Ron Crawford Stars In TRAVELS WITH MARK TWAIN On The Lilac Steamship 7/25-8/16

Playing in repertory with the world premiere of Adam Klasfeld's The Report of My Death, Ron Crawford presents all-ages performances of his own one-man show Travels with Mark Twain on the deck of the Lilac Steamship, located Pier 40 near Houston on the Hudson, from July 25 to August 16 for Saturday and Sunday family matinees at 2pm.

Ron Crawford's Travels with Mark Twain re-creates Twain's lectures from a hundred years ago, his adventures as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi, his mining days out west, the Hawaiian Islands, and his first tour of Europe along with his caustic, humorous observations (and a few tall stories). Ron enacts selections from classics including Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and Adam and Eve. The purpose of Twain's lectures, he reminds us, is to point out the value of traveling to keep us from becoming a bigoted, opinionated, stubborn, narrow-minded, self-conceited, almighty mean person.

Ron has performed this show in large theaters, college and high school campuses, middle schools, libraries and even living rooms for small intimate gatherings. Audiences of any size and any age have always responded to the show enthusiastically. Actor and creator Ron Crawford appeared in the original Tony Award-winning Steppenwolf production of The Grapes of Wrath as it progressed from Chicago to London and to Broadway and became a television special on PBS. Around the country in regional theaters some of Ron's favorite roles have included the hapless white realtor in A Raisin in the Sun; the black and white heroes of Fugard's wonderful Valley Song; ancient Nonno in The Night of the Iguana; Candy, the pathetic one-armed ranch hand in Of Mice and Men; Scrooge in A Christmas Carol; the grumpy grandfather in Ragtime; and recently he played Groucho Marx in a serious look at comedy in a new play from England called Schmucks!

On television he's been a special guest on Spin City and Ed and recently as an aging Hippie on All My Children. In film, Ron can be seen in Luc Besson's animated/live family film Arthur and the Invisibles (now available on Netflix) and in the two sequels to be released this year and next. He played Arthur's grandfather along with Mia Farrow as grandmother. In the animated part of the film, Grandfather is one of the animated characters along with the voices of Madonna, David Bowie and Snoop Dogg. Watch for Arthur and the Revenge of Malthazard coming in December 2009 and Arthur and the War of Two Worlds, 2010.

Tickets are $18.00, and ticketing information will be released soon. Performances are July 25 through August 16, Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm.