Want to come heckle BoothieBarn authors Dave & Kate Taylor in person? Here are some of our public speaking engagements planned for the future.
Date: Saturday, April 4, 2020
Location: Colony South Hotel and Conference Center (7401 Surratts Rd, Clinton, MD 20735)
Time: TBD
Speech: The Prisoners of Shark Island: Fort Jefferson and the Lincoln Conspirators
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: In his speech, Dave will discuss what prison life was like for Dr. Mudd, Samuel Arnold, Michael O’Laughlen, and Edman Spangler, the four Lincoln assassination conspirators who were sent to the isolated Dry Tortugas for their role in the crime of the century.
Cost: Dave’s speech is one of seven that will be presented during the Surratt Society’s annual Lincoln Assassination Conference. The cost for the whole conference (which includes meals and the day of speeches) is $200.
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2020
Location: Surratt House Museum (9118 Brandywine Road, Clinton, MD 20735)
Time: 7:00 am – 7:00 pm
Speech: John Wilkes Booth Escape Route Bus Tour
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: Dave is one of the narrators for the Surratt House Museum’s John Wilkes Booth Escape Route Tour. The 12 hour bus tour documents the escape of the assassin through Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Information on how to register can be found here: http://www.surrattmuseum.org/booth-escape-tour
Cost: $85
Date: Sunday, June 14, 2020
Location: Tudor Hall (17 Tudor Ln, Bel Air, MD 21015)
Time: 2:00 pm
Speech: Burying the Booths: Their Final Days and Funerals
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: The Booth family of Tudor Hall left an indelible mark on theater and American history. As each Booth shuffled off this mortal coil their deaths were widely commented on in the press. In his speech, Dave Taylor will recount the deaths and final resting places of the various members of the Booth family noting how the nation reacted to the passing of a theatrical dynasty forever tainted by a horrendous crime. More information will be found at: http://spiritsoftudorhall.blogspot.com/2016/11/make-plans-to-visit-tudor-hall-in-2017_7.html
Cost: $5.00 cash for the talk and a tour of Tudor Hall
Date: Sunday, August 23, 2020
Location: Tudor Hall (17 Tudor Ln, Bel Air, MD 21015)
Time: 2:00 pm
Speech: Lights, Camera, Assassination: John Wilkes Booth on Stage and Screen
Speaker: Kate Taylor
Description: John Wilkes Booth’s theatrical career came to a fiery end in 1865. However, his infamy still lives in modern media, both on stage and on screen. Can an actor’s choices influence opinions about Booth’s character? Does the inclusion of Booth in someone else’s story change the narrative? How is Booth used as a trope in plot lines where he, arguably, doesn’t belong? And are there repercussions to popular media giving Booth the remembrance he so desired in life. Join Kate Taylor as she explores John Wilkes Booth in the modern media. More information will be found at: http://spiritsoftudorhall.blogspot.com/2016/11/make-plans-to-visit-tudor-hall-in-2017_7.html
Cost: $5.00 cash for the talk and a tour of Tudor Hall
Date: TBD Saturday(s) in September, 2020
Location: Surratt House Museum (9118 Brandywine Road, Clinton, MD 20735)
Time: 7:00 am – 7:00 pm
Speech: John Wilkes Booth Escape Route Bus Tour
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: Dave is one of the narrators for the Surratt House Museum’s John Wilkes Booth Escape Route Tour. The 12 hour bus tour documents the escape of the assassin through Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Information on how to register can be found here: http://www.surrattmuseum.org/booth-escape-tour
Cost: $85
Date: Sunday, October 4, 2020
Location: Tudor Hall (17 Tudor Ln, Bel Air, MD 21015)
Time: 2:00 pm
Speech: Lights, Camera, Assassination: John Wilkes Booth on Stage and Screen
Speaker: Kate Taylor
Description: John Wilkes Booth’s theatrical career came to a fiery end in 1865. However, his infamy still lives in modern media, both on stage and on screen. Can an actor’s choices influence opinions about Booth’s character? Does the inclusion of Booth in someone else’s story change the narrative? How is Booth used as a trope in plot lines where he, arguably, doesn’t belong? And are there repercussions to popular media giving Booth the remembrance he so desired in life. Join Kate Taylor as she explores John Wilkes Booth in the modern media. More information will be found at: http://spiritsoftudorhall.blogspot.com/2016/11/make-plans-to-visit-tudor-hall-in-2017_7.html
Cost: $5.00 cash for the talk and a tour of Tudor Hall
Date: Saturday, October 24, 2020
Location: St. Mary’s Bryantown Cemetery (13715 Notre Dame Pl, Bryantown, MD 20617)
Time: 1:00 pm
Speech: A Grave Tour of Dr. Mudd’s Cemetery
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: While many people have visited St. Mary’s Bryantown in order to see the grave of Dr. Samuel Mudd, the cemetery is also the final resting place of many of Mudd’s relatives and neighbors. At least 15 residents of St. Mary’s testified regarding Dr. Mudd at his 1865 trial and each one had an interesting tale to tell. As part of the Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House Museum’s monthly speaker series, Dave Taylor will host a walking tour of St. Mary’s Cemetery. Learn about the stones and bones that rest in St. Mary’s Bryantown and how they connect to the doctor who set the leg of an assassin.
