst Chris Pattishall.

The Washington Stage Guild announces its 28th Season of our distinctive repertory, an array of eloquent plays of idea and argument, passion and wit - smart theatre for a smart town. The Washington Stage Guild's 2013-2014 season will focus on the fundamental basis of all art - the imagination. We will present four plays that examine the need to see beyond the mundane in order to create, to survive, to develop, to live. The Season of Dreams will travel from Vincent van Gogh's studio to Bernard Berenson's villa, and from the apartment of two fragile lives to as far as thought can reach. All four plays are Washington area premieres, and among the four is the first installment in a multi-year cycle leading up to our 30th anniversary, as we inaugurate our production of George Bernard Shaw's rarely seen Back to Methuselah.

In the wake of critical raves and sold-out houses, Pointless Theatre is proud to announce a remount of 'Mark Twain's Riverboat Extravaganza', their production for the 2013 Capital Fringe Festival. Described by MD Theatre Guide as the 'down-homiest, eye-catchiest, gee-whizziest show in the Fringe' and named an Editor's Pick by the Washington Post. 'Riverboat' is a vaudevillian ride through America's tallest tales hosted by Mark Twain and performed by his iconic characters.

Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the Tony Award-winning Best Musical from Fort Worth native Roger Miller kicks off the 55th season "under the dome," September 21-19, 2013. Tickets are on sale now.

Sierra Repertory Theatre celebrates its 35th Anniversary with what SRT artistic director Scott Viets called 'one of the most exciting and ambitious seasons in our entire history.' Commencing with the international sensation Les Miserables, the 2014 season will include eight plays and musicals - three shows with live music, a sequel to last year's Church Basement Ladies, an Arthur Miller drama, a Rodgers and Hammerstein classic and a new musical comedy about contestants at a spelling bee. Season tickets go on sale September 1, and general admission tickets go on sale October 1.

WorkShop Theater Company, and Artistic Director Scott C. Sickles, has announced its 20th season, celebrating its diverse history. WorkShop's Main Stage Season begins in September with the world premiere of Lou-Lou Igbokwe's Iyom; November marks the return of Philip Hall's highly acclaimed musical adaptation of Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi; and the spring will bring director Ryan Lee's vision of Shakespeare's challenging classic, The Winter's Tale. In addition to developing new plays and reviving classics, WorkShop has broadened its scope in the past few years by fostering new short plays, musicals, and children's theater. This fall, WorkShop welcomes a new Managing Director, Joseph Giardina, who is also an arts education consultant for the New York City Department of Education's (NYCDOE) Office of the Arts and Special Projects.

There is only one more opportunity to attend the award-winning East Lynne Theater Company's 'Tales of the Victorians' this summer: Thursday, August 29 at 4:00p.m. at The Blue Rose Inn and Restaurant, 653 Washington St.

The Pasadena Playhouse presents Val Kilmer in CITIZEN TWAIN for a five-show limited engagement. Val Kilmer, famous for his portrayals of iconic characters such as Jim Morrison (The Doors), Doc Holliday (Tombstone) and Batman (Batman Forever), inhabits the spirit of yet another legendary figure: Mark Twain. Kilmer continues to develop CITIZEN TWAIN, a solo show about the man considered to be the world's greatest storyteller, with this five performance extension at The Playhouse, August 21 - 24, 2013. The production continues through Sunday, July 28 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production below!

WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin has announced the co-production of Red Hot Patriot: the Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins with Stage West, running tonight, August 18 -September 29, 2013 in the Studio Theatre at the Addison Theatre Centre. Georgia Clinton reprises her performance as the well-known Texas journalist Molly Ivins.

The American Century Theater launches its 18th season to laughter with the Neil Simon comedy, Come Blow Your Horn, directed by Rip Claassen, opening Thursday, September 12 and running through October 12 at Gunston Arts Center's Theatre Two in Arlington.

After a highly successful sold out run at the St. Lou Fringe Festival in June, Highly Distracted Productions is presenting three encore performances of ASPBERGER'S: A HIGH-FUNCTIONING MUSICAL tonight and tomorrow, August 16 and 17 at 8 p.m. and Sunday August 18 at 2 p.m. at the Clayton High School Little Theatre, 2 Mark Twain, Circle, Clayton MO.

Created and performed by Daisey with direction by Jean-Michele Gregory, ALL THE FACES OF THE MOON will run for 29 unique, consecutive performances through Thursday, October 3 at Joe's Pub, with an official opening on Wednesday, September 11. Each night Daisey will be joined onstage by one of 29 oil paintings commissioned and created for this show by the Russian artist Larissa Tokmakova, illustrating and illuminating the story he's telling.

Theatre-Hikes is proud to present A Walk with Mark Twain, with 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County' by Joseph McDonough and 'The Diaries of Adam and Eve' by David Birney.

Unbound Productions Co-Artistic Directors Jonathan Josephson, Paul Millet, and Jeff G. Rack have announced the line-up for the 5th Anniversary Production of the popular horror story adaptation series WICKED LIT that will take place at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena, California. The production will run from October 4-November 2, 2013 and feature world premiere adaptations of H.P Lovecraft's The Lurking Fear and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The New Catacomb as well as a revival of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

The Pasadena Playhouse, announced today that it will add four additional performances of Val Kilmer in CITIZEN TWAIN to its limited engagement. Val Kilmer, famous for his portrayals of iconic characters such as Jim Morrison (The Doors), Doc Holliday (Tombstone) and Batman (Batman Forever), inhabits the spirit of legendary American figure Mark Twain in his acclaimed one-man show CITIZEN TWAIN. Exploring the famed author's wry humor - from politics to death, love to money, racism, cats and everything in between - Val Kilmer reveals the wit and wisdom of the man considered to be America's greatest storyteller and first stand-up comedian. Kilmer continues to develop CITIZEN TWAIN, a solo show, with this now nine-show engagement, that will play August 21 through August 30, 2013, at The Pasadena Playhouse.

Mark Twain once said: 'Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; truth isn't.'