Broadway’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ starring Richard Thomas, headed to Broward Center

Yes, “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a part of the Broadway in Fort Lauderdale season. But no, this will not be a musical version of Harper Lee’s masterwork.

The production running March 28 to April 9 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts is a new play based on Lee’s classic Pulitzer Prize-winning 1960 novel — which became an acclaimed 1962 movie starring Gregory Peck, whose performance won him an Oscar.

This new take stars Richard Thomas (”The Waltons,” Stephen King’s “It,” “The Americans,” “Ozark”); was written by Aaron Sorkin (”The West Wing,” “A Few Good Men,” “The Social Network”); and directed by Bartlett Sher (”The Light in the Piazza” and revivals of “South Pacific” and “Fiddler on the Roof”).

Fun fact: Sher also directed the revival of “My Fair Lady,” running at Miami’s Arsht Center around the same time that “To Kill a Mockingbird” plays Fort Lauderdale.

That pedigree is part of the reason Broadway Across America — a presenter of touring Broadway shows in 48 regional markets, including Fort Lauderdale and Miami — brought the play to South Florida.

“When you have an opportunity to bring ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ on tour with Richard Thomas and the rest of the cast, it really is an amazing opportunity for subscribers,” says Susie Krajsa, president of Broadway Across America. “I really think it’s going to bring new audiences to the theater. It’s a great piece of theater. And it’s also the most successful play ever to run on Broadway. So, to be able to bring a show like that ... to our subscribers and single ticket buyers, it was an opportunity that we really couldn’t pass up.”

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Set in a small town in Alabama in 1934, “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a memory play where three children — played by adult actors — narrate the story of racial injustice and childhood innocence against the backdrop of lawyer Atticus Finch (played by Thomas) defending Tom Robinson, a Black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. The book, the movie and now the play spotlight some of American literature’s most revered characters: Atticus’ daughter Scout, her brother Jem, their housekeeper and caretaker Calpurnia and the mysterious Arthur “Boo” Radley.

Melanie Moore as Scout Finch and Jacqueline Williams as Calpurnia. (Julieta Cervantes / Courtesy)

Thomas, who has been touring with the play since last spring, says, “If you’re going to take any play around the country, this is the play, this is the story. I love the work. It’s very challenging in a lot of ways. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a great experience to go around the country with a company like the one that I’m in. I really believe plays should tour more. Plays used to tour. This was a very common practice.”

The actor also toured Fort Lauderdale and Miami in “12 Angry Men” back in 2007.

“It’s a little more work than a musical,” he adds. “Musicals are very extrovert experiences. They pick you up and carry you along. A play ... is more about listening to the language, so there is a little work in that for people with the play. But it’s more rewarding because of all the feeling — [the audience] have more of an active experience, a little more leaning forward into it.”

Though rare, this is not the first time Broadway Across America has made a play part of the Broadway season at the Broward Center. It brought “War Horse” in 2013 and “Love Letters” starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal in 2015.

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Krajsa, who is based in Fort Lauderdale, explains, “A lot of our strategy does involve listening to the audience, and we pay very careful attention. We do surveys annually to hear what they want to see, and they’re very savvy, and they know what’s going on in New York. And so when we have an opportunity to bring play, we do that. We don’t always have the opportunity ... you know, there’s a play in New York and it just may not tour.

“We’ve done the show in 10 of our markets so far, and every one of the markets has responded and reacted very, very well to the show,” she adds. “It’s hugely popular.”

Yaegel T. Welch stars as Tom Robinson in "To Kill a Mockingbird." (Julieta Cervantes / Courtesy)

The play might be doing well because of the current political climate (anti-wokeism, attempts to erase Black history, institutional injustice) and the popularity of its lead actor (the character John-Boy on “The Waltons” is iconic TV lore).

“It’s a story about idealized ideas of who we are as a country and the reality,” Thomas says of the story at the foundation of the play. “It’s about our institutions and how they fail us and how we respond. Do we become cynical and give up? How do we realize our expectations and move forward? This is the story of America in a way, and social justice.

“Aaron Sorkin was really prescient when he was writing this play in 2017. He didn’t jump on the George Floyd bandwagon of outrage that was so justified ... he was writing this play before that. And these days, even with the tragedy and outrage, we see the country once again up in arms about something so important — how they were dealing with all the tragedy and outrage. It’s as if he anticipated all that has happened in the last few years.”

Thomas says Sorkin is well aware of the tightrope the play walks, bringing a story set during Jim Crow and plopping it down in the middle of the current zeitgeist.

“Aaron likes to say that either way there’s going to be pushback ... and mocking from the left and the right,” Thomas recalls. “The right and the white establishment say that the story makes them look bad. And the left are angry that white guys come in to save the day. These are issues Aaron anticipated. With Atticus, he’s given him a very human aspect. He’s given him his own sense of humor, so he isn’t this sort of perfectly noble man.”

He adds that, in this iteration, the character of Atticus listens and learns.

“So we have a journey that Atticus takes, which makes it far more exciting for the actor. And he made the relationship between Atticus and [housekeeper] Calpurnia central to the play. There’s tragedy in the play, but there’s also comedy. Bartlett [Sher], the director, created a very fluid production that is constantly moving.”

That humor and the directorial choices help make the subject matter more digestible, Thomas maintains

“The play has so much sheer humanity, so the story, it’s not preachy. It’s a story about people. The fact that this story has been banned, it’s almost inconceivable to me, because there’s so much of our shared culture,” he says. “I think the play has always had resonance. But I think the response now is stronger ... are we going to erase history so we can feel good? Are we going to own our shadow, or pretend that we don’t have it? That’s the big question.”

From left, Justin Mark as Jem Finch, Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch, Melanie Moore as Scout Finch and Steven Lee Johnson as Dill Harris. (Julieta Cervantes / Courtesy)

WHAT: “To Kill a Mockingbird”

WHEN: March 28-April 9

WHERE: Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale

COST: $35-$125

INFORMATION: 954-462-0222; browardcenter.org