Schedule of Events
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Rafts Set Sail!
August 31 at 11:00 a.m.
YMCA artEMBRACE
Public Square at Metro Courthouse, James Robertson Pkwy. at 3rd Avenue North
In conjunction with YMCA artEMBRACE (Empowering Many By Rendering After sChool Enrichment) and local artist Kaaren Engle, approximately 60 handmade rafts created by children from Bordeaux, Lockeland, Amqui, Haywood, and Norman Binkley elementary schools will set sail in the fountains in Public Square to kick-off Nashville’s Citywide Celebration of Mark Twain. Live music, special guest Mayor Karl Dean, and a visit from Mr. Twain himself (sort of).
John Hartford: Ever Smiling, Ever Gentle on My Mind
Through December 2009
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Raised in St. Louis, where his boyhood fascination with steamboats was rivaled only by his passion for bluegrass and old-time music, John Hartford (1937–2001) was an innovative songwriter, versatile musician and charismatic entertainer. After moving to Nashville, he wrote “Gentle on My Mind” recorded by Glen Campbell, which became a Grammy-winning pop and country hit. Hartford divided his time between music and the Mississippi River, spending his summers working as a pilot on the steamboat Julia Belle Swain. His 1976 album of river songs, Mark Twang, also received a Grammy. This exhibit features John Hartford's handwritten lyrics, album covers, stage clothing, musical instruments and riverboat sketches. For more information, visit the web site above or call 615-416-2001.
Words & Music
September 2009-May 2010
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Using a teacher’s lesson guide provided by the museum, teachers will guide their students through the process of writing song lyrics in their classroom. The lyrics will be given to a professional songwriter who will add melodies to a selection from the class. The songwriter will perform the songs for the students at the museum where the students will also take a tour of the exhibits.
Mark Twain: A Film by Ken Burns
September 3 and 10 at 8 p.m.
NPT, Nashville Public Television
Nashville Public Television presents an encore broadcast of Mark Twain: A Film By Ken Burns. Drawing from 63 hours of material, thousands of archival photographs and nearly 20 interviews with top writers and scholars, this two-part, four-hour documentary is the story of Twain's extraordinary life, full of rollicking adventure, stupendous success and crushing defeat, hilarious comedy and almost unbearable tragedy. Told primarily through the words of Twain himself, viewers of all ages will be personally introduced to this compelling yet contradictory genius.
Scarecrows!
September 5-November 1
Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art
This seasonal outdoor exhibition features scarecrows throughout Cheekwood's gardens and grounds. In honor of Nashville's Citywide Celebration of Mark Twain, Cheekwood invites participants to create scarecrows with a Mark Twain theme. Big or small, frightening or friendly, silly or serious—there is sure to be a 'crow for everyone! Visit the web site above for more information.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
September 22-October 9
Nashville Children’s Theatre
The return of the hit NCT production of this toe-tapping Broadway musical about the irrepressible boy growing up along the Mississippi River, written by playwright Ken Ludwig (Lend Me a Tenor) and songwriter Don Schlitz (“The Gambler”), based on the book by Mark Twain.
Mark Twain Centennial Book Club
September 22, 2009-May 25, 2010
Old Hickory Branch Library (Nashville Public Library)
A friendly and informal discussion of readings in Mark Twain’s classic works. Each meeting will be based upon a theme important to Twain and will cover one or more complete works. Books will be available for checkout at the Old Hickory Library 2-3 weeks in advance of the discussion.
September 22 (Medieval Tales):
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court; Recollections of Joan of Arc; The Prince & the Pauper
October 27 (Modern Traveler):
Roughing It; The Innocents Abroad
December 1 (Novel):
The Tragedy of Puddn’head Wilson
January 26 (Novel):
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
February 23 (Novel):
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
April 27 (Essays & Short Stories):
"Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offences;" "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County;" "The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg"
May 25 (Final Words):
Letters From the Earth; The Mysterious Stranger
Thomas Hart Benton in Story and Song
October 2, 2009-January 31, 2010
Frist Center for the Visual Arts
A selection of drawings and watercolors narrating works by Mark Twain—including Life on the Mississippi, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer—created by another promoter of American narratives and everyday life, Thomas Hart Benton. A section of the exhibition will focus on another source of inspiration for the artist: folk music and musicians. Benton’s lifelong admiration of Americana music is well known, yet works of this subject matter have not yet been assembled as an exhibition.
Riverboat John, Tom Sawyer, and All the Trappings of Mark Twain
January 12, 2010, 6:30 PM
Goodlettsville Branch Library
Join Riverboat John for songs, stories, and antics based on the book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. John will perform classic Stephen Foster songs alongside his original compositions. This entertaining blend of story and song will bring to life the Riverboat Era so vividly portrayed by Twain. Fun for the whole familty!
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
January 28, 29 & 30, 2010
Montgomery Bell Academy
Montgomery Bell Academy's Junior School presents "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." This musical features 7th and 8th grade students who will perform a retelling of Twain's classic novel. Dates and times for all performances in the Paschall Theater are: Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7:00 pm, Friday, Jan. 29 at 7:00 pm and Saturday, Jan. 30 at 2:00 pm. The public is cordially invited to attend!!
Mark Twain: An American Original
February 1 - June 30, 2010
Vanderbilt University Special Collections
This exhibit of rare source material showcases first editions of Twain’s books as well as his struggles with copyright laws of the day. The exhibit features the Marc H. Hollender Mark Twain Collection from Vanderbilt University Special Collections, items from the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Missouri, and items from the Department of Special Collections at San Diego State University in San Diego, California. After the exhibit finishes here it will travel to San Diego State University for the remainder of the year.
Big River: The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn
March 20-April 10, 2010
Tennessee Repertory Theatre
Tennessee Performing Arts Center
Adapted from the book by Mark Twain and propelled by an award-winning score by country great Roger Miller, this Tony award-winning theatrical celebration of pure Americana sweeps audiences down the mighty Mississippi as the irrepressible Huck Finn helps his friend Jim, a slave, escape to freedom at the mouth of the Ohio River.
Straight Outta Hannibal! The Life of Mark Twain, Rock Star
April 15-24 , 2010
People's Branch Theatre
PBT proudly presents this original rock musical based upon Twain's autobiography, his world-famous lectures, and his last posthumously published work, Letters from the Earth. This humorous, radical, provocative and profound work will focus on Twain's unique position as the world's first celebrity, and explores the effects of fame upon the man who described himself as THE American. Straight Outta Hannibal! will introduce Nashville to an undiscovered side of Mark Twain and chronicle the events and ideas that led to the creation of the world's first star.
The Elusive Mr. Twain by Carolyn German
April 28-May 1, 2010
Metro Parks Theater Department and Fort Negley/Two Rivers Mansion
Based on historical record, The Elusive Mr. Twain imagines the story of two women living in the post-Civil War South who develop an unlikely friendship after they discover a mutual dream of becoming newspaper journalists. Encouraged by the popularity of the legendary author and humorist Mark Twain, the pair sets off “up North” determined to win an audience with the man himself.
The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
April-May 2010
Main Library/Nashville Public Library
"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is the short story that got Mark Twain’s reputation as a humorist hopping! In the story, “as told to Mark Twain,” an old man named Simon Wheeler relates a ridiculous tall tale about a miner and his pet frog. Featuring various puppetry styles and exciting original music, this adaptation by Wishing Chair Productions will delight all ages.