(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Richard Thomas has led the stage adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird" for more than 500 performances since the national tour began barnstorming the country in early 2022.
If all goes well, he’ll do another 400 turns as Atticus Finch by the end of June 2024, which is how far in advance the play is booked. Thomas says he has committed to going the distance, matinees and all.
Chicago is the next stop for Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of the Harper Lee American lit classic that debuted on Broadway in 2018. The touring company's return engagement in the Windy City runs Aug. 8-13 at CIBC Theatre.
“It’s a gift -- I love doing it, and I wasn’t ready to quit,” the actor said in a telephone interview from the road in Charlotte, North Carolina. “If there’s any story that needs telling around the country right now, if there’s any play that should be touring and going everywhere, it’s this one.”
Anyone who's made it through school probably remembers the basic plot of of "To Kill a Mockingbird," in which an idealistic lawyer attempts to defend a Black man falsely accused of assaulting a white woman in the Depression-era South. Sorkin's more modern take on "Mockingbird" diverges a little from the source material and the famous 1962 film adaptation that won Gregory Peck an Oscar. Black characters from the novel have been elevated, and Atticus Finch is presented as a more flawed, if well-meaning, figure.
"People remember the movie, people love that film, and it was indeed a classic for its time," Thomas said. "But I do believe that the evergreen quality of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is what brings people to the theater."
Don't expect to see Thomas out carousing, although he expects to walk around and maybe sample some local cuisine while he's in Chicago. The 72-year-old actor said he tends to be "monkish" during the play's stops because of the energy required for the role, which he likens to one of the major Shakespeare parts.
"It's a lot of lifting, but it's a deeply satisfying part," he said.
Thomas, who began acting as a child, is probably best known as one of the stars of the CBS television series “The Waltons” in the 1970s, for which he won an Emmy Award. His career actually spans nearly the entire history of TV, from live drama broadcasts of the 1950s to the streaming model of today that has disrupted the way people consume entertainment (in recent years, he received acclaim for his supporting work on "The Americans" and "Ozark").
The veteran performer has taken note of the recent shutdown of the film and television industry, with the simultaneous strikes of actors and writers over their future rights and earnings. Thomas said he’s optimistic creatives can work something out with studios and distributors.
“I stand really in total solidarity with the writers and the actors precisely because of this paradigm shift,” he said. “There’s a lot of work for actors because there’s a lot more product — I would say too much product, actually — but people are getting paid a lot less."
Thomas won't have to worry about the film and TV impasse, at least for awhile, considering that he's locked into "Mockingbird" for the next 11 months. He said live theater has always been his stabilizing "home turf," regardless of how he was faring in Hollywood. It's challenging to adjust to a new city and venue each week, Thomas said, but it's what thespians have been doing for generations.
"It's a fantastic experience," he said. "You feel very connected to a very, very ancient way of being an actor, sort of a troupe of traveling players going from town to town with your show. It's a wonderfully old way. It's not for everybody, but I really love it."
"To Kill a Mockingbird" is directed by Bartlett Sher and features Mary Badham, who portrayed the character of Scout, Atticus Finch's daughter, in the 1962 film.
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