To Kill a Mockingbird (Broadway)

See it if you love old-fashioned theater w an intelligent script, a strong cast, and solid staging. No bells & whistles needed. Lots of great moments.

Don't see it if you want a lavish Brwy show. No elaborate costumes/set. If you loved the movie, you may not like changes. Still, I really enjoyed TKAM.

Also I didn't love Jeff Daniels. Many have praised his performance. I didn't find him sufficiently fiery or charismatic. And the set was a little fussy (the steps to the house had to continuously be pulled out and pushed in). And the sightlines in the courtroom were tough from the orchestra side seats (and a lot of time is in the courtroom, so it was frustrating). I kept wondering if kid actors could have handled the roles...and how that would have changed the production (better? worse?) I did like Celia K-B as Scout. The accents are heavy, and I missed several lines. The on-stage musicians seemed under-utilized.

I wish that a play about racial relations had more black actors in key roles. The dialogue is almost entirely carried by white actors. Maybe Sorkin wanted to address this issue, but the estate refused.

I expect that this play will become a theater standard. There is much to admire.... Read more Read less

See it if You’re a fan of seeing great books/movies adapted to the stage-not transferred-adapted...big difference. Superb acting, writing, direction!

Don't see it if If you’re a To Kill A Mockingbird purist you may have a problem with the way some of the story has been adapted for the stage. I loved it!

Also Not only was the acting, writing and directing excellent but costumes, set, lighting and sound all were exceptional. A very fine play!!!... Read more Read less

See it if Powerful message vibrates through the theater with every word & gesture. Large multi-generational cast clicks impeccably.

Don't see it if You don’t enjoy melodrama. Sight lines from front orchestra left are blocked by a table and the backs of seated actors.

See it if to see a 1st-rate cast sink their teeth into Sorkin's glib dialogue & reworked plot in Sher's elegant staging of Lee's classic work.

Don't see it if you are a Mockingbird purist (book or film); you prefer Lee/Foote's nuance, subtlety & tension to Sorkin's liberal flag-waving & sermonizing

Also Just three words: Celia Keenan-Bolger.

See it if Outstanding ensemble valiantly led by Daniels & Keenan-Bolger ignites Sorkin's "enhancement" of Lee's American masterpiece Moving & profound

Don't see it if Sorkin's subtle arc from the Depression south to a 'modern' #BlackLivesMatter is both potent & slightly redundant yet never feels injurious

See it if you're a fan of Lee's novel or the film, enjoy trial stories, fan of great acting, esp. by Daniels, Keenan-Bolger & Jackson,

Don't see it if you're not happy with idea of Lee's novel adapted by Sorkin, don't like plays that jump around in chronology, don't believe in racism

Also Quite an impressive adaptation that brings you fairly quickly into the drama of the trial then fills you in gradually as the play progresses> I liked how the three young people were used a narrators, the racism comes across as still relevant to today, Atticus portrayed as a quiet realist dedicated to justice but not as a loud crusader, father's love for children is obvious throughout--though the children's independence from living without a mother and having a busy, often pre-occupied father is also evident, Sher's staging does allow for suspense even if you are familiar with the book, set is relatively simple, yet just suggestive enough... Read more Read less

See it if you love the book or have never read it. The production captures the feel of the period and the essence of the plot. A wonderful evening.

Don't see it if you dislike the book or the themes, adults playing children or symbolic sets.

See it if you like great acting, staging, the Mockingbird story,taking a chance on bringing a beloved book to Broadway with modest alterations.

Don't see it if you want a by-the-book, literal transcription of the book & movie. Constant movement of sets can be distracting but sets are well designed.

Also All the actors are wonderful with Celia Keenan-Bolger at her peak - the play belongs to her. She is a convincing child and I bought into it hook, line and sinker. Daniels is excellent yet I still crave Gregory Peck. Unhappily, there is much correlation between what went on during the period this play was written and what is happening now. Harper Lee talking to us from beyond the grave?... Read more Read less

See it if You want to see a provocative production with new eyes led by terrific actors who make you feel as if you are in the town with them.

Don't see it if You expect the original production with no humor and stiff characterizations. Racism makes you uncomfortable.

Also Jeff Daniels and Celia Keenan-Bolger excel as Atticus and Scout. You believe that she is a six year old girl.
This is a powerful and important production, not to be missed. Every actor fits in like a puzzle piece.
The staging is simple, yet absolutely effective. Tension reigns throughout.... Read more Read less

See it if You want to see brilliant acting and staging. You loved the book/movie, and while this doesn't keep 100% to the story, still good

Don't see it if This would get a higher score from me if I wasn't SURROUNDED by school children who didn't know how to act. I couldn't hear half the time.

See it if you want well written story delivered by a terrific cast in a perfect set.This was as moving & powerful as the book & movie.Go see it.PLEASE

Don't see it if you aren't a fan of touching, powerful shows with great acting,amazing writing,terrific directing.This is as good as it gets. GO!

See it if Some fine moments that made me cry. But the children (played by young adult actors) are on stage most of the time, narrating and observing

Don't see it if If you are committed to the Horton Foote screenplay and Gregory Peck as Atticus. Jeff Daniels is fine, but he's not Peck

Also I saw one of Jeff Daniels's last performances.

