Hal Holbrook performing Mark Twain Tonight Sept. 4 at his prep school alma mater

CULVER, Ind., Aug. 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Emmy- and Tony Award-winning actor Hal Holbrook, a 1942 graduate of Culver Military Academy, will return to his alma mater Sept. 4 for a performance of his highly-acclaimed one-man show Mark Twain Tonight.

The opening production of Culver Academies' 2014-15 Huffington Concert Series, the performance will be at 7:30 p.m. in Eppley Auditorium on the campus. A limited number of tickets are available on a first-come, first-serve basis by calling (574) 842-7058.

"There are places on this campus where I have lived and died ... and out of that I got me," Holbrook has said of the prep boarding school he attended from 1938-42.

In the Fall 2011 issue of Culver Alumni Magazine, Holbrook recalled that at the start of his senior year he needed an easy course with one hour of credit to graduate. A friend told him "there was no homework in dramatics class. That did it. That got me onstage. When I actually went out onstage I realized that people were listening to me for the first time in my life. Really listening. That's when the acting bug bit me."

Holbrook is completing the 60^th consecutive year of his legendary solo show, having performed it more than 2,250 times. Holbrook has won several awards for Twain, including the Tony and a special Drama Critics' Circle Award. His 90-minute CBS television special was nominated for an Emmy Award and seen by an audience of 22 million. 

Holbrook was Culver's first Man of the Year in 1967-68 and was inducted into the Academies' Arts & Letters Hall of Fame in November 2004. He also returned to campus in 2002, speaking to an all-school assembly. In 2010, he released the first volume of his autobiography Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain.

He last performed Mark Twain Tonight at Culver in 1962, marking his first appearance in Eppley Auditorium, which was completed in 1959.

About Culver Academies

Located on Lake Maxinkuckee in Culver, Ind., Culver Academies is a boarding school offering a college-preparatory curriculum for boys and girls in grades nine through 12. 

 In 2014-15, Culver has an enrollment of 827 students representing 38 states, the District of Columbia, and 23 countries. Approximately 20 percent of the students are international, coming from such countries as Canada, China, Ecuador, Guatemala, Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.

Culver's mission is to educate its students for leadership and responsible citizenship by developing and nurturing the whole individual through integrated programs that emphasize the cultivation of character. 

Founded in 1894, the boys' school, Culver Military Academy, is based upon a military-type system used to teach self-discipline, responsibility, and leadership. Culver Girls Academy, founded in 1971, and is based upon the prefect system, with girls practicing democratic self-rule to achieve similar values.

For more information, visit www.culver.org.

Contact:

Doug Haberland
(574) 842-8365

SOURCE The Culver Academies