Five Facts You Might Not Know About Harper Lee and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

As reported by BroadwayWorld, producer Scott Rudin has announced plans to bring Harper Lee's classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD to Broadway for the 2017-2018 season. Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin will write a new stage adaptation of Lee's novel, and the production will be directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher.

Published in 1960, Lee's story of Alabama lawyer Atticus Finch, assigned by a judge to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman, is widely regarded as one of the greatest works in American literary history.

And while the list of accolades and honors for Lee's Pulitzer-winning original and director Robert Mulligan's film adaptation that followed are lengthy and well-known, here are five TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD facts you may not know.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD was the first written work of any kind published by Nelle Harper Lee. She opted to cut her name down to "Harper Lee" because she feared people would continually misidentify her first name as "Nellie."

Harper Lee, now 89 years old, was childhood friends with Truman Capote, and traveled with him to Holcomb Kansas to interview residents and investigators involved with the Clutter family murders that became the subject of his 1966 breakout bestseller, IN COLD BLOOD.

After the book's publication, Lee famously withdrew from public life, refusing most interviews and declining honors that required public appearances for decades. Two subsequent attempts at books were abandoned.

In 2015, the country was surprised by the release of a second book by Harper Lee, GO SET A WATCHMAN. At first promoted as a sequel to TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, it was later conformed to be a recently discovered early draft.

Tequila Mockingbird is a very popular stage name for burlesque and drag artists.

Have you read TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD? Have you seen the movie? Because now's the time to start speculating on casting! Comment with your dream cast.

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