The LA Premier of To Kill A Mockingbird Starring Richard Thomas Breathes New Life into A Fowl Story

Review by Michael J. Herman

A story as old as time and set in rural 1930s Alabama focuses on prejudice, injustice, and traumas that never heal.

In this production written by          Aaron Sorkin and adapted from the 1960 book by Harper Lee, Richard Thomas astounds and mesmerizes as attorney Atticus Finch, an ill equipped Southern lawyer hired to defend a capital case against an African American man accused of a crime he did not commit.

Even though To Kill a Mockingbird was required reading in the 8^th Grade, and later required viewing in Film School, TKAM is as relevant today as any allegory of human existence.

The dramatic and emotional journey each character takes is masterfully illustrated by character arcs that demonstrate the human spectrum of raw emotion and brutal hate.

If it's even possible to improve on Lee's monumental editorial of Justice and Conscience, Sorkin's reinterpretation of Lee's masterpiece is exquisite.

By incorporating humor where before there was none and re imagining the messages that seem eerily as prophetic today as 100 years ago, Mockingbird shines the blinding light on topics we'd rather deny, like our past is really still our present.

With little exception, Mockingbird dazzles from start to finish with a cast that is surely Tony-Bound.

To Kill A Mockingbird plays at Hollywood's Pantages Theater thru November 27 and then will enjoy a robust run at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for The Performing Arts December 27, 2022 – January 8, 2023. Tickets start at $39.  

Michael J. Herman is Executive Editor and Critic At Large for                       Luxury Media Group.                   Follow him @michaeljhermasn.