THE BIG READ- "Tom Sawyer" & "Riverboat John"

The Adventures of “Tom Sawyer” & “Riverboat John” is an opportunity to explore the lives of three people….  The reader “Riverboat John” Ferguson, The writer “Mark Twain”, and the main character “Tom Sawyer”   The show is broken down into five parts:                                    

Part One:  Introduction                                                     

Opening Song Oh! Susannah!  Written by Stephan Foster, Father of American Folk Music & one of “Mark Twain’s” favorites.                                        

Welcome to the audience & over-view of show.                                                           

Part Two:  “Riverboat John”                       

Tom & Huck , A song & story written by “Riverboat John” about growing up & being a pirate, a boatman, and riding on the river when he was eight or nine or ten.                                                    

The Library, A song & story about the weekly trip to the local Carnige Library to check out another Classic book. Books like Tom Sawyer  and Huckleberry Finn by “Mark Twain”, Call of the Wild by Jack London, Treasure Island  by Robert Louis Stevenson, Moby Dick  by Herman Melville, &  lots of others.                                                         

Mark Twain, a song and story adapted from tales from Granddad about the river and the Riverboat Era.                                         

Part Three:  The book Tom Sawyer and all about “Tom Sawyer” the character.

This Classic story rests in our hands, hearts and imagination. The characters are famous and the tale is timeless. It is full of heroes and villains, suspense and humor, adventure and wonder and new ideas. From the sewn on collar, to the whitewashed fence, Huck Finn & Becky his girlfriend. The graveyard, murder, secrets oaths. Pirates, his own funeral, trials and Injun Joe. Hidden treasure, the cave, the spy and the search. Lost in darkness. Riches-Rules-Rags & Robbers. “Tom Sawyer “keeps us on the edge of our seat with laughter and humor, and all the other things that go with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.                                                        

Part Five:  Conclusion:

At age 41 I think that Clemons wrote this book for pure entertainment. I believe that as an old man on tour as a lyceum speaker he saw more meaning in it for us all. Way beyond pure entertainment. Of course many of us believe there is a little “Tom Sawyer” in all of us.

Audiences of all ages and backgrounds from Chautauqua, New York to Miami, Florida and California and back, have enjoyed the songs & stories of “Riverboat John”. His ability to hold your attention span is amazing.  His programs are always filled with a good mix of song & story.                                                  

New York Times, says “A true American Minstrel, full of Americana”.     

Chattanooga Free Press, “Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn all wrapped up in one, with a banjo on his knee and river water in his veins”.                                                   

The Hannibal Courier-Post, “Made himself right at home here in Hannibal, and would have fit right in with Tom & Huck & Becky”.

The New Orleans Times Picayune, “Knows the river, the city, the people, music and the stories”.                                                

Some interesting parallels with this program: “Mark Twain” loved to sing and he played a parlor style G –tuned guitar. So does “Riverboat John”.  Both share a love for the Spirituals, Folk Songs, River Work Songs & Minstrel Show Songs. Several of these songs will be performed in the show.

"Mark Twain in his trade mark white suit and white hair and white mustache...