N.B.: I am posting the following information on behalf of the Rutgers
Presbyterian Church of NYC. --Kevin B.

For further information,
Contact: Patricia Pastas
[log in to unmask]
212.877.8227

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARK TWAIN: TRAVELING at Rutgers Presbyterian Church, a
Benefit Performance for the Christopher Roberts Shelter

Date and Time: Sunday, May 30, 2010 at 4:00 p.m.
Running Time: 75 minutes
Admission: $20 recommended donation
General Admission Seating
Subway: 1, 2, and 3 to 72nd Street
Mark Twain: Traveling is a one-person performance premised as Twain
lecturing on his travels.

New York, N.Y.

The wry wit and the outrageous humor of Mark Twain will be celebrated in
"Mark Twain: Traveling," a benefit performance for the Christopher Roberts
Shelter* at Rutgers Presbyterian Church, 236 West 73rd Street (just west of
Broadway), on Sunday, May 30 at 4:00 p.m. Proceeds from the performance will
benefit the Shelter; suggested donation $20. (Note: The west side of
Broadway will be closed to traffic from 72nd Street to 86th Street for the
23rd Annual Livable West Side Festival.)

"Mark Twain: Traveling," devised and performed by veteran actor Cal Pritner
features Twain's lecturing humorously about his lifetime of travel from
America, to the Sandwich Islands, to Europe, and to the Holy Land.

"Lots of folks don't realize that Twain's first two major books, the ones
that first made him famous, were travel books."  Pritner says, "The
Innocents Abroad" was unusual if not revolutionary for an American travel
book.  "He wrote about Europe and the Holy Land in a way that was profoundly
different from previous Americans."

According to Pritner, before Twain American travelers wrote of Europe with
reverence, saying what they were "supposed" to say about sites like the
Acropolis in Athens, Greece.  "Twain was totally irreverent and people loved
it, after they got over the shock."

Twain was one of the world's most popular lecturers.  In 1896 he toured
around the world, performing to full houses in New Zealand, Australia, India
and South Africa.

Pritner, a theatre professor whose former students include Tony winners
Judith Ivey and Rondi Reed, as well as many of Steppenwolf Theatre's early
company, wrote and began performing the travel piece in 1997, after having
studied Twain for years.

"Mark Twain: Traveling" has been performed in venues from Barbados (the
Holders Festival) to Blue Lake California, at New York City's Lotos Club
(Twain was a member), in Los Angeles, in Arizona's oldest bar, in the
Midwest, and in the Southeast.

Pritner, the founding artistic director of the Illinois Shakespeare
Festival, has appeared on several television series including HBO's "The
Speck Murders," "The A-Team," "Hunter," and "The Untouchables."

He played the role of the governor of Missouri in Robert Altman's feature
film, "Kansas City."  Stage work includes plays in Chicago, New York City,
and Kansas City.  Recently he appeared as Prospero in the Arizona
Shakespeare Festival production of Shakespeare's "The Tempest."

*Christopher Roberts Shelter: Three nights each week, working with Christ &
St. Stephen Episcopal Church, Rutgers Presbyterian Church hosts ten men in
need of shelter who have been screened by Partnership for the Homeless.
Volunteers from Rutgers and the community stay overnight-in a safe and
pleasant environment-so that the men have a nourishing meal and a
comfortable place to sleep while working toward permanent housing.

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