Theater Preview: Mark Twain Tonight!’

Emmy Award-winning actor Richard Thomas is bringing one of America’s most enduring theatrical pieces back to life in “Mark Twain Tonight!,” the legendary one-man show written and long performed by the late Hal Holbrook. The revival tour, officially authorized by Holbrook’s estate, marks the first time anyone other than Holbrook has performed the show since its debut more than 70 years ago.

The show will be in Cleveland for one night only on Thursday, October 23!
{Details and Tickets!}

“Mark Twain Tonight!” began as Holbrook’s student project in the 1950s. Over six decades, Holbrook refined the show into an American classic—an evening of humor, insight, and biting social commentary drawn from Twain’s own writings. Premiering on Broadway in 1966, it earned Holbrook a Tony Award and later a Primetime Emmy for the televised version on CBS viewed by 30 million Americans. Holbrook performed the show more than 2,300 times worldwide before retiring it in 2017.

The production now tours again in 2025–26 under The Mark Twain Tonight Trust, which was created to preserve and continue Holbrook’s legacy. Thomas, an actor deeply respected on both stage and screen, is the only performer authorized to carry that torch.

Beloved by generations as John-Boy Walton from The Waltons, for which he won an Emmy in 1973, Richard Thomas has gone on to an illustrious career across Broadway, television, and film. In recent years, he has starred as Atticus Finch in the national tour of To Kill a Mockingbird and appeared in the series Ozark, The Americans, and Billions. In 2025, he was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame and is set to return to Broadway in spring 2026 in David Lindsay-Abaire’s The Balusters.

Reflecting on stepping into a role so long connected to Hal Holbrook, Thomas shared in an interview with CleveRock.com:

“Hal’s estate reached out and asked if I’d be interested in taking it out. It was the last thing in the world you’d expect because it’s so connected to Hal. But Hal and I knew each other and liked each other, and the estate felt it was time to revive it—and thought Hal would’ve been happy to have me do it. The material is too rich to turn down. It’s a great time to bring Twain around the country. He holds a mirror up to us as Americans. It always feels like he’s speaking to us right now. It’s just too good an opportunity creatively to pass up.”

The 2025–26 Mark Twain Tonight! tour spans more than 45 cities across the U.S. from Detroit to San Antonio, with stops in major theaters such as the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, Illinois; Mesa Arts Center in Arizona; and Knoxville’s Tennessee Theatre. The creative team includes Michael Wilson as Creative Consultant, Brian Prather (Scenic Design), Sam Fleming (Costume Design), Anthony Pearson (Lighting), and Shannon Slaton (Sound), ensuring a production faithful to Holbrook’s spirit while embracing fresh theatrical elements.

In Mark Twain Tonight!, Thomas embodies the wit, wisdom, and contradictions of the great American humorist. As he explained, “Hal constructed a lecture that Mark Twain might well have given during his lifetime. Twain was not only a writer—he was globally famous as a performer, traveling the world to talk to audiences, tell stories, and deliver his satire. We follow that same trajectory, recreating those performances.”

Thomas finds unexpected intimacy in performing alone: “A monodrama one-actor performance is a whole different animal,” he said. “But I do have a scene partner—it’s the audience. They become my scene partner and play with me, and I play with them. So it’s not as lonely as it might sound.”

He also discussed how his deep research shaped the portrayal: “Actors are avid researchers, and Twain is a cornucopia. I’ve read three biographies and immersed myself in his writing. He was a complicated man who mirrored all our contradictions and our light and shadow as Americans. When I’m out there performing, I’m not just speaking his ideas—I’m channeling the man himself.”

Even though Twain’s words were written more than a century ago, Thomas believes they resonate profoundly with contemporary audiences. “There are portions of the show where people have said afterward, ‘Did you write that for today?’ And I tell them, no—that’s pure Twain. It’s amazing how up-to-date he really is. Twain’s commentary on politics, society, and religion feels just as sharp now as it did during the Gilded Age. My main aim is to entertain, but people will go out thinking about it, because he’s both entertaining and thought-provoking.”

Thomas, who has performed in Cleveland many times before, expressed his excitement to return: “I think Cleveland audiences are pretty energetic and fun,” he said warmly.

“Mark Twain Tonight!” remains what The New York Times once called a tribute to “the nation’s one true comic genius.” With Richard Thomas now inhabiting the role, audiences have a rare chance to meet Twain anew—funny, fierce, and timelessly human.