To Kill a Mockingbird returning?

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 6/18/22 at 9:04am

I can't find any update on TKAM coming back to Broadway, other than articles from this past winter saying it was going to open June 1st at the Belasco. Any update on this?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/18/22 at 9:13am

Not happening any more, hence no updates, nor mentions, etc.  The tour started in late March 2022 and will be the only production playing in the U.S. unless there are any changes.  The hopes to return were there.  Sadly, things didn’t work out.  

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 6/18/22 at 9:19am

While the Broadway website does indicate a return they likely aren’t paying anyone to keep it updated. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 6/18/22 at 11:32am

This may or may not be returning to Broadway in the fall…

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/18/22 at 12:03pm

My assumption for all these Rudin projects is:

This has all been a colossal headache for Barry Diller (previously just a quiet investor who had to step up when Rudin stepped down), and if his hired Exec Producer/GM can't guarantee financial rewards, he's not interested. Examples: WSS not returning, TKAM hiatus, Lehman probably not risking a second run, etc. And I don't expect we're going to see Barry & David Geffen producing many Broadway shows after this.

Updated On: 6/18/22 at 12:03 PM

[ACL2006]

Posted: 6/18/22 at 12:16pm

Is there an available theater this Fall?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/18/22 at 12:21pm

ACL2006 said: "Is there an available theater this Fall?"

Shubert houses that have no ANNOUNCED tenant: Barrymore (Almost Famous rumored), Belasco, Imperial, James Earl Jones, Music Box, Schoenfeld.

I expect the Shuberts will make a theatre available if Mockingbird wants to return. I just don't know that it actually wants to return.

[veronicamae]

Posted: 6/18/22 at 12:22pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "This may or may not be returning to Broadway in the fall…"

Wow - either way, you'll be able to say you were right!

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/18/22 at 1:03pm

I don't think a return would be a smart move. Unless they have a huge star, the demand just isn't there for this show anymore. It had a remarkable run for a play in such a large house, and it is doing well on the road and in the West End. That should be enough.

[JasonC3]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 3:31pm

Not reopening.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/29/theater/to-kill-a-mockingbird-closes-broadway.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuomT1JKd6J17Vw1cRCfTTMQmqxCdw_PIxftm3iWka3DKDmwTiPgVDoGc9l2Kea0mZNo323GSAdpGO7wuQvN4z_VTekdpTBKlud6OgpMMLzo8uMSzQmYyldrrbIwPzAXLPCO_Ofstg_q2pQ6HOzy9RqbfhnMqLAg1vZsxJgm13SBYxLOWF-Ryxtgu3asrUp4rEWhXZDKY_KW9U2UIM92HbhrY4wUzSrsZDWmVxYjAnupGJAZCClvGT2d953I84L5fMNAWPaX9Kn0waZa0wOVRWiEzctDfV9BmTJPUlr5qrbfHtReGrcK9zP80H6xS16jWeQXNZyR8R9Ik2zfl0OG1Dg&smid=url-share

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 3:34pm

How was Rudin able to “reinsert” himself as a producer of the show and can he do that for any of the other shows he was originally a producer of? Notably, the Book of Mormon and The Music Man?

Updated On: 7/29/22 at 03:34 PM

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 3:44pm

Call_me_jorge said: "How was Rudin able to “reinsert” himself as a producer of the show and can he do that for any of the other shows he was originally a producer of? Notably, the Book of Mormon?"

I think that in a technical sense, he “voluntarily” stepped aside as producer of his shows and handed the reigns to someone else. I mean, equity didn’t put him on their “do not work” list. Although he stepped away, who knows what happened behind an office door that allowed him to come back as a producer.

[binau]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 3:48pm

So Scott Rudin is still working???????? Scary. 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 4:04pm

so incredibly disappointing, and I cant quite follow why they dont think this would sell at a smaller house. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 4:26pm

PipingHotPiccolo said: "so incredibly disappointing, and I cant quite follow why they dont think this would sell at a smaller house."

I think a lot of us felt that the show was not going to work, financially, as a return engagement in a smaller house. It had run its course. Kinnear is not a money name, and there are few mega-names who would be able to sell tickets on mass who are willing to replace an acclaimed performance.

Go out on a high note. 

The whole “Rudin inserting himself into the situation” thing is alarming and may be just the start of an attempted return, if the theatre owners will give him houses. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 4:27pm

This was said by Brody, myself, and others months ago. I'm glad it's finally been confirmed. The tour is doing well though. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 4:31pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "The whole “Rudin inserting himself into the situation” thing is alarming and may be just the start of an attempted return, if the theatre owners will give him houses."

Yes, exactly. They buried the lede. Rudin testing the waters and showing that his stepping back was window dressing. On the heels of the Drabinsky banishment, maybe they will have the cajones to ban him too. As they should. 

 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 4:38pm

I’ll echo what’s been said about Rudin “re-inserting” himself. Definitely a red flag. 

However, as much as Rudin is a POS, his logic here seems pretty reasonable in this case. With only a couple of key exceptions, the plays on Broadway this season were pretty much slaughtered at the box office. Without a bankable name as Atticus, I don’t think this remount would’ve been successful. 

Also, while I realize this comparison isn’t exactly appropriate, for a few reasons; it still might be worth noting that the “returning after Omicron hiatus” strategy didn’t work for the other shows that tried it. 
 

For unrelated reasons, I do wish Rudin didn’t have final say. But in this case, it’s very likely that he prevented a lot  of money from being lost on this. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 4:46pm

Horrifying that people are letting R*din get away with this. 
 

Also, it’s not like long-running shows were common before COVID, but I have a feeling there’ll be less and less, as this first post-shutdown season has showed us. Most shows cannot sustain large swaths of audiences after a certain amount of months (Mockingbird’s decline, for one, was swift), especially with COVID still a legitimate force, and with a Monkeypox pandemic declaration possibly looming in the coming days / weeks. 

Updated On: 7/29/22 at 04:46 PM

[BETTY22]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 5:01pm

It should be noted that Scott Rudin never closed down his office.

You have to wonder how involved he is with his 'former' others shows.....

Updated On: 7/29/22 at 05:01 PM

[pethian]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 5:57pm

I wonder what 'big star' they thought they had. Hanks? Cooper?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 6:32pm

pethian said: "I wonder what 'big star' they thought they had. Hanks? Cooper?"

 

 

Swit?

 

[ManOfLaMuncha]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 9:58pm

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11063469/Aaron-Sorkin-reveals-Kill-Mockingbird-NOT-return-Broadway-citing-producer-Scott-Rudin.html

 

Just saw the postings about this, after I saw the story in the Daily Mail just now. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 10:09pm

BETTY22 said: "You have to wonder how involved he is with his 'former' others shows....."

This is the kind of reporting that I would like to see on the "stepping back" situation. Each exit deal was probably different. And there's still royalties on past shows & film residuals. Barry Diller could even be paying him some of the producer fee out of pocket for MM.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 10:14pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Horrifying that people are letting R*din get away with this.

Also, it’s not like long-running shows were common before COVID, but I have a feeling there’ll be less and less, as this first post-shutdown season has showed us. Most shows cannot sustain large swaths of audiences after a certain amount of months (Mockingbird’s decline, for one, was swift), especially with COVID still a legitimate force, and with a Monkeypox pandemic declaration possibly looming in the coming days / weeks."

First of all, no one lets a person with a contract "get away with anything."

Second, so far, all he has done is close a show that is licensed to him. Yes, it is disgusting that he is trying to step back with this "unproducing" as his foot in the door; it remains to be seem if people will work with him affirmatively on a production going forward. I hope they won't but we just finished the Garth version of this so my faith in humans is on the decline.

Third, Monkeypox plays no role in this whatsoever and you would be well advised not to suggest otherwise. Monkeypox is not covid.