He said I could shoot all the Blue Jays
I want, but to always remember t
it was a sin to kill a Mockingb.
I just got chills from that.
The national tour of To Kill A
Mockingbird opens in Dallas ton,
presented by Broadway Dallas Rid
Thomas stars as the iconic Atticus Finch,
a small town Southern lawyer
in the 1930s defending a black
man accused wrongly of rape.
And we are delighted to welcome Richard
to midday. So good morning to y.
Happy you're here.
Good morning. Thank you. Megan,
I'm so happy to be with you.
Yes. Until Aaron Sorkin adapts Harper
Lee's classic novel for this st.
And what is it about his work he
that really struck A chord with?
Well, I mean, as you know, he's a wonderful,
wonderful writer from, you know,
his work on West Wing and Social Network
and all the wonderful things he's written.
And he's, he's done an
extraordinarily magical thing. .
While maintaining absolutely the spirit
of Harper Lee's novel and the s,
of course he's managed to adapt the play
so that so that we're really vig
the story very much through thes
through which we view the issues today,
issues of social justice and all that.
And and not that he's made it,
modernized it or made it contemporary,
but he's really done an amazing job of
bringing the story and the themes forward.
And so that we can really relate
even more to a story which is
absolutely American and of cour,
I think our favorite story
in literature in America.
Absolutely. I'd be surprised if someone
said they hadn't read it in elementary or
middle school because it is that iconic.
You know, Aaron Sorkin of course, has those,
has those quick quips between characters.
I mean, are we going to see that type
of TV work on the stage? Absolu.
It has all of the crackle and dialectic
of a wonderful working piece of writing.
It's. There's great humor.
He's given Atticus,
thank heaven, wonderful humor.
It's a very entertaining
telling of the story.
Obviously very sobering and
very touching as well.
But but he's mixed the light and the dark,
the humor and the seriousness so beautifully
and the snappiness of it is gre,
even though it remains quintessentially
Southern in its style and tone.
It's and we have a cast of 23 actors,
24 actors who are just extraordinary.
It's a wonderful we've been out.
Over a year now on the
road with this production,
telling this story around the
country and they are the most
wonderful bunch of actors.
So we will give you a good time.
Absolutely.
And you know, I know touring
can be a grind for some actors,
but I do understand that
you genuinely like it. Why?
I do love touring.
Touring is challenging.
It's very challenging most of the time.
We we, we do travel from
city to city on our days off.
So it's very, it's challenging in many ways,
but it's also deeply gratifying to to
go around the country with a gr,
A troupe of actors in a piece of
work that a production that you
love and a play that you love is
a very thrilling and very anciet
kind of experience of a way to ,
but also to go from community to
community and experience the different.
Personalities in each city,
in each audience and how they respond
to the material is endlessly fascinating.
And these theaters are so beautl
across the country. And this
story, which is our story as Americans,
I can't think of a more important story or
a better story to take around
the country right now than To
Kill A Mockingbird. It's the
perfect time for this.
And I also want to kind of talk
about that because you're currey
on the Sloop through the South.
I mean, does Mockingbird play differently
in different regions of the country? Well,
everybody loves this show no mar
what part of the country you're.
Everybody loves the story.
And people have responded genery
and beautifully to this product.
But there are differences, of course,
audiences in the South are,
and I've played in the South
many times in different shows.
Incredibly warm,
welcoming and they're always
a pleasure to to play for.
And even though the issues of
social justice land very strongy
in the South because of our his,
the audiences are wonderfully
open and receptive and welcome
to what the story has to say.
It's very gratifying,
especially to play this show.
To play the show in the Southern states,
this is our we were in Houston,
here we were in Houston, San Antonio.
We were just in in Austin.
And the Texans have just been amazingly
welcoming to this to this show.
I really appreciate that
especially in theater as a whol.
You go to Texas and you don't
think oh this is going to be gr,
but we're a great open bunch.
So I definitely appreciate
you saying that What
you learn is if you I've done,
I've done a lot a lot of Broadwy
my whole life shows in in those
sort of capitals of entertainme.
In the in the country,
people don't realize that that there's
a great dedication going to the
theater all the way across Amer.
People are very proud of their l
theaters and the attendant difft
is most of the time it's musica.
And I'm happy because I get to tour in plays,
and plays don't tour enough
across the country and people ce
to them and really love them.
I love it. So is it also true
that you change up the trials
closing argument each night?
Well, I don't.
I would never change up in writing ever,
under any circumstances.
Because for me the text is is
is absolutely sacred.
But because Atticus is is
making it up as he goes along,
even though of course it's writ.
I I tried to stay open to
whatever impulses I have at the
moment when I come out on stage.
And in that respect, I mean,
I haven't crafted it into one tg
that I did the same way every n.
Although you have to always
in the course of a play,
you have to keep it between the lines.
And we all have to do the show
together as we've understood itd
we've opened it and rehearsed i.
You don't want to throw anybodye
off or the audience or yourself,
but in the context of this one speech
where I don't have to worry about, you know?
Throwing anyone else off.
I have the freedom to,
and Aaron and I've talked about,
to just make it up from scratch
every night emotionally and in
terms of the dynamics of it.
So yes, I do make it up,
but only how I play it.
Not the words that absolutely
you're not going in there,
Aaron Sorkin style.
Writing everything differently.
I appreciate it.
First of all, I'm not a member
of the Writers Guild of course,
and they're on strike anyway. So one of my.
Another very valid point.
Thank you so much for assured.
I I so appreciate everything you
said and thank you of course for
joining us on our newscast toda.
Well, thank you. Come see us.
It's a wonderful production
and thanks for having me.
Absolutely. So here's all the
information you need to know.
To Kill A Mockingbird is on
stage at Fair Park Music Hall
in Dallas through May 28th.
For tickets, go to broadwaydallas.org.
Sounds like a terrific experien.
We'll be right back.