by A NEW PLAY BY AARON SORKIN
BASED ON HARPER LEE’S CLASSIC NOVEL
EAST LANSING, MI — Emmy Award-winning actor Richard Thomas is confirmed to star as Atticus Finch for the complete third touring season of the First National Tour of the history-making production of To Kill a Mockingbird, Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin’s new play, directed by Tony Award® winner Bartlett Sher and based on Harper Lee’s classic novel. The production is currently on a multi-year national tour across North America with a stop at Wharton Center’s Cobb Great Hall Tuesday, October 3 through Sunday, October 8, as part of the 2023-24 Broadway Season. Tickets are on sale now through the official Wharton Center Ticket Office, online at whartoncenter.com, or by calling 517.432.2000 or 1.800.WHARTON. For more information, please visit www.tokillamockingbirdbroadway.com.
Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch has been embraced by critics and audiences alike. His performance has been called “Easily the most powerful work I’ve seen from Richard Thomas” (BWW Charlotte), “A memorable performance rarely seen in a touring Broadway production” (Curtain Up Phoenix), and “Sheer perfection—this role was made to be played by Thomas” (Around the Town Chicago).
The Buffalo News proclaims “Both modestly human and divinely heroic. All rise for Richard Thomas,” and the Dallas Voice declares “Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch is at the height of his career.” Complete casting will be announced later.
Since its tour launch in March 2022, the First National Tour of To Kill a Mockingbird has played more than 500 performances in 44 cities, seen by more than 1 million theatergoers (1,107,617 as of July 2, 2023) and hailed as “A must-see” (Northwest Herald, Chicago), “The most powerful telling of this story you’ll ever experience” (St. Paul Pioneer-Press), and “Amazing—a perfect 10!” (KOA News Radio, Denver).
To Kill a Mockingbird holds the record as the highest-grossing American play in Broadway history. It began performances on November 1, 2018, at the Shubert Theatre and played to sold-out houses until the Broadway shutdown in March 2020. On February 26, 2020, To Kill a Mockingbird became the first-ever Broadway play to perform at New York’s Madison Square Garden, in front of approximately 18,000 New York City public school students, also marking the largest attendance at a single performance of a play ever in world theater. The production resumed performances on October 5, 2021, and concluded its run at the Shubert Theatre on January 16, 2022. On May 20, 2023, To Kill a Mockingbird concluded its run-on London’s West End, playing for more than a year to packed houses at the Gielgud Theatre.
Set in Alabama in 1934, Harper Lee’s enduring story of racial injustice and childhood innocence centers on one of the most venerated characters in American literature, small-town lawyer Atticus Finch. The cast of characters includes Atticus’s daughter Scout, her brother Jem, their housekeeper and caretaker, Calpurnia, their visiting friend Dill, and a mysterious neighbor, the reclusive Arthur “Boo” Radley. The other indelible residents of Maycomb, Alabama, are Bob Ewell, Tom Robinson, prosecutor Horace Gilmer, Judge Taylor, and Mayella Ewell.
To Kill a Mockingbird is designed by Miriam Buether, with costumes by Ann Roth, lighting by Jennifer Tipton, sound by Scott Lehrer, and an original score by Adam Guettel. Musical direction is by Kimberly Grigsby, hair & wig design by Campbell Young Associates, casting by The Telsey Office, and design adaptation and supervision by Edward Pierce. The national tour is produced by Barry Diller.
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BIOGRAPHY
RICHARD THOMAS (Atticus Finch) (he/him). Broadway/Off-Broadway: The Little Foxes (TonyÒ nom.), You Can’t Take It with You, Race, Democracy, Incident at Vichy, The Stendhal Syndrome (Lucille Lortel Award), A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, An Enemy of the People, Tiny Alice, The Front Page, The Fifth of July, innumerable Shakespeare productions, and his professional debut at 7 years old in Sunrise at Campobello on Broadway. National tours: The Humans (Elliot Norton Award) and Twelve Angry Men. Thomas is an Emmy Award-winning actor for his performance in the iconic series The Waltons. Film: Last Summer; Red Sky at Morning; September 30, 1955; Wonder Boys; Taking Woodstock; The Unforgivable. TV: The Americans, Billions, Tell Me Your Secrets, and the Netflix series Ozark.
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This article is sponsored by Wharton Center of Performing Arts.
