“To Kill a Mockingbird,” a theatrical adaptation of the classic novel in January notice of temporary shutdown after Jeff Daniels left the cast and the Omicron variant closed in New York, won’t reopen on Broadway.
The play’s screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin and director, Bartlett Sher, emailed the cast and crew late Thursday to inform them of the decision, and they blamed the original lead producer. , Scott Rudin, who left an active role in the following show accused of mistreating collaborators. According to Sorkin and Sher, “At the last moment, Scott turned himself in as a producer, and for reasons frankly incomprehensible to both of us, he stopped the play. to reopen.”
Rudin, who continues to control the theatrical rights to the Harper Lee novels, sent his own email to Sorkin and Sher on Friday, citing the decision to be driven by the economic situation on Broadway, where the revenue sold. Tickets have generally lagged behind pre-pandemic levels. Both emails were obtained by The Times.
“The reason I chose not to return to TKAM has to do with my lack of confidence about the climate for the plays next winter,” Rudin wrote, using the acronym for “To Kill a Mockingbird.” He added, “I don’t believe a rest of Mockingbird will be able to compete in the market.”
The show continues to lead a healthy life outside of New York. A workshop in London’s West End opened in March, and a national tour in the United States opened in Boston in April. Those productions were not affected by the Broadway closure.
The play debuted on Broadway in late 2018, and was a huge hit before the pandemic, regularly selling about $2 million in tickets per week, which is quite high for a play and raking in $7.5 million in costs. investment 19 weeks after its premiere.
Broadway closed in March 2020 due to the pandemic, and “To Kill a Mockingbird” resumed last October, with Daniels returning to play Atticus Finch, as he did in the first year of the play. . The play sold well until early January, except for a week when breakout cases of Covid forced the cancellation of performances; Daniels left the cast on January 2, at a time when Broadway’s totals had plunged because the pandemic was resurging and the film’s totals plummeted.
The play stopped performing at the Shubert Theater on January 16, and Barry Diller, who was serving as a lead producer at the time, said it would resume performances June 1 at the House. sing Belasco. That didn’t happen, and according to emails from Sher and Sorkin, the most recent plan is for the play to restart performances on November 2 at the Music Box Theatre.
Sher and Sorkin described themselves in the email as “heartbreaking” and said they “mourned that the loss of all their work – onstage, backstage and front of house – just disappeared.” Rudin, in an email to them, said, “It’s too risky and the downside is too great. I’m sorry you were disappointed. It was the right decision for the long-term survival of the show.”
Sher, Sorkin and Rudin all declined to comment, as did a spokesman for the play. The decision not to reopen the play was previous report by the website Showbiz411.
