Sorkin’s Mockingbird makes killing on Broadway

To Kill a Mockingbird continues to enjoy robust ticket sales on Broadway, raising the possibility the show could run for years.

Jeff Daniels, left, in the lead role of Atticus Finch. Picture: AFP

As To Kill a Mockingbird continues to enjoy robust ticket sales on Broadway, theatre professionals and observers are raising the possibility that the show could be the rare drama to run for many years, mirroring the blockbuster musicals that traditionally hold perennial sway.

The play — by Oscar and Emmy-winning writer Aaron Sorkin and based on the beloved Harper Lee novel — grossed $US1.72 million ($2.41m) for the seven-day period ending this past Sunday, according to industry trade group the Broadway League.

That is a new weekly record for the show, which was produced for $8m and started its previews in November last year and opened in December. The show’s previous mark of $US1,718,215 was set in March. The show has grossed nearly $US35m to date.

Mockingbird also routinely tops many musicals at the box office week after week, including long-running hits such as The Book of Mormon and The Phantom of the Opera.

So far, the play has sold out every performance, according to producer Scott Rudin, who adds it is selling tickets up to a year in advance — far longer than the industry norm for a play.

The show has an advance sale of more than $US20m, he notes.

Most in the industry expected Mockingbird would draw a large audience because of the enduring popularity of the book and the 1962 movie based on it. But they now say the sales signal the potential for something more ­significant.

“Mockingbird could definitely be an evergreen,” says RC Staab, a playwright and theatre investor.

A courtroom drama, says Staab, is “so familiar to anyone who has watched Law and Order or hundreds of movies”.

Theatre professionals also note that the show’s success doesn’t seem to be tied to the casting of Jeff Daniels.

The popular film actor plays the lead role of Atticus Finch, the southern lawyer who defends a black man accused of raping a white woman. That means the show should be able to maintain its momentum when Daniels leaves the cast, as he is expected to do in the coming months.

If anything, Tom Melcher, founder of Show-Score, a website that tracks audience and reviewer reactions, said the show’s “stars” are as much Sorkin and Lee. Nevertheless, Rudin is planning on replacing Daniels with another well-known actor in November, though he declined to name the star.

The show has strong compet­ition when it comes to the Tony Awards, the industry’s signature honour.

As with most major entertainment awards, the Tonys can provide a boost at the box office for top honorees. Nominations are to be announced next week, and Mockingbird is vying against other high-profile dramas Network and The Ferryman. Still, theatre professionals say Mockingbird should hold its own regardless of the Tony outcome.

The Wall Street Journal