‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ Releases New Ticket Block Through November 1

EXCLUSIVE: As it continues to set records, the new Broadway production of To Kill a Mockingbird has released a new block of tickets through November 1. That will extend the run of the Scott Rudin-produced play to exactly one year after its first Broadway performance at the Shubert Theatre.

Critics raved when Mockingbird, adapted by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Bartlett Sher, officially opened last month. Audiences have flocked to the new stage version of Harper Lee’s beloved novel, whose iconic film version starring Gregory Peck is in the Hollywood firmament. Jeff Daniels takes up Peck’s mantle in the current production, playing lead character Atticus Finch.

Last week, the production broke the single-week record for the highest-grossing American play in Broadway history. It also holds the Shubert Organization’s box office mark for the highest weekly gross of any Broadway play in the organization’s century-plus history.

Since performances began last November 1, Mockingbird has not played to an empty seat, with 100% capacity (or greater) for every performance. Its advance currently stands at more than $22 million.

Success followed a period of legal limbo for the current adaptation. Lee’s estate filed a lawsuit several months ago, contending that Sorkin took too many liberties with the classic book. The producers counter-sued and for a time the long-planned fall opening appeared in jeopardy. But the parties settled last spring, clearing the path for an on-schedule debut.

Set in Alabama in 1934, the book and play center on Finch, a small-town lawyer. Finch’s daughter Scout is played by Celia Keenan-Bolger. Other key characters include Scout’s brother Jem (Will Pullen), their housekeeper and caretaker, Calpurnia (LaTanya Richardson Jackson), visiting friend Dill (Gideon Glick), and a mysterious neighbor Arthur “Boo” Radley (Danny Wolohan).

The cast also includes Frederick Weller, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Stark Sands, Dakin Matthews and Erin Wilhelmi.