Thursday, February 11, 2016

"To Kill a Mockingbird" Planned for Broadway


I just had to share this. In case you haven't heard, Harper Lee's deservedly-acclaimed novel -- and one of my all-time favorites -- To Kill a Mockingbird, is on its way to Broadway, scheduled for the 2017-18 season. The book will be produced by Scott Rudin and adapted by none other than TV and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.

From The New York Times: Mr. Rudin isn’t the first producer to bring the story of Atticus and Scout to the stage. The playwright Christopher Sergel’s adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird” has been staged countless times in schools and regional theaters across the country. It was staged in London in 2013, in a production starring Robert Sean Leonard as Atticus.

It is especially beloved in Ms. Lee’s hometown, Monroeville, Ala., where volunteers have put on the play every spring for the last 26 years. Ms. Lee and her lawyer, Tonja B. Carter, have taken a more active role in the stage production recently, and created a nonprofit, the Mockingbird Company, to produce the play in Monroeville.

But according to her literary agent, Andrew Nurnberg, Ms. Lee has long been reluctant to sell the professional stage rights, despite entreaties by playwrights and producers.

More details may be found here.

Thanks for your time.

9 comments:

  1. I'm surprised it took them this long to adapt it.

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    Replies
    1. Well, there's a "non-pro" version that's been authorized and made the rounds for years, but this is the first time that it's been done professionally, if that makes any sense. Maybe I should've clarified that in my post.

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  2. I didn't know about that. I know some people who saw the play in small towns. I wonder if the script will be the same.

    Love,
    Janie

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    Replies
    1. Nope, supposedly new, for the mainstream theatre audiences.

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  3. Hmm...I guess the buzz over the release of her second book pushed them into action?

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  4. I added some paragraphs from The New York Times article to clarify that there was a prior adaptation, for "schools and regional theaters."

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  5. I drove my big truck down Broadway one night years ago while delivering a load of boxed beef to lower Manhattan. It was not until I came into Times Square that I realized that I had been on BROADWAY, though. Sigh.

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