By Lea Kahn
Perhaps it was the fact that they both grew up a short distance from a major river the Missouri River and the Susquehanna River and explored the bluffs and caves along the riverbanks.
Or maybe it was that they both had been aware of social injustice, but the parallels between their lives were so strong that it was little wonder that Alan Kitty felt compelled to portray 19th-century writer Mark Twain when he decided he wanted to develop a one-man show.
”There were these strange parallels that followed me throughout my life,” said Mr. Kitty.
The 62-year-old Viburnum Court resident has portrayed Mr. Twain whose real name was Samuel Clemens for more than 30 years.
”Samuel Clemens was a comedian first and foremost,” Mr. Kitty said. “He was a perpetual youth, and there was always an element of that in me. The world is too silly to take seriously.”
After some career changes, the Harrisburg, Pa., native sought to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming an actor. Mr. Kitty moved to New York City, but as a 30-year-old, he was told by a casting director that younger actors were more in demand.
”I knew (acting) was out, so it was the one-man show,” Mr. Kitty said. “You look for opportunities. How much work can come from imitating one person?”
”Anyone in the world who lived in the 1800s knew the Declaration of Independence, the Statue of Liberty and Mark Twain. I realized that he was a fellow that I could portray all over the world,” he said.
Mr. Kitty embarked on his career as a Mark Twain impersonator on a part-time basis around 1980, while working fulltime in the corporate world. He retired from XXX three years ago and has been pursuing his passion for Mark Twain full time.
And it was also a matter of time to portray Mark Twain requires a commitment of time beyond anything required by the corporate world, Mr. Kitty said. To accurately portray Mr. Twain involves scholarship and literary prowess, because he writes his own scripts, he said.
”You have to read what he read,” Mr. Kitty said.
The more he delved into Mark Twain, the more similarities he saw between himself and the man he described as the most famous 19th-century American writer.
Mr. Kitty said he and Mark Twain think the same way in terms of politics, which the writer said has little to do with leadership or running anything. It’s a profession that people engage in for personal gain.
”That was his view and that is my view. I didn’t have to change any of my viewpoints to become comfortable (portraying Mark Twain),” he said.
Nevertheless, it is important to separate oneself from the character one is portraying, Mr. Kitty said. Samuel Clemens was not really Mark Twain, and Alan Kitty really is not Mark Twain, he said.
”I realize all the time that I am not Mark Twain. I don’t confuse myself with the real thing, ever,” he said, adding that his approach to acting is to think long and hard about the different influences on Samuel Clemens’ life. He said he has to be careful not to inject his own experiences into the one-man show.
The next area stop for the one-man show will be Feb. 11 at Morris Hall in Lawrence.
Commenting on Samuel Clemens’ recently released autobiography, Mr. Kitty said it is best read in small doses. It is not a conventional autobiography. It was written in a stream-of-consciousness style. Some critics have said that it fails as a literary work, he added.
”I just love life,” Mr. Kitty said. “I look at life through the lens of a humorist. That is the real connection between Mark Twain and me.”
