Aaron Sorkin has pulled off quite the feat with his latest project, a theatrical stage production of To Kill a Mockingbird. According to Variety, the play is a “certifiable smash,” grossing $1.7 million in the second full week of performances — shattering records to make it the top single-week grossing American play in Broadway history for the week of December 30, 2018.
Sorkin’s adaptation of the Harper Lee 1960 novel is directed by Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher, and stars Jeff Daniels (who previously worked with Sorkin on HBO’s The Newsroom) as Atticus Finch as well as Celia Keenan-Bolger, Will Pullen, and Gbenga Akinnagbe. Previously, the top-grossing honor went to All the Way, the Lyndon Johnson play starring Bryan Cranston, which earned $1.6 million during the week of June 22 in 2014:
“I’ve never had, or seen, a new play perform like this one is,” said Scott Rudin, the Tony-winning producer behind “To Kill a Mockingbird.” “We’ve had plenty of shows break plenty of records, but nothing we’ve ever had has been like this. The company of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ has been together for quite a long time already, through numerous labs, readings, and a very healthy preview period. The success of this play — and the huge affection shown for it thus far — belongs entirely to them. It’s their hit.”
To Kill a Mockingbird currently runs through to the last Sunday in January, however given the success one would have to assume additional shows will eventually be added.
(Via Variety)
