Richard Thomas in Mark Twain Tonight! Photo by T Charles Erickson

“King of the Road” calls to mind the pop hit by singer-songwriter Roger Miller. For fans of great touring Broadway theater, though, that crown belongs to star of stage and screen Richard Thomas, who arrives in Denver on Saturday, January 31 to channel the homespun humor of the bard of Hannibal, Missouri in Mark Twain Tonight!

Best known for playing the iconic John-Boy Walton in the beloved TV series “The Waltons,” Thomas has enjoyed an award-winning career in television, film, and on the Broadway stage. He has made numerous cross-country appearances in such shows as Twelve Angry Men and his inspiring turn as Atticus Finch in the national tour of Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of the Broadway hit To Kill a Mockingbird. Now he takes on the role of Samuel Clemens made famous by another touring veteran, Hal Holbrook.

Mark Twain Tonight! features excerpts from Twain’s writings, letters, and speeches, as well as humorous anecdotes and stories that highlight his homespun humor and insights on the politics of his day. Thomas is the only actor authorized to perform the play by Holbrook’s estate, a responsibility and legacy he takes very seriously.

“I’m delighted [Hal Holbrook’s] estate decided it was time to bring it out again because I think it’s a great time right now for us to hear about Twain. When the estate reached out and told me they wanted to run this again and they thought Hal would probably be happy if I did it, I immediately said I would love to.” — Richard Thomas

While Holbrook performed the show for more than 50 years, assembling the play from a large cache of Twain’s writings, the material was made available to Thomas to develop his own spin on the piece.

“Hal curated and assembled a whole lot of Twain’s material and didn’t create a form for it,” continued Thomas. “There’s a lot of different material an actor can put together and change-up as he wants to. Hal did a wonderful job taking a little bit from here and there, so you have something that is performable that gives you a full picture of the man, his story, and his feeling about things.”

Mark Twain Tonight! offers more than one reflection of public life that will resonate with audiences today. As Thomas explains: “Twain’s evolution of social consciousness in terms of race and social justice really mirrors America’s own evolution in that respect. What makes him interesting dramatically is he’s aware of these contradictions and the dark side of his own nature, and he shares it. He’s very human and you can really get into the soul of the man when you’re playing him.”

Though the original source material is more than a century old now, Mark Twain’s writings and utterances still ring true today. “There are certain sections of this piece where people come up to me and ask, ‘Did you put that in?’ remembers Thomas. “Or they ask ‘was that something you wrote?’ But it’s all pure Twain.”

Thomas goes on to extol the virtues of the Sage of Hannibal, Mo. “It’s amazing how he remains fresh and prudent,” the actor reflects. “The salient things in our society right now are all things he was involved in writing about and speaking about.”

“Actors are intrepid researchers, and Twain is just a bottomless well,” concluded Thomas. “You can just keep drawing good water from it without running dry. I’ve always loved him before in a more general-audience way, but this is giving me a great opportunity to go deep. And he’s a wonderful companion. He has insights, he makes you laugh, and he makes you think.”

DETAILS
Mark Twain Tonight!
Jan 31, 2026 • Buell Theatre
Tickets