Jeff Daniels & Celia Keenan-Bolger to Return to Broadway's To Kill a Mockingbird
(Photo: Julieta-Cervantes)
Jeff Daniels and Celia Keenan-Bolger will reprise their roles of Atticus Finch and Scout Finch, respectively, in Aaron Sorkin's stage adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway. The production will resume performances at the Shubert Theatre on October 5. Tickets are now on sale.
Based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer-winning novel and set in Alabama in 1934, the story of racial injustice and the destruction of childhood innocence centers on one of the most admired characters in American literature, small-town lawyer Atticus Finch. Broadway's To Kill a Mockingbird features a script adapted by Sorkin and direction by Bartlett Sher. The production, which began previews on November 1, 2018 and officially opened on December 13, received nine Tony nominations in 2019, including one for Daniels' performance and a win for Keenan-Bolger.
At the time fo the Broadway shutdown, To Kill a Mockingbird was led by Ed Harris as Atticus Finch and Nina Grollman as Scout Finch.
Daniels received a 2016 Tony nomination for his performance in Blackbird and a Tony nod for God of Carnage in 2009. His other Broadway credits include Redwood Curtain, The Golden Age, Fifth of July and Gemini. Daniels' film resume includes The Purple Rose of Cairo, The Squid and the Whale, The Hours, Dumb and Dumber, Good Night and Good Luck and Terms of Endearment. He won an Emmy Award for his performance as Will McAvoy in Sorkin's HBO series The Newsroom and another in 2018 for his performance in Godless. He most recently earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in The Comey Rule. In addition to her win for To Kill a Mockingbird, Keenan-Bolger garnered Tony nominations for her performances in The Glass Menagerie, Peter and the Starcatcher and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Her other Broadway credits include Les Misérables and The Cherry Orchard.
“Over the course of the original year long run, I felt a nightly privilege playing Atticus Finch," Daniels said in a statement. "At this moment in our country’s history, I’m honored to play him again, to inhabit an iconic American hero who still speaks to our times and will help us all remember who we can be.”
It was also announced that Orin Wolf has been named Executive Producer of To Kill a Mockingbird, effective immediately. He will oversee all aspects of the production.
"I’m looking forward to the relaunch of the play under Orin Wolf’s leadership and I’m excited for the electricity that Jeff, Celia and the whole cast will be bringing to the Shubert Theatre. Mostly I’m looking forward to being back in our rehearsal room,” Sorkin said in a statement.
To Kill a Mockingbird will launch its national tour on March 27, 2022 at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, New York, followed by the official tour opening on April 5, 2022 at the Citizens Bank Opera House in Boston, Massachusetts, starring Emmy winner Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch. The play and will begin performances in London’s West End at the Gielgud Theatre on March 10, 2022, starring Rafe Spall.
