Emmy-Award® winning Actor and 2025 Theater Hall of Fame Inductee Richard Thomas brings to life "the nation's one true comic genius" (The New York Times) in Mark Twain Tonight!, written and originally performed by Hal Holbrook. Join the millions who have cheered for the legendary one-man show, bursting with Twain's "uproariously funny" and "pungently wise" (Time Magazine) humor.
Most recently seen on Broadway in Our Town, on tour as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, and on Netflix's Ozark, Richard Thomas will return to Broadway in Spring 2026 in David Lindsay-Abaire's The Balusters, directed by Kenny Leon. Beloved to generations as John-Boy Walton, Richard Thomas is the first and only actor authorized to perform Mark Twain Tonight! since the original.
Between Twain's wonderful original words, Holbrook's excellent gleaning of these words to create a one man show, and Thomas's outstanding performance - this show was as good as it gets!!
I expected more humor from Twain. Generally, a dull presentation.
The torch has wisely been passed to the very capable hands of Richard Thomas whose extraordinary talent offered a most memorable performance. Hal Holbrook would be pleased.
The idea of reviving this great tour to help keep the legacy of both Mark Twain and Hal Holbrook present in the American consciousness, presented by non-other than the former uber heart-of-America John-Boy is almost a no-brainer. Sadly, it was stillborn. The problem was twofold: this one-man show requires the expert skilled timing of a master comedian, as much of the show is jokes, and they are dry jokes requiring great timing. Unfortunately, Mr. Thomas is not a comedian, he does not understand how to lead an audience through the thought process of digesting a good joke until laughter erupts, as he moved on too quickly at every turn. Secondly, the material is not particularly timely right now. It was dated in 1967 when Holbrook was presenting it, but nowhere near as dated as it is now. Lastly, the content was not well selected, for which we hold the director responsible. Either way, this show should stop and reorganize itself, give Mr. Thomas some serious training on comedic timing, and re-conceive of the selected content. Don't see it now.
I have always enjoyed Richard Thomas on TV. Now I am enjoying his work onstage. I look forward to seeing him again. As far as I can remember, this was also the first time I had seen anyone do a live impersonation of Mark Twain. Richard did a great job.
It is hard to describe a performance with such depth and meaning. The script was brilliant and in no small part, brought to its full height of excellence by the performance by Richard Thomas. Mr Thomas “became” Mark Twain with humor, grace, and depth of emotion moving seamlessly from story to story for a full 90 minutes of gut-wrenching humor and soul-searching drama. I highly recommend this play. It’s well worth the time and money.
Interesting, but not so entertaining. Expected a little more humor.
Amazing performance ❣️🤗👏 90 minutes of nonstop one man show portraying Mark Twain. From the physical movement to the costume it was as if he was him.
The show was amazing! It hard to comprehend how someone could go on for 90 minutes with no break and keep you mesmerized by their performance. Richard Thomas was outstanding as Twain from mannerism to quips. Highly recommend this one man show!
Mr. Thomas delivered a masterful performance! The vignettes he chose to deliver were timeless, and like Shakespeare’s fool, full of wisdom. However, the National Theater is a beautiful, but very old, venue. With so little foot and leg room, watching the performance was actually physically painful.