On Broadway- To Kill A Mockingbird

The hottest ticket on Broadway right now is To Kill A Mockingbird, based on Harper Lee's classic novel of the same novel. The novel was recently voted by the public as the Great American Read, and most Americans who have read the book read it in high school.

To Kill A Mockingbird

If you haven't read the novel, perhaps you saw the 1962 movie, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, the upright and moral  laywer who defends a black man accused of raping a young white woman in 1934 small town Maycomb, Alabama.

To take this iconic book and movie and turn it into a Broadway play requires a certain amount of nerve, and the road to the stage was a rocky one, including litigation between the estate of Harper Lee and the producers. Once settled, playright and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (best known for creating TV's West Wing) wrote the script, and acclaimed actor Jeff Daniels took on the role of Atticus Finch.

Although everyone knows the story, Sorkin manages to create such tension in the courtroom scenes that you could hear a pin drop in the theater. He had previous success with another courtoom drama, A Few Good Men.

Sorkin also manages to include plenty of humor in this serious story, thanks mostly to the dialogue of the children, here played brilliantly by adults as children- Celia Keenan-Bolger is fabulous as Scout, our main narrator. She is a sure-fire Tony nominee this season. Will Pullen is also excellent as her older brother Jem, and Gideon Glick is a revelation as their friend Dill (a character Harper Lee reportedly based on her friend Truman Capote, whom she knew when they were children).  They break the fourth wall in this production with their narration.

Jeff Daniel's Atticus Finch is somewhat different than Gregory Peck's Finch. Daniels' Finch shows his temper and frustration more, and his interactions with the children is somewhat more playful. He gives new shades to his interpretation of Atticus Finch, not an easy task for a character so imbedded in the American psyche.

Gbenga Akinnagbe brings the accused Tom Robinson to life, and his courtroom testimony is absolutely riveting. You cannot take your eyes off him in that scene. Frederick Weller is also fantastic as the racist and menacing Bob Ewell, spouting language that made everyone in the audience cringe.

The biggest controversy in the show is the relationship between Atticus and Calpurnia, his black housekeeper who also cares for the children. Latanya Richardson Jackson's steely Calpurnia has a scene where she strongly shares her true feelings about the trial with Atticus, something than some people feel whould never have happened in 1934 Alabama between a white employer and his black employee. (This scene was not in the novel.) While I understand why people feel this way, I think the scene works very well for this production.

This production of To Kill A Mockingbird is a profoundly moving piece of theater, and although written in 1960 and set in 1934, sadly some of it still resonates in today's America. There is a short speech by Atticus about the danger of mob mentality that so affected much of the audience that you could hear murmurs of agreement and people catching their breath.

I'm happy to say that playwright Aaron Sorkin, director Bartlett Sher, Jeff Daniels and the rest of the cast have honored an American classic novel and movie, a Herculean task, with their unforgettable take on To Kill A Mockingbird. It is a production not to be missed at any ticket price.