Arts & Entertainment

Hal Holbrook Returns to McCarter in Mark Twain Tonight!

The performance in Princeton is scheduled for Friday, May 11

 

Oscar-nominee Hal Holbrook returns to on Friday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. in Mark Twain Tonight! – his acclaimed Tony Award-winning one-man show which celebrates the humor, satirical wit and timeless observations of Mark Twain. 

Hal Holbrook has never been able to quit Mark Twain. He has toured the one-man show in some part of every year since 1954, with over 2,100 performances. Mark Twain Tonight! has become perhaps the longest-running show in theater history. 

Find out what's happening in Lawrencevillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Holbrook adds to his Twain material every year, editing and changing it to fit the times, and has mined over sixteen hours of Twain with more coming all the time. He has no set program – he chooses material as he goes along.

Holdbrook first performed Mark Twain Tonight! on the McCarter Theatre stage on Nov. 7, 1959. 

He continued to do Mark Twain every year, and in 1966, on Broadway, his second New York engagement won him a Tony Award and a Drama Critics' Circle Award. This was followed in 1967 by a ninety-minute CBS television special of Mark Twain Tonight!, which was nominated for an Emmy Award and seen by an audience of 22 million.

Throughout his career, Holbrook has continued to perform Mark Twain every year, including his third and fourth New York engagements in 1977 and 2005; and a world tour in 1985, the 150th anniversary of Mark Twain's birth.

Find out what's happening in Lawrencevillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Holbrook was born in Cleveland in 1925, and enjoyed an early career in the theater. He has done some 50 television movies and mini-series, been nominated for twelve Emmys and won five.

He recently published his autobiography, Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain.

Tickets start at $40 ($15 student tickets with valid ID) and are available by calling (609) 258-2787; by visiting online at www.mccarter.org; or in person at the McCarter Theatre Ticket Office at 91 University Place.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here