Photo Flash: History-Making Performance of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD at Madison Square Garden

This afternoon, a capacity crowd of 18,000 New York City public school students made history, along side the Broadway cast of To Kill A Mockingbird. Aaron Sorkin's new play, directed by Bartlett Sher, and based on Harper Lee's classic novel, became the first-ever Broadway play to perform at The World's Most Famous Arena, New York's Madison Square Garden. With the extraordinary support of James L. Dolan, executive chairman and CEO of The Madison Square Garden Company, this unprecedented, single-performance event was entirely free to students of New York City Department of Education public middle and high schools from all five boroughs.

See photos below!

The performance was introduced by Mayor Bill de Blasio; First Lady of New York City, Chirlane McCray; with filmmaker (and eternal New York Nicks fan) Spike Lee as Emcee; and punctuated by school choirs New York City schools.

This event marked the largest attendance at a single performance of a play ever in world theater.

This special performance of To Kill A Mockingbird featured the entire Broadway cast, led by four-time Academy Award nominee and two-time Golden Globe Award winner Ed Harris as Atticus Finch.

To Kill a Mockingbird is produced on Broadway by Scott Rudin and Barry Diller. In a statement, Mr. Rudin said, "It was an absolutely incredible afternoon. Huge credit goes to the remarkable efforts and valiant spirit of the entire cast, who acquitted themselves brilliantly. Giant thanks from Barry Diller and myself to Jim Dolan and everybody at Madison Square Garden; they were unbelievable partners. It was one of the great days of the lives of everybody who participated in it." And Mr. Harris added, "I'm extremely proud of the 18,000 kids who listened and took part in the play."

Set in Alabama in 1934, Harper Lee's enduring story of racial injustice and childhood innocence centers on one of the most venerated characters in American literature, the small-town lawyer Atticus Finch, played four-time Academy Award® nominee and two-time Golden Globe Award® winner Ed Harris. Joining Mr. Harris are Nick Robinson as Jem Finch, Eliza Scanlen as Mayella Ewell, Kyle Scatliffe as Tom Robinson, LisaGay Hamilton as Calpurnia, Nina Grollman as Scout Finch, Taylor Trensch as Dill Harris, Manoel Felciano as Horace Gilmer, Russell Harvard as Link Deas and Boo Radley, Dakin Matthews as Judge Taylor, Patricia Conolly as Mrs. Dubose, Christopher Innvar as Sheriff Heck Tate, William Youmans as Mr. Roscoe and Dr. Reynolds, Neal Huff as Bob Ewell, Ted Koch as Mr. Cunningham, Liv Rooth as Ms. Stephanie, and ensemble members Rosalyn Coleman, Gene Gillette, Luke Smith, Yaegel T. Welch, Rebecca Watson, Aubie Merrylees, David Manis, Baize Buzan, Steven Lee Johnson, and Geoffrey Allen Murphy.