Rare Twain Short Story Dramatized on Florida Stage

Mark Twain's short story "A Murder, a Mystery and a Marriage"--written in 1876--did not see the light of day until an obscure publication in 1945. It was not widely published and distributed until 2001--which is part of the reason why it was such a novel choice to be adapted into a musical play.

That's what playwright Aaron Posner and composer James Sugg have done. The production opens tomorrow to kick off the season for the Florida Studio Theatre.

The story of a betrothal between two young lovers in a small Missouri town interrupted when the suitor comes under suspicion of murder, it has been adapted with a few alterations to make it better suited to the stage, but that apparently hasn't taken anything away from the appeal.

"There's something dear and sweet in a very good way," director Pamela Hunt told Florida's Herald-Tribune. "It's very endearing, and there's an innocent sense of humor to it."

The show premiered two years ago at the Delaware Theatre Company. Posner himself staged a production at the Two River Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey last May.