Richard Thomas to play Atticus Finch in TKAM Tour

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 9:32am

Great casting!!! I was always thinking Reed Birney, but this is wonderful as well. Cant wait to see this wonderful show again someday!

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 9:35am

Solid choice!

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 9:47am

So glad to hear this! He will be excellent in this role. The tour audiences are in for a treat, even if they don’t realize it yet. I doubt his name will sell nearly as many tickets as Daniels’ does, but I’m sure the show will sell just fine on the title, and Sorkin.

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 10:16am

He'll be great. He's a "that guy" actor to most of the country, but he can get feature stories and TV interviews because of his TV credits, which is important in local markets. Like when Stacy Keach took Frost/Nixon on the road. And I'm sure he'll be making a lot less $$ than Daniels, so he doesn't need to sell as many tickets.

Also: this recent Rudin trend of exclusive interviews with David Rooney at the Hollywood Reporter is so weird. Every quote is so hyperbolic, Rooney never mentions anything negative, and the articles all seem to drop before 7 in the morning.

[bear88]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 1:32pm

Nothing weird at all about the Hollywood Reporter's story. The reporter gets a scoop, Rudin gets a puff piece. It was a bit much, though. I agree with that. Many actors would love this role, but Rubin acts like Thomas is doing everyone a favor by going on tour. Hint: The guy is a working actor, and he was just on tour.

Thomas seems like a good choice. He was good in The Humans when I saw him, and he's right in the wheelhouse for this show's target demographic.

[LarryD2]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 2:00pm

He will be 69 years old by the time the tour starts. Isn't that slightly advanced for this character?

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 2:02pm

LarryD2 said: "He will be 69 years old by the time the tour starts. Isn't that slightly advanced for this character?"

dont think so. Daniels is 65 I believe so with makeup and everything I doubt it. Atticus has always looked like he’s in his 50s to me. 

 

[broadway86]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 2:02pm

LarryD2 said: "He will be 69 years old by the time the tour starts. Isn't that slightly advanced for this character?"

He's only a few years older than Jeff Daniels, and strikes me as the same age if not younger than him.

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 2:20pm

LarryD2 said: "He will be 69 years old by the time the tour starts. Isn't that slightly advanced for this character?"

It is a memory play, so it sort of works that Atticus is in his 60s if Scout and the "kids" are in their 30s.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 2:27pm

It's said, we see people as they are, not as they were.  (if that makes any sense)   

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 2:38pm

I was rooting for Kristoffer Polaha..  

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 2/24/22 at 11:29am

This tour finally starts next month in Buffalo! Any ideas who else is in the cast? Wonder if anyone from the Broadway cast might join the tour while they are on hiatus.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/24/22 at 11:55am

Perhaps some of the Bway understudies will be promoted for the tour? It would seem that if anyone joins the tour, it would be to leave the Bway production entirely to go on tour –– not temporarily join the tour, then leave to rejoin the Broadway company.

Frankly, the tour is probably a safer bet than Broadway at this point.

[Skip23]

Posted: 2/26/22 at 3:26pm

LarryD2 said: "He will be 69 years old by the time the tour starts. Isn't that slightly advanced for this character?"

I don't care.  I'd see Richard Thomas in anything.  He's one of the best!

 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/6/22 at 5:29pm

Mary Badham, who played Scout Finch in the classic 1962 film adaptation, will be playing Mrs. Dubose in the upcoming national tour.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/theater/mary-badham-to-kill-a-mockingbird.html

[angoradebs]

Posted: 3/6/22 at 6:45pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "Mary Badham, who played Scout Finch in the classic 1962 film adaptation, will be playing Mrs. Dubose in the upcoming national tour.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/theater/mary-badham-to-kill-a-mockingbird.html"

Was Melanie Moore as Scout previously announced, or is that new info, too? I googled but didn't find anything about it. I'm very excited to see this tour in June

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/6/22 at 7:25pm

I'm guessing full casting (which includes Melanie Moore and Mary Badham) will officially be announced soon.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/7/22 at 12:07am

This is a big step for Melanie Moore, who has yet to prove herself as an actor on this scale. She must have had an impressive audition + the Sher connection from Fiddler.

Mrs. DuBoise is not a huge or difficult role, so Badham should be fine!

It's interesting that with the tour of a play, you sort of need some kind of "stunt" casting, even for a title like this. Richard Thomas and Mary Badham mean that the play has press opportunities in every city –– and they prob don't have to pay her more than anyone else in that supporting cast, considering her recent career. Richard Thomas has also led tours of THE HUMANS and 12 ANGRY MEN.

With this story out in the NYT, I would expect a full cast announcement tomorrow.

Updated On: 3/7/22 at 12:07 AM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/7/22 at 11:33am

Here's the full cast:

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Complete-Casting-Announced-For-TO-KILL-A-MOCKINGBIRD-National-Tour-20220307

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 8:26pm

Anybody out in Buffalo going to see this and will be able to report back? Looking forward to hearing how the tour cast is!

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 11:31pm

In looking at pictures on Instagram just now, I saw that the red brick proscenium and red-brick wall drop with the door in it used pre-show for the Broadway production have been cut for the tour. The tour has a beige drop that simply reads “fire curtain” on it (at least that looks like what it says from the blurry instagram photos - I’m on my phone now or I would post a picture). It doesn’t appear to be unique to the venue or a placeholder - it looks like it is indeed part of the design. It’s been a few years since I saw the Broadway production, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what (or why) this is being used for the tour…

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 3/28/22 at 9:52am

bwayphreak234 said: "In looking at pictures on Instagram just now, I saw that the red brick proscenium and red-brick wall drop with the door in it used pre-show for the Broadway production have been cut for the tour. The tour has a beige drop that simply reads “fire curtain” on it (at least that looks like what it says from the blurry instagram photos - I’m on my phone now or I would post a picture). It doesn’t appear to be unique to the venue or a placeholder - it looks like it is indeed part of the design. It’s been a few years since I saw the Broadway production, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what (or why) this is being used for the tour…"

Is this from an Instagram of someone who was seeing the tour or someone involved in the production? 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 3/28/22 at 10:56am

This is the picture I believe they are referring to.

I haven’t seen the show myself, but I was under the assumption the framing device for the show was that it was a show within the show? That’s why they get away with the adults playing children. They are playing themselves from when they were younger. So, maybe they are really playing into that for the tour? Thus the fire curtain drop?

here’s a cool photo looking out into the audience from upstage of the set 

Updated On: 3/28/22 at 10:56 AM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/1/22 at 12:40pm

Not sure if it’s been mentioned in an article or something, but does anyone know if the tour still includes a live pipe organist and guitar player? Or is the music now canned?

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/5/22 at 3:32pm

Anyone seeing the tour while it’s in Boston? Hoping we get more reviews as it officially opens.