But beloved as it may be, why in the ever-loving hell has it taken so long for To Kill A Mockingbird to become a theatrical play that is actually worthy of its literary heritage? Sure, there’s been a 1990 (?!) version by Christopher Sergel that’s made it way through every high school auditorium, community theater playhouse and reginal theater over the intervening three decades that we are, quite frankly, sick to death of it. In fact, if we never see it again, we’ve seen it far too often: a warmed over, treacly and maudlin rehash that’s far too dependent on the title’s movie roots to really emerge from a darkened theater to become a consummate American play.
Amid a banquet of juicy roles doled out by Aaron Sorkin in his adaptation of Harper Lee's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Richard Thomas feasts the fullest, delivering the most powerful, staggering work I’ve seen from him in my 59+ years of watching his most memorable performances live on Broadway, live in Charlotte, and on TV.
The mockingbird is noted for its ability to duplicate the sounds they hear. The bird's reference in the title of Harper Lee's epic novel, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD supposedly refers to the statements of prejudice that are repeated over and over in the book's famous trial. Statements about Blacks, Jews, the more and less educated, the economic class of a person. The only way to stop the sounds is to destroy the source.
As BroadwayWorld first reported in 2019, a legal battle between the Harper Lee Estate and Dramatic Publishing has been ongoing since the arrival of Aaron Sorkin's Broadway adaptation of the play.
The Sauk, Hillsdale County's community theatre, will open the 2022 season with the stage version of “Cheaper By The Dozen,” the true-life story of a family with twelve children. Performances are scheduled February 3-6 and February 10-13.
The Sauk, Hillsdale County's community theatre, will open the 2022 season with the stage version of 'Cheaper By The Dozen,' the true-life story of a family with twelve children. Performances are scheduled February 3-6 and February 10-13, 2022.
Laguna Playhouse Youth Theatre announces THE OUTSIDERS by Christopher Sergel, based on the novel by S.E. Hinton, streaming February 19 – 28, 2021 at www.lagunaplayhouse.com.
Florida Repertory Theatre's Education Department has announced in-person classes for September and October featuring limited class sizes and enhanced safety measures. In addition to the safety measures, the classes will be held outdoors in order to keep both the instructors and students safe and healthy.
Scott P. Calhoon's dreamlike staging of the S. E. Hinton classic finds moments of beauty and adrenaline in the sometimes clumsy prose of a young adult classic.
After spending a year on an extended visit to his original hometown of Chicago, Illinois, veteran and award-winning stage actor and play director Darryl Maximilian Robinson, The Founder, Artistic Director and Producer of the multiracial, non-Equity professional chamber theatre, The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago and Los Angeles-based theatre artist, has returned to The City of Angels, and will discuss both his most recent on-and-off stage endeavors in Chicago and Los Angeles on the Monday December 30, 2019 edition of the internet performing arts program 'The Actor's Choice' hosted by long-time entertainment journalist Ron Brewington in a program that can be viewed live on Youtube at 11:00 am PST.
After spending a year on an extended visit to his original hometown of Chicago, Illinois, veteran and award-winning stage actor and play director Darryl Maximilian Robinson, The Founder, Artistic Director and Producer of the multiracial, non-Equity professional chamber theatre, The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago and Los Angeles-based theatre artist, has returned to The City of Angels, and will discuss both his most recent on-and-off stage endeavors on the Monday December 30, 2019 edition of the internet performing arts program 'The Actor's Choice' hosted by long-time entertainment journalist Ron Brewington in a program that can be viewed live on Youtube at 11:00 am PST.
Hershey Area Playhouse will present the holiday production The Homecoming. Directed by Marcie Warner, The Homecoming is a heartwarming family story based on Earl Hamner Jr.'s novel and adapted for the stage by Christopher Sergel. The story takes place one Christmas Eve in 1933 as the Spencer family, known on television as a?oeThe Waltons,a?? awaits the return of their father, who has had to find work many miles from home. With anxious anticipation, his eight children and their mother prepare for Christmas with the uncertainty of his return in the midst of a winter snow storm. The eldest son, who also narrates the tale, is sent out to find his father, encountering many of the town's characters, as well as some revelations about them, himself, and the man for whom he is searching. It is a perfect a?oeget you in the mood for the holidaysa?? experience that will be sure to please Playhouse audiences.
Possum Point Players have set a deadline of Friday, May 31, for applications to direct any of the five mainstage shows of the 2020 season. There are two application forms for potential directors, one for those who have directed shows at PPP before, and one for those seeking to be a first-time director with the players. Application forms may be downloaded from the PPP website, www.possumpointplayers.org., or obtained from Donna de Kuyper, Director Selection and Director Liaison Chair for Possum Point Players. Executive Administrator Dawn Conaway can also respond to requests for director applications by email, office@possumpointplayers.org, or by phone call to 302-856-3460.
Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird has been much in the news of late, what with a brand spanking new Broadway production (written by Aaron Sorkin and which opened this past December) and reports of dozens of productions around the world of the stage adaptation written by Christopher Sergel being shuttered due to threats of legal action from Scott Rudin, producer of the new Broadway version, and attorneys for the Harper Lee estate.
BroadwayWorld previously reported cancellations of a number of productions of the Christopher Sergel stage adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird. According to the New York Times, president of Dramatic Publishing Company Christopher Sergel III says he will be suing for damages.
BroadwayWorld previously reported cancellations of a number of productions of the Christopher Sergel stage adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird, licensed by Dramatic Publishing, in the UK, Dayton OH, and Buffalo, amongst others across the US.
