TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD to Open 4/30 at Berkeley Playhouse

Berkeley Playhouse will produce the first non-musical in its nine-year history with Christopher Sergel's adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. The show will be directed by Berkeley Playhouse's Producing Artistic Director Daren A.C. Carollo (Berkeley Playhouse's Peter Pan, Hairspray; Broadway: A Time to Kill; Off-Broadway: bare The Musical; Regional: Diablo Theatre Company, City Lights Theatre Company, Napa Valley Opera House, Pacific Coast Repertory Theatre, Town Hall Theatre Company). Previews begin April 28. The show runs from April 30 to May 22 at the Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave in Berkeley, CA. Tickets are now available through the box office. Please call (510) 845-8542 x351 or visit berkeleyplayhouse.org.

Eighty years have past since a ten-year-old Harper Lee witnessed the events that would inspire her 1960 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Today, the issues of racial inequality and injustice for black Americans expressed in the classic novel are still deeply pertinent. With last year's release of Lee's Go Set a Watchman, and her passing this past February, To Kill a Mockingbird has found itself again at the forefront of the American literary scene.

"To Kill a Mockingbird is both Daren's [Carollo] and my favorite book. When we realized that, the choice for our first non-musical was easy. Thematically, current politics show how relevant this story still is. Our country continues to be embroiled in conflicts of race, civil rights, words that are used to distort truth and incite anger and malice on innocent people," says Founding Artistic Director Elizabeth McKoy. "At its core, this is a story about trying to understand a world where there is evil, and a world where loving and courageous acts by good people can remind us of our deepest humanity. Given the political spectacle around us with the Republican nomination process, it seems to be the perfect time to remind our community of this."

Director and Producing Artistic Director Daren A.C Carollo adds, "I am currently reading this novel for the 16th time. I read it whenever I go through a period of major transition in my life. I read it because it reminds me that my life is easy compared to Atticus'. It reminds me that all human beings are people first. It reminds me to treat everyone the way I want to be treated. My favorite quote from the play is 'You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.' We can all use this reminder, sometimes."

Carollo's creative team includes: Set Designer Mark Thomas (Berkeley Playhouse, Barry Manilow at the Las Vegas Hilton, Teatro ZinZanni, Letter from Birmingham Jail with Anna Deavere Smith); Costume Designer Michael Berg; Composer Don Tieck (Original Scores: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Midsummer Night's Dream - Theatre Bay Area Featured Design, Thunderbabe -World Premiere with Altarena Playhouse, Dracula with Solano College Theatre,and others as Resident Composer with Douglas Morrisson Theatre; and Dialect Coach Nancy Carlin.

THE CAST: The cast is led by Steve Rhyne (Doubt [Father Flynn] and Rabbit Hole [Howie] with Contra Costa Civic Theatre, Oklahoma! [Will Parker] and Urinetown [Lockstock] with Contra Costa Musical Theatre, and Love! Valour! Compassion! with New Conservatory Theatre Center) as Atticus Finch; Laurie Strawn (Rabbit Hole [Nat], Thoroughly Modern Millie [Mrs. Meers] with Contra Costa Civic Theatre; Annie [Miss Hannigan], The Drowsy Chaperone [Mrs. Tottendale], On The Town [Madame Dilly] with Diablo Theatre Company; Branden Thomas (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee [Mitch Mahoney], Hairspray [Seaweed]; Avenue Q [Trekkie Monster] with Berkeley Playhouse) as Tom Robinson; Miia Ashley (Bridges: A New Musical with Berkeley Playhouse, Black and Blue [Monica] with Harlem School of the Arts. Film WORDS [Elaine], Jason and Kelly [Kelly]) as Calpernia, and David Bogdonoff (A Streetcar Named Desire, Saint Joan, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Dracula, To Kill a Mockingbird at Contra Costa Civic Theatre) as Boo Radley. The 18 member cast will include two sets of youth playing the roles of Jem, Scout and Dill. Jem will be played by:Campbell Ives-Zeigler and Jacob Henrie-Naffaa; Scout by Dakota Dry and Charlotte Ying-Levy; and Dill by Leo Long and Luka Henrie-Naffaa. Additional casting includes: John Hale, Danny Cozart, Amanda Leigh, Joel Roster, Philip Percy Williams, Jeff Larson, and Anne Kendrick.

BERKELEY PLAYHOUSE: Berkeley Playhouse was founded in 2007 by professional theatre actor, director, and teacher for over 25 years, Elizabeth McKoy. With the rapid growth of the company, the Board of Directors brought on Producing Artistic Director Daren A.C. Carollo and Director of Education Rachel Eisner to collaborate with McKoy and continue Berkeley Playhouse's development into a professional musical theatre providing our community with a unique and sophisticated experience. Additionally, Berkeley Playhouse offers a range of skill and performance based theatre training for young actors through our thriving Conservatory. In 2009, Berkeley Playhouse made the historic Julia Morgan Theater its permanent home.

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