Harper Lee can't stop, won't stop, and good for her!
One of America's most revered authors is on a roll nowadays, with the recent release of her second book, Go Set a Watchman in July 2015, and now a Broadway remake of her original claim to fame, "To Kill a Mocking Bird."
Everyone knows this book, and probably the film as well, starring Gregory Peck in 1962. The book won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and the movie won an Academy Award in 1963. The book-turned-movie sold over 40 million copies, making it a staple for high school English classes nation-wide, and a source of controversy due to it's progressive anti-racism perspective.
With all its success since 1960, it is being recognized yet again by making it into a Broadway soon-to-be hit. It's premature to guess the cast, but the behind-the-scenes people have already been picked and are getting ready to scream "action!"
Producer Scott Rudin has ascertained the stage adaptation rights from the original movie and hired screenwriter Aaron Sorkin to adapt the film to the Broadway stage. Rudin and Sorkin will work with Barlett Sher, who will direct the play scheduled for the 2017-2018 theater season.
The producer and writer have worked together before on hits like "The Social Network," "Money Ball," and "Steve Jobs." Considering how great these movies were, what should excited theatre-goers expect from this new show? Hopefully the same sort of success!
Despite Harper Lee's reluctance to sign-on to interviews and to release the professional stage rights, she has finally done it, and the public should be ecstatic.
Just as the movie reinforced the themes of the book, hopefully, the show will do that too because these issues sadly still exist.
So, with all this excitement here are some things that I hope to see from the play that I will more than definitely be buying tickets to with all my babysitting money.
1. Atticus circa "To Kill a Mockingbird."
After the world got their hands on Go Set a Watchman, the confusing sequel to Lee's original book, the Atticus fangirls (and boys) were heartbroken. Atticus is portrayed as a hero in the first book- fearlessly going out of his way to represent an African American man, in a world of bigots. His bravery inspired readers everywhere and made Atticus a family name.
In her (unexpected) second book Atticus is painted as the villain. He is shown as a jaded racist who yells at his daughter Scout about her hopes for racial integration. Surely, a big jump from the first book. Sadly, this newer book's depiction of Atticus has outweighed his original image. In terms of the show, I'm hoping they stick to the original Atticus that means to much to Lee's readers.
2. Best of Both Worlds
Maybe not the best, but definitely a mix up and intertwining of our world today and Scout's world. The issues of racism, bigotry, and reluctance to stand up for the oppressed still exist today, so I'm hoping that Sorkin will be able to add on to the original dialogue in order to really drive these themes home. By combining the two worlds, hopefully it will cause viewers do some self-reflection. Lee probably thought releasing her book in 1960 would help bridge the gap between whites and blacks and surely it did a little bit, but clearly not enough if 56 years later Americans are still facing the same problems.
3. Awesome Scenery and Killer Costumes
Lee did an incredible job describing Maycomb County and the people who live there. Her use of imagery and adjectives is impeccable, creating such strong mental images for readers. Lee has set the bar pretty high, so hopefully, the art directors will read and re-read the book in order to do Lee's physical descriptions justice. The time of curtain backdrops has come and gone, and I'm not a set designer, but Lee inadvertently gave the designers a lot to work with in terms of different sets and costumes, so they better live up to it.
4. Make Harper Lee and Her Legions of Fans Proud
Her book is a classic and always will be. She set the mark for progressive activist writing and her courageousness affected literature forever. The book touched hearts and continues to do so in English classes every day. Both Lee and her fans are impressive- Lee's achievements and her fans' loyalty. They deserve to be made proud.
This is what Harper Lee should look like:
