Recap Aaron Sorkin's Stage Career as A FEW GOOD MEN Returns to Broadway

Aaron Sorkin has made a return to Broadway with a revival of A Few Good Men, the show which marked his Broadway debut in 1989. While known for his work on stage and screen, Sorkin has made a name for himself on Broadway, penning two other plays, The Farnsworth Invention and the stage adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. He also contributed a new book for Bartlett Sher’s Lincoln Center production of Camelot.

Now that Sorkin is back on Broadway, we're recapping his stage history. Take a look back at his work!

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A Few Good Men

Aaron Sorkin made his Broadway debut with A Few Good Men, which earned him the John Gassner Award for Outstanding New American Playwright.

A Few Good Men had its world premiere at the Heritage Repertory Theatre at the University of Virginia's Department of Drama on September 19, 1989. It then transferred to the Kennedy Center. The play opened on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre in Manhattan of New York City on November 15, 1989, in a production directed by Don Scardino, with Tom Hulce as Lieutenant (junior grade) Daniel Kaffee, Megan Gallagher as Lieutenant Commander Joanne Galloway, and Stephen Lang as Colonel Jessep. Michael O'Hare replaced Lang as Col. Jessep later in the run.

A Few Good Men tells the story of military lawyers at a court-martial who uncover a high-level conspiracy in the course of defending their clients, two United States Marines accused of murder.

The Broadway production earned Megan Gallagher a 1990 Theatre World Award and a Best Actor nomination for Tom Hulce at the 44th Tony Awards.

A Few Good Men went on to have several subsequent productions including tours, international productions, and runs in several languages including Spanish, German, and Hindi. Sorkin adapted his work three years later into a screenplay for the 1992 feature film of the same name.

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The Farnsworth Invention

The Farnsworth Invention was adapted from an unproduced screenplay about Philo Farnsworth's first fully functional and completely all-electronic television system and David Sarnoff, the RCA president who stole the design. 

In 2005 it was announced that Sorkin was adapting the screenplay for the stage and the play would debut in The Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. It was staged at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2007, before opening on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre on December 3, 2007. The La Jolla production starred Jimmi Simpson as Farnsworth and Stephen Lang as Sarnoff, but on Broadway Hank Azaria took over the Sarnoff role. Composer Andrew Lippa penned 45 minutes of music to underscore the drama.

The show closed on March 2, 2008. Simpson was honored with a Theatre World Award for his performance.

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To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird is a 2018 play based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Harper Lee, adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin. The show follows the story of Atticus Finch, a lawyer in 1930s Alabama, as he defends Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of rape.

Produced by Scott Rudin and directed by Bartlett Sher, the production began previews at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway on November 1, 2018, prior to an official opening on December 13, 2018. Jeff Daniels starred in the production as Atticus Finch with Celia Keenan-Bolger and Will Pullen playing Scout and Jem Finch, respectively.

On March 12, 2020, the play suspended production due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it resumed performances on October 5, 2021 at the Shubert Theatre. The show played its final performance on January 16, 2022, and was set to reopen at the Belasco Theatre on June 1. However, the production never reopened on Broadway, a decision made by producer Scott Rudin.

The play opened in London's West End at the Gielgud Theatre in March 2022. It embarked on a US and UK tour, before returning to the West End for a limited season at Wyndham's Theatre, from 25 June 2026 to 12 September 2026.

The original Broadway production was nominated for 9 Tony Awards.

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Camelot

Camelot had a life long before Aaron Sorkin worked on it, however he penned the revised book for the show's 2023 revival.

Camelot is a musical with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics and a book by Alan Jay Lerner. It is based on the legend of King Arthur as adapted from the 1958 novel The Once and Future King by T. H. White. 

The 2023 Broadway revival, which Sorkin worked on made several changes to the script, aiming to be a production reimagined for the 21st century. The revised script removed all magic, recasting Merlin as a sage and Morgan le Fay as a scientist, and eliminated Nimue. It portrayed Guenevere as a more modern, politically involved character, among other changes.

The production began previews on March 9, 2023, with an official opening on Thursday, April 13, 2023 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. Cast members included Andrew Burnap as Arthur, Phillipa Soo as Guenevere, and Jordan Donica as Lancelot. The show was nominated for five Tonys, but won none. The production closed on July 23, 2023. Plans for a U.S. national tour and West End production were announced, but later cancelled.

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Aaron Sorkin's Other Work

In movies, Sorkin’s screen adaptation of A Few Good Men was nominated for Best Picture. He followed that with The American President and Charlie Wilson’s War, directed by Mike Nichols. Sorkin won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Critics’ Choice Award for writing The Social Network and received nominations for Moneyball and Steve Jobs. He wrote and directed Molly’s Game, The Trial of the Chicago 7—nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture—and Being the Ricardos.

In television, Sorkin wrote and produced “Sports Night” and followed that with “The West Wing,” which won two Peabody Awards and broke records for Emmy wins. He wrote and produced “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” and the HBO series “The Newsroom.” His latest film, The Social Reckoning, a companion piece to The Social Network, stars Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Bill Burr and Jeremy Strong and was released October 9th.

About the Revival of A Few Good Men

Directed by Tony Award winner Michael Arden, the production stars Tom Blyth as ‘LTJG Daniel Kaffee, in his Broadway debut, Outer Critics Circle Award winner Krysta Rodriguez as ‘LCDR Joanne Galloway,’ and Emmy Award winner Bradley Whitford as ‘LtCol Nathan R. Jessep.'  A Few Good Men is set to officially open on Thursday, October 29. The production  will play for 13 weeks only through Sunday, January 10, 2027 at  the  Vivian Beaumont Theater.

A Few Good Men also features Stephanie Berry as ‘CAPT J. A. Randolph,’ Nick  Blaemire as ‘LTJG Sam Weinberg,’ Michael Braugher as ‘Cpl Jeffrey Howard,’  Christopher Gurr as ‘CDR Walter Stone,’ Billy Eugene Jones as ‘CAPT Isaac  Whitaker,’ Collin Kelly-Sordelet as ‘PFC Louden Downey,’ Shunté Lofton as  ‘Orderly,’ Michael Oberholtzer as ‘Capt Jack Ross,’ Lavel Schley as ‘LCpl Harold  W. Dawson,’ Thom Sesma as ‘Maj Matthew Markinson,’ Daniel Velez as ‘PFC  William T. Santiago,’ John Zdrojeski as ‘1stLt Jonathan Kendrick,’ with Brendan  Behm, Alex Ekker, Drew Elhamalawy, Miles Fowler, Quentin Nguyen-duy, and Stephen Michael Spencer as ‘Marine/Military Personnel,’ and Peter Bradbury, Tim  Creavin, Mahira Kakkar, and Austin Phillips rounding out the cast as understudies.