By Audrey Levine Staff Writer
MANVILLE — He stood at the front of the room at the Senior Center Tuesday, wearing a white shirt and vest; white pants and shoes; and a black bow at his collar. His white wig and real white mustache completed the ensemble.
As the crowd of about 11 people looked up at him, he introduced himself as Mark Twain, born on Nov. 30, 1835, and began to tell an abbreviated story of his life, including publishing of the classic novels, “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn.”
”A classic is a book that everybody wants to read, but nobody reads,” he said, to laughter from the audience.
In his one-man show about Mark Twain, performer David Kennedy told stories of the famous novelist, as written by Twain himself in his own speeches and works.
The New Jersey resident said he has done more than 100 presentations of Twain’s life at libraries, senior centers, women’s clubs and historical societies, among other locations.
”This fit my persona and I enjoy it every time,” he said. “I keep laughing at it myself.”
The program about Mark Twain is done through the Speakers Bureau of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, and Joanne Pearson, Senior Center manager, said she heard about it through the state’s Office on Aging.
”I thought it would be interesting,” she said. “The program is so full of knowledge and I thought people would enjoy it.”
Throughout his hourlong performance, Mr. Kennedy embodied Twain, talking about his work with the San Francisco Chronicle, his time spent as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River, his nights as a comedian and his time in service in the Civil War.
”We did more retreating (in the Civil War) than the man who invented retreating,” he said.
Those in the audience laughed along with Mr. Kennedy’s jokes and his sly comments about life on the West Coast, as well as the many jobs he held throughout his life before his name became known as a novelist.
”I enjoyed everything he was saying, and the jokes,” said Ellen Gill, of Jackson Avenue. “This was something different, and I liked all the stories.”
Jeanne Zydalis, of Orchard Street, said she heard about the event and thought it would be an interesting way to spend the afternoon.
”I liked his costume and the discussion,” she said. “It was very, very interesting and I enjoyed it very much, hearing the way he traveled when he was 17 and every place he went to.”
Aside from his work as Twain, Mr. Kennedy was the producer, director and actor of his Actors Café Theatre in North Jersey for 17 years, and has appeared in off-Broadway and Broadway productions, such as Arthur Miller’s “The Price.”
”(In the mid-70s), I thought I could do a one-man show,” he said of his decision to tackle the life of Twain, in addition to other shows detailing the works of Eugene O’Neill and Dylan Thomas. “I go all over the state (performing).”
Mr. Kennedy detailed Twain’s life to his death in 1910, discussing his rules for life (“Never smoke more than one cigar at one time”), and stating that he was born close to when Halley’s comet approached the Earth and expected to die with it as well.
”I’m not going to tell you where I ended up (when I died),” he said as he wrapped up his performance, “but if someone can give me a fan I can take back with me, that would be great.”