Mark Twain News

MARK MY WORDS 2014: A WICKED COOL EVENING, tonight, October 21 at 8:00 p.m., is a once-in-a-lifetime event - a conversation between the creators of the book and Broadway smash Wicked. Gregory Maguire wrote the original novel Wicked - The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. Stephen Schwartz, legendary composer and lyricist of Pippin and Godspell, adapted Maguire's twisted take on L. Frank Baum's universe into one of the most successful musicals in history. Moderated by Connecticut theater legend Frank Rizzo, this is a unique opportunity to hear these creators talk about writing, music, theatre and, of course, the Wonderful World of Oz.

Emily Dickinson is played with a more contemporary feel in the new Off-Broadway production.

Late night host and comedian Jay Leno received the Kennedy Center's 17th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor last night, Sunday, October 19th.

Legendary actor Hal Holbrook began performing as Mark Twain in 1954, making 2014 the 60th consecutive year for his remarkable one-man show. Holbrook brings the treasured scribe to life in Mark Twain Tonight! at the State Theatre tonight, October 16th.

This November, Berkeley Repertory Theatre rolls out the red carpet for two-time Tony and Oscar nominee Kathleen Turner for her Berkeley Rep debut in Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins

The Lucy Desi Museum & Center for Comedy, Chautauqua Striders, and the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena are proud to announce that comedy legend Bob Newhart will be the featured performer of the 2014 Lucy Town Half Marathon & 5K weekend. Newhart will be showcased today, October 11th in a night of comedy at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts in Lucille Ball's hometown of Jamestown, NY.

Marc Robin, the Artistic Director of the historic Fulton Theatre in downtown Lancaster, has announced the company's lineup for its 2014/2015 Mainstage Season and the first fully produced play of the Ellen Arnold Groff Studio Series. The lineup includes a hilarious farce, a holiday hit based on a classic Irving Berlin film musical, an Agatha Christie thriller, a Broadway hit that's a sexy game of cat and mouse, the Mel Brooks musical that took home the most Tony® Awards in history, a feel-good musical based on a Best Picture Oscar® Nominated Film, and perhaps the most magical musical of all time.

MainStreet Theatre Company presents Mark Twain's The Prince and The Pauper. Based on the classic Mark Twain tale about two boys in 16th century England who trade clothes and accidentally trade lives as well! As the boys learn to function in each other's worlds, they both learn important lessons about inequality and justice.

The Jimmy Stewart Museum's Annual Fundraising Gala The HARVEY AWARD names Carol Burnett the 2014 Harvey recipient.

Full disclosure: I'm a huge fan of Garrison Keillor and A Prairie Home Companion. He's the Mark Twain of our generation, and is Minnesota's best export. If A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION is one of the things that Minnesota is most known for, I am proud to be a Minnesotan. So of course, I absolutely love his new play RADIO MAN, the first he's written. I saw a reading of it early this year as part of the History Theatre's Raw Stages festival and loved it then, but this full production, now playing at the History Theatre, is so much more polished and complete, and really a thing unto itself and not just an episode of A Prairie Home Companion on stage. Yes there is the familiar music, the jingles for Powdermilk Biscuits, rhubarb pie, and ketchup, stories from Lake Wobegon, and beloved characters including Dusty and Lefty and Guy Noir. But there's also a story and a character (the host of a radio show called A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION who bears a striking resemblance to Garrison) who we get to know as he reminisces about his past and contemplates his future.

Emerson Theatre Collaborative (ETC), in association with Black Stars of the Great White Way - a Chapman Roberts and Richard Allen Center for Art & Culture, announces its production of the play, Hour Farther written by David Horace Greer, directed by Camilla Ross, and starring renowned stage and screen actor and singer, Kirk Taylor. Most recently, Mr. Taylor had the honor of working alongside the late Robin Williams and Mila Kunis in the film, The Angriest Man In Brooklyn directed by Phillip Alden Robinson.

Abingdon Theatre Company -- which has produced 83 new plays in its 21-year history -- launches its 2014-2015 Season with IT HAS TO BE YOU by Drama Desk nominee Catherine Butterfield (JOINED AT THE HEAD), set to begin previews tonight, October 3, at the Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex's Dorothy Strelsin Theatre (312 West 36th Street). Official press opening is set for Sunday, October 12, with performances through October 26. Drama Desk nominee Stuart Ross (ENTER LAUGHING, FOREVER PLAID) is set to direct.

Unbound Productions Executive Director Jonathan Josephson, Artistic Director Paul Millet, and Producing Artistic Director Jeff G. Rack have announced the line-up for WICKED LIT 2014, the 6th annual immersive theatre event that will take place at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena, California.

MARK MY WORDS 2014: A WICKED COOL EVENING, on Tuesday, October 21 at 8:00 p.m., is a once-in-a-lifetime event - a conversation between the creators of the book and Broadway smash Wicked. Gregory Maguire wrote the original novel Wicked - The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. Stephen Schwartz, legendary composer and lyricist of Pippin and Godspell, adapted Maguire's twisted take on L. Frank Baum's universe into one of the most successful musicals in history. Moderated by Connecticut theater legend Frank Rizzo, this is a unique opportunity to hear these creators talk about writing, music, theatre and, of course, the Wonderful World of Oz.

Chris Van Cleave and friends from the cast of Sierra Rep's Mark Twain's A Murder, A Mystery and A Marriage will present an evening of acoustic music at the Fallon House Theatre on Monday, October 13 at 7 p.m. Van Cleave returns to the Sonora, Columbia area after visiting his grandmother here in 1973. He will premier a new song inspired by that memory at his concert, which will also feature eclectic styles of music, from light rock to country to folk. Tickets are $15 for adults, $7.50 for children and are available for purchase online at www.sierrarep.org or by calling the Sierra Repertory Theatre Box Office at 209-532-3120.

Billy Crystal's '700 Sundays,' one of the most-acclaimed and highest-grossing plays in Broadway history, broadcast earlier this year by HBO, will be available on DVD and in Digital HD on October 21, it was announced today.

In an extraordinary show of Nevada pride and camaraderie, the artists, entertainers and celebrities who call the Silver State home came together last night at The Smith Center to celebrate the Nevada Sesquicentennial with a star-studded concert before a sold-out crowd, which included Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki and other dignitaries. Scroll down for photos!

Small-town antics, homespun humor and foot-stompin' fiddlin' come to Sierra Repertory Theatre's Fallon House Theatre in Columbia State Park today, September 26 - October 26 with Mark Twain's A Murder, A Mystery and A Marriage. Set in Deerlick, Missouri, the musical fits Columbia's historic feeling and should delight audiences seeking a taste of the wit of legendary humorist Mark Twain.

Beloved comedic genius Bill Cosby brings his signature comedy back to the Treasure Island Theatre tonight, September 26 at 8 p.m.

For the first time in the Iveys' 10-year history, two people will share the Lifetime Achievement Award. Michael Robins and Bonnie Morris, co-producing directors of Illusion Theater, were honored at the celebration of Twin Cities theater on September 22 at the Historic State Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. Versatile actor-singer-dancer-improviser Tyler Michaels received the Emerging Artist Award.