Twain & Clemens, Together?

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Mr. Sutton's play features tall tales, stories and music from Mark Twain the way Clemens would have played him today. He uses authentic Clemens era music, with which Clemens often entertained family and dignitaries in his parlor. Clemens would sing, play guitar, banjo, piano or harmonica and his guests would sing along. Clemens would not have played music on stage as his performance would have been perceived as a minstrel show. Mark Twain on his stage tours in the 1890's was considered a distinguished author and humorist.

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In Sutton’s performance the audience is pleasantly surprised to find that the music of Clemens era provides an opportunity in the show for a sing-a-long, that highlight’s the wonderfully witty, humorous stories of Twain.

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The occasional dramatic pieces out of Twains most famous books, Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, Roughing It, are compelling contrasts to the rest of the performance of humor and music.

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This show which is usually presented in a 2 act version in Regional, and Community Performing Arts Centers, Civic Centers, Dinner Theatres, Schools and Colleges is also performed as after- dinner speaking at business conferences (Twain was the most sought after dinner speaker of his time), as a successfully failed businessman he qualified to put forth all sorts of useful and timely business advice.

  

What Others Say

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Montgomery Theatre, AL

Twain’s storytelling style is turned into a theatrical enactment of the “Grandfather’s Old Ram” as told by a character called Jim Blaine. It is a little thespian gem. Act II seems stronger with a nicely dramatized segment from “Huckleberry Finn” during which Sutton switches from being Twain to channeling Huck as well as the boy’s drunken, no-good father. An able actor, Sutton has no trouble convincing us of his character’s authenticity. It is a warmhearted family show that older kids and adults alike would appreciate.

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Severna Theatre, Baltimore, MD

An Evening with Mark Twain proved to be an all-American evening where we revisited a simpler America; one that had easily recognizable politicians and its share of corruption. After the show Sutton returned to the stage to talk with the audience and let us get to know this actor, who was born in Mannheim, Germany during World War II and grew up in Georgia.

 

San Antonio, TX

In Act II, Sutton spends much of the time with selections from Huckleberry Finn, and plays all the roles, stating further that this book particularly has been banned by some group or another ever since its first printing, and wisely noting that "nothing sells as well as a banned book". -- Huck's moral dilemma is, of course, that he doesn't turn in the runaway slave, Jim, and thinks he will go to hell for it, but that he can't quite figure out why anyone could enslave another.

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Letter Received from Professor of Geography, University of Kansas

When I saw you perform in Fairfield, Iowa, I laughed more and felt more comfortable with Twain himself. Plus, I think you are far more engaged with the audience. You stepped on the stage and started conversing with us as if we were meeting in the lobby, not sitting distant in an auditorium. You leaned over the podium just enough to make us feel that you were reaching out to us. Then we had that quiet chat with you in the armchair that you incorporate so effectively into your show. When I think of how well you did with Huck and all including Becky Thatcher. I like your mix of Clemens with Twain. Keep up the good work.