Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 8, 1994 TAG: 9411090033
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
So, the obvious question is what doesn't Holbrook know about Mark Twain, or, more specifically, if he could ask the great American writer one question, what would it be?
"What he thought about what was going on right now," Holbrook answered without hesitation in a recent telephone interview.
What he thought about the change in the country's value system, Holbrook said. What he thought about the state of education, the superficial distractions of modern society, the drug problem and other issues of the day.
From experience, Holbrook knows that Twain's comments would be insightful, probably right on the mark, and funny as hell.
Probably, too, Twain's take on the world today wouldn't stray far from his view of the world in his lifetime - 150 years ago.
Holbrook's longtime portrayal of the Missouri-born wordsmith proves the point.
Why else has the veteran actor's one-man show survived and thrived for more than four decades, through nine presidents, from the birth of rock 'n' roll to rap, through the space race, the nuclear race, the civil rights movement, the sexual revolution, international terrorism and television?
The reason is simple, Holbrook explained. "Because Mark Twain was basically talking in universals, and they don't change in that way."
On stage, he uses that to his advantage. It is one reason the show has enjoyed such long-running success. Holbrook will bring his "Mark Twain Tonight!" to the Roanoke Civic Center auditorium for one performance Wednesday night.
From night to night, year to year, scandal to scandal, war to war, Holbrook continuously updates his show to keep it topical.
Of course, it can't be entirely topical. "My character has been dead for 84 years," he said.
To complicate matters, Holbrook doesn't use any words that Twain didn't utter or pen himself. So, it is tricky territory.
How he pulls it off is by talking around the issue, whatever it is, by never naming names or specifics, but still making it clear what event he's talking about.
"The audience fills in the blank."
Essentially, Holbrook portrays Twain at 70 as he reminisces about his life and pontificates on the state of the world. The show is a mix of humor - Holbrook aims for four laughs a minute - and biting social commentary.
His portrayal of the literary figure who gave us "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," "The Prince and the Pauper" and other celebrated stories dates back to the late 1940s.
Holbrook was born in Cleveland but raised mostly in New England by his grandparents. His mother was a vaudeville dancer. He attended Denison University in Ohio, and the Mark Twain characterization grew out of an honors project there that he collaborated on with his first wife.
That developed into a two-person show, in which the couple played characters ranging from Hamlet to Twain. In 1948, they took the show on the road, mostly to schools, logging more than 300 performances and 30,000 miles by station wagon in 30 weeks.
By 1954, they had moved to New York, and Holbrook landed a role on the soap opera "The Brighter Day." He also began to research Twain more extensively and develop a one-man show based on his life.
He quickly realized how rich the material was and became enamored of the man himself. He read everything he could find: Twain's own writings, accounts of his lectures, and biographies. Early on, he even interviewed people who knew him.
He learned, too, that Twain was human, susceptible to his own frailties. Twain moved to Hartford, Conn., for example, the literary center of the country at the time, and built a mansion to outdo everybody else in town. Twain's trademark white suit was also a mark of vanity. Like his house, he often flaunted it on Sundays just to tweak polite society people on their way to church.
Holbrook first played his one-man show in New York nightclubs. He performed a piece of it on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Then in 1959, it opened to rave reviews at an off-Broadway theater. In 1966, the show premiered on Broadway and won a Tony Award and a Drama Critic's Circle Award.
Holbrook also went on to a successful career in television and movies. He has won five Emmy Awards and had roles in the movies "All The President's Men," "Wall Street" and "The Firm," among others.
Most recently, Holbrook has a continuing role on the television series "Evening Shade" with Burt Reynolds, and he has completed his second ``Perry Mason Mystery Movie.'' He plays lawyer Bill McKenzie, Perry Mason's stand-in.
Coincidentally, the movie airs Wednesday night, opposite his appearance as Mark Twain in Roanoke. "I'll be competing with myself," he said.
Holbrook is married to his third wife, actress Dixie Carter, best-known from her work on the television comedy "Designing Women." He said Carter is writing an autobiography and developing a new comedy series for herself. For the interview, he talked on the telephone from her rural home place between Memphis and Nashville where the couple was relaxing for a week.
Theater still remains Holbrook's first love. Recently, he has starred in productions of "King Lear'' and "Death of a Salesman.'' And he always comes back to "Mark Twain Tonight!''
He has performed the show in every year since he first began it in 1954. These days, he agrees to about two dozen performances a year. This will mark the first time Holbrook has brought the show to Roanoke.
All of which leaves one last question. What would Twain think? Would he like the show?
Holbrook hesitated with an answer this time.
"I don't know, but I hope so. How can I tell?"
As of Monday afternoon, 200 tickets remained for the show.
``Mark Twain Tonight!'' on Wednesday, 8 p.m., Roanoke Civic Center auditorium. Tickets, $22 and $28. Proceeds benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation Chapter of Western Virginia. 981-1201.
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by CNB