Twain House Adds Second Star-Studded Reading of "Grant & Twain"

Press release

The Mark Twain House & Museum Announces Second Star-Studded Reading of Elizabeth Diggs' Play Grant & Twain

Play Chronicling the Legendary Friendship of Ulysses S. Grant and Mark Twain to Feature Jill Eikenberry, Tony Shalhoub and David Strathairn on January 18 and 19

Hartford, CT -Due to strong demand, The Mark Twain House & Museum (MTH&M) has added a second public reading of Elizabeth Diggs' historical drama, Grant & Twain. The award-winning play, featuring a celebrated cast including Emmy Award-winner Jill Eikenberry (L.A. Law), Tony and Emmy Award-winner Tony Shalhoub (Monk, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), and Academy Award-nominee and Emmy-winner David Strathairn (Lincoln, Nomadland), was initially announced as a one-night-only fundraiser happening on Saturday, January 18 at the museum.

Currently only sponsorship tickets remain for Saturday, which include a VIP reception with the actors and creatives. A second reading has been announced for Sunday, January 19 at 2pm. Tickets, available for a $75 donation to the museum, go on sale to the public on December 12 at 10am via the MTH&M website at MarkTwainHouse.org/Events/. For sponsorship inquiries for the Grant & Twain events, please contact Dawn Veillette Diana, Director of Development, at 860-280-3113.

MTH&M Interim Executive Director Jack Sennott states, "We are pleased to welcome these renowned artists to Hartford and The Mark Twain House & Museum. And we are thrilled to announce that due to the overwhelming demand for reservations and a sold-out Saturday performance, the artists have agreed to perform a second reading of Grant & Twain on Sunday afternoon. What a testament to the talent on stage and the passion of our community. We are deeply grateful to playwright Elizabeth Diggs for offering her play as a fundraiser for the museum.”

Joining Eikenberry (playing First Lady Julia Grant), Shalhoub (Mark Twain) and Strathairn (President U.S. Grant) will be joined by actors Dion Graham (Audible's Narrator Hall of Fame inductee, 11-time Audie winner), Dana Watkins (Off-Broadway's Edwin, The Jazz Age) and Aubie Merrylees (Broadway's To Kill a Mockingbird, KPOP) under the direction of James Glossman.

About the Play & The Playwright

Ulysses Grant and Mark Twain are superstars of the Gilded Age. Grant has just been swindled in a Ponzi scheme, suddenly bankrupt and humiliated. His only chance to save his honor and his family is to write his memoirs. Twain takes on mounting debt and his own career teeters in his determination to save his hero by publishing the book himself. With his work half finished, Grant is stricken with cancer and faces a stunning betrayal close to home. He wills himself to stay alive to win his last battle, while his pen races and the world watches.

Playwright Elizabeth Diggs states, “I discovered this story a decade ago and I fell in love with these two men. They are American heroes — original, daring and honorable. I have worked since then to faithfully capture the drama of what happened between them.”

Diggs, a member of the famed Ensemble Studio Theatre and a professor of Dramatic Writing for the Tisch School, premiered Grant & Twain at the Salt Lake Acting Company with a subsequent mounting at PS21. The play received the Edgerton Award for New American Plays. Her works have also been staged at The Vineyard Theatre, Capital Rep, and Goodspeed Musicals.