Citizens of Mockingbird: Gideon Glick on Unlocking the 'Ebullient Joy' in Dill

In adapting Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird for the stage, award-winning scribe Aaron Sorkin looked at the iconic characters of the recently named "best-loved" American novel with fresh eyes. In this exclusive series, Broadway.com talks with Sorkin and the talented performers who bring the citizens of Mayomb, Alabama to life every night at the Shubert Theatre.

GIDEON GLICK AS DILL
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CHARACTER: Dill, the 10-year-old nephew of a Finch family neighbor, who becomes best friends with siblings Scout and Jem during the summer of the trial of Tom Robinson.

ACTOR: Gideon Glick made his Broadway debut in 2006 in the acclaimed original cast of the Tony-winning phenomenon Spring Awakening, creating the role of Ernst. More recently, he starred in Joshua Harmon’s play Signficant Other on Broadway, a role he originated off-Broadway. Other off-Broadway credits include Wild Animals You Should Know, The Harvest and playing Jack in Into the Woods at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. He’s been featured in the films Speech and Debate and Ocean’s Eight and in TV series including Wallflowers, Devious Maids, It Could Be Worse, The Good Wife and The Detour.

GIDEON GLICK ON PLAYING DILL: "This character has brought out this ebullient joy that I had as a kid. Being an unabashedly queer man and having come out very, very early. I was always very secure with myself and Dill over presents that. But even though he creates tales about himself, he’s still very much himself. Getting to play him has unlocked the 10-year-old in me that used to get up at the summer showcase at camp and sing ‘I Dreamed a Dream.’ This is a book that’s taught in schools every year and there’s this queer character that’s been living there this whole time, but is never taught. It’s truly extraordinary to see this 10-year-old gay boy running across the Shubert Theatre stage in To Kill a Mockingbird."

AARON SORKIN ON GIDEON GLICK: "Gideon is phenomenal. He and I kind of did a dance for a year where I’d write a little more and he would then show me how there’s a lot more yet to write. In the first act he leads you to believe he’s this play’s comic relief until the second act, when he breaks your heart."

Photographed at the Shubert Theatre by Caitlin McNaney for Broadway.com