‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ featuring Richard Thomas (center) — Photo: Julieta Cervantes
It holds the record as the highest-grossing non-musical play in Broadway history — and in this case, that history is remarkably fresh. Of course, To Kill a Mockingbird is still best known in its original form, as Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel dating to 1960.
Surprisingly, the work, a tale of racial injustice and childhood innocence, has only been adapted for the screen once, and that 1962 film continues to rank as one of the greatest movies of all time.
It had only been adapted once for the stage — with the annual, only-in-Alabama production developed by Christopher Sergel — before Aaron Sorkin decided to put his stamp on the piece a few years ago.
That stamp included tinkering with the story to position Atticus Finch as the protagonist instead of the famous lawyer’s young daughter Scout.
With Jeff Daniels originating the role of Finch, the production, directed by Tony-winner Bartlett Sher with an original score by Adam Guettel, managed to overcome initial resistance as well as a major lawsuit from the Lee estate in reaction to the changes, going on to enjoy a successful run on Broadway starting in November of 2018 until the pandemic shutdown in March of 2020.
It then picked back up in October of 2021 until mid-January of this year, with a third Broadway extension planned to commence later this summer with Greg Kinnear in the role of Finch.
The national touring production of To Kill a Mockingbird is now open for a three-week run at the Kennedy Center, headlined by the great Richard Thomas, who stars as Finch opposite Melanie Moore as Scout.
The production also features Jacqueline Williams as the Finch’s housekeeper and caretaker Calpurnia, and Mary Badham, who garnered an Oscar nomination as Scout in the original film, as Mrs. Dubose.
Yaegel T. Welch as defendant Tom Robinson and Steven Lee Johnson as Dill Harris, plus Luke Smith, Liv Rooth, and Glenn Fleary all also join the touring production fresh from the revived Broadway run.
"I had the original toaster-like Macintosh in 1984," says Mark Campbell. "And I have been a devotee of Apple since." Good thing, then, that he was asked to write the libretto for The evolution of Steve Jobs with composer Mason Bates.
Over the past two decades, Campbell has become one of contemporary opera's leading librettists, winning a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy Award, among other accolades. He's also been staggeringly prolific, having helped to create nearly 40 works since his first opera in 2004.
So it's surprising to learn he didn't set out to pursue this career, much less to make a name in opera.
If there is one opera lost or won by its chorus and characters, it's George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. In this perfect storm of a story, it's all about the tight-knit fishing community that cradles, carries, and sometimes condemns its own. It's only if you believe in their hardscrabble lives and insistence on dignity that you feel what it means to lose them. In this respect, the Washington National Opera's Porgy and Bess absolutely nails it.
Of course, it starts with the vision of director Francesca Zambello and her talent for bringing intimacy to grand themes. Here, those themes run the gamut of ill-fated love: Porgy's tragic devotion, Bess' addiction to the dangerous Crown, and the reality that no union can outrun death.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were upstaged by a gaggle of drag queens at the Kennedy Center Opera House during a performance of the French Revolution-set hit musical Les Misérables on Wednesday, June 11.
The couple’s appearance -- Trump’s first of the term at the historic venue -- coincided with a special fundraising night aimed at supporting the reportedly financially struggling arts institution.
According to the The Washington Post, ticket sales have slumped following Trump’s takeover of the storied institution, long considered a cornerstone of D.C.’s theater scene. Subscriptions for the upcoming season are down by $1.6 million -- roughly 36% -- compared to last year.
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