Cost: Free, but donations for the Dr. Mudd House Museum are always appreciated.
Date: Sunday, October 18, 2020
Location: Tudor Hall (17 Tudor Ln, Bel Air, MD 21015)
Time: 2:00 pm
Speech: Burying the Booths: Their Final Days and Funerals
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: The Booth family of Tudor Hall left an indelible mark on theater and American history. As each Booth shuffled off this mortal coil their deaths were widely commented on in the press. In his speech, Dave Taylor will recount the deaths and final resting places of the various members of the Booth family noting how the nation reacted to the passing of a theatrical dynasty forever tainted by a horrendous crime. More information will be found at: http://spiritsoftudorhall.blogspot.com/2016/11/make-plans-to-visit-tudor-hall-in-2017_7.html
Cost: $5.00 cash for the talk and a tour of Tudor Hall
Additional speeches and information will be posted when available. Past speaking engagements can be seen here: https://boothiebarn.com/about/
If you are interested in having either Dave or Kate speak to your group about any aspect of the Lincoln assassination story, click to Contact Us or email to BoothieBarn@gmail.com
Just an aside – “Beware the people whistling” is a motto taken uttermost serious by actors & Co. as whistling in a theater (except it’s part of the play) is believed by theater people to bring bad luck.
The world of theater certainly has many superstitions (no opening an umbrella in a specific direction, the ghost light, always use the term “Scottish Play”). Thanks for the interesting tidbit.
Kate – I am so glad that I recommended you as the presenter for the Calvert County Historical Society’s program. I knew that you had done a first-person of Mary Surratt earlier this spring, but I had no idea how deeply you have delved into creating an intriguing script on our lady. Congratulations on a wonderful job and thank you for representing Surratt House Museum and the Surratt Society.
And thank you for the recommendation. The Port Tobacco presentation was completely off the cuff since I only spoke for about ten minutes. This was the first time I prepared/preformed a first person piece of such magnitude.
Very nice portrayal, Kate! I found it quite believable. I also think Mrs. Surratt was in on the kidnapping plot but not the assassination. Thank you for posting this!
Thank you. It’s always nice to find someone who supports the same theory.
Quite a powerful and very believable presentation. The quality of the monologue rivals what I’ve seen on Broadway!
Thank you 😀
Wonderful portrayal, Kate – grand job!
Thank you, Betty 🙂
Very powerful and moving interpretation! Well written dialogue. Great job Kate. Who knew “Wilkes” was such a good videographer…….lol
Thank you. “Wilkes” is very skilled with the camcorder. I’m lucky to have him around.
Kate, that was a wonderful presentation! I shared it with the Boston Civil War Roundtable and they want to ask you to be a presenter at one of their dinners during their 5 Days in May bus tour next spring, which will be centered on John Wilkes Booth and the assassination. Can you please give me your contact info? Thanks!
Thank you. I would love to speak for the Roundtable. I’ll send you an email with my contact info.
Kate….”late to the party”; have meant to watch this video forever …and it got buried somehow….anyhow…..just wanted to tell you how terrific it is and you are in it……for the past 10 years of my life I have read over 500 books on Lincoln and the assassination…..and you could not have been more brilliant as Mary Surratt…..hope some day to meet you in my travels with my family , possibly in 2018……I have started work on a screenplay involving a fictional meeting between Lincoln and Booth…..but…after seeing this I think maybe I should work on an Anna Surratt one-woman piece….and that I’d write with only you in mind to play her….all the best , happy holidays , and thanks for the performance……Gary Gilbert
Thank you for your wonderful compliments, Gary. Putting this piece together was quite an experience and it’s always great to hear that an audience member enjoyed watching it as much as I enjoyed creating it. Anna Surratt would be an interesting character to portray. Her personality is very different from that of her mother and she lives in that limbo of familiarity but not direct involvement with the conspiracy core. All the best with your own writing endeavors. Happy holidays.