See it if Perfection from start to finish. A great updating of a beloved story. Daniels and Keenan-Bolger were standouts in an excellent cast.

Don't see it if If you’re so in love with the book or the movie that you can’t stand to see some needed changes.

See it if if you are interested in racial issues, specially years ago, in the south, or if you like stories about loving families or great trials.

Don't see it if if you are not a fan of this story or these actors and do not care for racially motivated stories , or if you prefer new to classic plays

See it if you love brilliant drama filled with moments of humor and bliss

Don't see it if racially themed dramas based on classic American novels is not your thing

See it if mostly well-done adaptation of classic story, a tragic story told with humor; memory play that is often nonlinear; modern sensibility*

Don't see it if uncomfortable with racial slurs,lynch mobs; more heavy handed than book (the bit about passive aggression etc.,some characters)

Also *for example - discussion of Tom, the black character, being shot multiple times including in the back.
Fewer of the side orchestra seats have good lines of sight than normal because of the way the stage is set up. Be as close to center as possible or up higher.
Excellent job by Keenan-Bolger in portraying a child.... Read more Read less

See it if you want an involving evening of theater. This version of a classic keeps enough of the original intact for audiences to connect well w/it.

Don't see it if you won’t enjoy a great adaptation of an American treasure. Jeff Daniels is good, but Celia Keenan-Bolger & especially Gideon Glick astound.

Also Don’t purchase rear balcony rush seats to save money. We had to stand in front of our seats to see the show.... Read more Read less

See it if open to allowing an emotional, pertinent, and timeless tale—whether you know Harper Lee’s classic novel or not—to settle into your soul.

Don't see it if expecting a carbon-copy of the novel, want a happy-ending, uncomfortable with racist slurs and lynch-mobs, or would prefer a musical.

Also It seems unholy to give an iconic novel like Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird the Broadway treatment and not cheapen its potent messages through a memorable bildungsroman. But Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation—with adults playing children—hits all the right notes. While Jeff Daniels’ Atticus Finch is outstanding, it is the trio of “children”—Scout (Celia Keenan-Bolger), Jem (Will Pullen), and Dill (Gideon Glick)—narrating their story of a harsh coming-of-age one summer that tugs at the heartstrings, pulls them into knots, and unravels and snips those strings in turns. Though not a total sob-fest, TKaM will make you feel a bit haunted by injustices and cruelties that waste lives. Who are we to say what is “sin,” definitively? But who are we, too, to stand by and let things happen when we know it’s wrong to do so? How can we fight injustice while still keeping humanity intact? Come be reminded at how often we are learning to live with pain and cruelty that, too often, becomes the way of life.... Read more Read less

See it if Celia Keenan-Bolger was wonder & deserving the Tony! Wonderful cast. I loved this show. Still relevant. Enjoyed the adaptation.

Don't see it if You want to see a musical.

Also Saw this 12/10/18. Forgot to review it, but just came across my notes. I'm thrilled it's still running.... Read more Read less

See it if Fans of the book must see this -- Sorkin did a great job with the adaptation. It held my attention throughout, although it was a bit dry.

Don't see it if The story is the story, but well told here nevertheless. I had problems with the clunky set that the actors moved around and thick accents.

Also I'm becoming impervious to pre-opening hype on Broadway, which may be why I wasn't jumping up for the obligatory standing ovation at the end. This is an important story told well here. That's it. I was not emotionally moved by any of it, which, given the hype, I expected to be. The biggest disappointment was the LACK of Adam Guettel's music. If that plays into your interest in seeing this, don't waste your money. The TV ad, with its lilting flute sound, is nowhere to be found, with only a guitar and pump organ, adding new dimension to the phrase "incidental music".
Everything worked here, but the accents were too deep for my taste. I get it, where in the deep South, but it interfered with my enjoyment. These are the reasons I did not give it a higher score.... Read more Read less

See it if You enjoy a well-crafted, well-acted play. Strong performances throughout.

Don't see it if You want the play to be 100% true to the book.

See it if you love the book or movie, or wish you remembered them better, want to experience racist life in small-town Alabama of 1930s as a Caucasian

Don't see it if you cannot understand text spoken rapidly with Southern drawl or flashbacks or are extremely upset by “n...” word, racism, violence, death

Also The playwrite and actors do an excellent job of synthesizing the long, complex plot of the novel into a three hour play including interval, but purists may be disappointed that the play does not follow precisely that plot, even when including the flashbacks and expositions by Scout, and necessarily omits precious details. The play focuses more on Atticus and the trial than on Scout, Jem, and Dill and almost ignores Arthur (who has no lines in the play) until the end of the second act. Seeing the play motivated this audience member to read the book yet another time; in our society, it is not possible to read it too often.... Read more Read less

See it if You like fantastic adaptations of masterpiece plays.

Don't see it if If prefer happy plays that don’t challenge a person to think about who we are.

See it if good acting in a watered-down version of this classic story. tried to give voice to all. focus on the storytellers instead of the story

Don't see it if know the story and wish for a more literal version.

See it if How to continue virtue and justice for the future while in the darkness of racism and hate: fiction and now (#BLM). Haunting performances.

Don't see it if Guns, Jim Crow South, N-world, talking about lynching/killing are triggering. Adults playing children weird you out.

Also Ticket from LincTix for $35.