TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is Coming to Palace Theater Waterbury in November

The complete cast is announced today for the First National Tour of the history-making production of To Kill a Mockingbird, Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin's new play, directed by Tony winner Bartlett Sher and based on Harper Lee's classic novel. The production will play the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT, November 3RD, 4TH, AND 5TH. For tickets, please visit palacetheaterct.org.

Joining previously announced Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch in the critically acclaimed production are Maeve Moynihan as Scout Finch, Jacqueline Williams as Calpurnia, Justin Mark as Jem Finch, Yaegel T. Welch as Tom Robinson, Steven Lee Johnson as Dill Harris and Mary Badham (Oscar-nominated for the role of “Scout” in the feature film) as Mrs. Dubose. They are joined by Ted Koch as Bob Ewell, Jeff Still as Judge Taylor, Christopher R Ellis as Horace Gilmer, Mariah Lee as Mayella Ewell, Travis Johns as Sheriff Heck Tate, Greg Wood as Link Deas, Anne-Marie Cusson as Miss Stephanie, Ian Bedford as Boo Radley and ensemble members Lance Baker, Stephen Cefalu, Jr., Denise Cormier, Rae Gray, Greg Jackson, Joey Labrasca, David Andrew Morton, Andre Ozim, and Dorcas Sowunmi.

Since its tour launch in March 2022, the First National Tour of To Kill a Mockingbird has set a record as the highest-grossing play ever to tour North America. It has played more than 500 performances in 44 cities, seen by more than 1 million theatergoers (1,149,658 as of August 27, 2023) and hailed as “A must-see” (Northwest Herald, Chicago), “The most powerful telling of this story you'll ever experience” (St. Paul Pioneer-Press) and “Amazing – a perfect 10!” (KOA News Radio, Denver).

To Kill a Mockingbird holds the record as the highest-grossing American play in Broadway history. It began performances on November 1, 2018, at the Shubert Theatre and played to sold-out houses until the Broadway shutdown in March 2020. On February 26, 2020, To Kill a Mockingbird became the first-ever Broadway play to perform at New York's Madison Square Garden, in front of approximately 18,000 New York City public school students, also marking the largest attendance at a single performance of a play ever in world theater. The production resumed performances on October 5, 2021 and concluded its run at the Shubert Theatre on January 16, 2022. On May 20, 2023, To Kill a Mockingbird concluded its run on London's West End, playing for more than a year to packed houses at the Gielgud Theatre. 

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, small-town lawyer Atticus Finch. The cast of characters includes Atticus's daughter Scout, her brother Jem, their housekeeper and caretaker, Calpurnia, their visiting friend Dill, and a mysterious neighbor, the reclusive Arthur “Boo” Radley. The other indelible residents of Maycomb, Alabama, are Bob Ewell, Tom Robinson, prosecutor Horace Gilmer, Judge Taylor and Mayella Ewell. 

To Kill a Mockingbird is designed by Miriam Buether, with costumes by Ann Roth, lighting by Jennifer Tipton, sound by Scott Lehrer and an original score by Adam Guettel. Musical direction is by Kimberly Grigsby, hair & wig design by Campbell Young Associates, casting by The Telsey Office, and design adaptation and supervision by Edward Pierce. The national tour is produced by Barry Diller.

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BIOGRAPHIES

Richard Thomas (Atticus Finch) (he/him). Broadway/Off-Broadway: The Little Foxes (Tony nom.), You Can't Take It with You, Race, Democracy, Incident at Vichy, The Stendhal Syndrome (Lucille Lortel Award), A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, An Enemy of the People, Tiny Alice, The Front Page, The Fifth of July, innumerable Shakespeare productions, and his professional debut at 7 years old in Sunrise at Campobello on Broadway. National tours: The Humans (Elliot Norton Award) and Twelve Angry Men. Thomas is an Emmy Award-winning actor for his performance in the iconic series The Waltons. Film: Last Summer; Red Sky at Morning; September 30, 1955; Wonder Boys; Taking Woodstock; The Unforgivable. TV: The Americans, Billions, Tell Me Your Secrets and the Netflix series Ozark.

Maeve Moynihan (Scout Finch) (she/her). Regional: Guthrie Theater, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Park Square Theatre, Red Eye Theater, The Children's Theatre Company, 7th House Theater and Montana Shakespeare in the Parks. TV: Blue Bloods. Education: University of MN/Guthrie BFA Actor Training Program. Huge thanks and love to my family and Mike. For my Nana.

Jacqueline Williams (Calpurnia) (she/her) is a multi-award winner whose Broadway credits include Horton Foote's Pulitzer winner and Tony-nominated The Young Man from Atlanta (Clara) starring Rip Torn and Shirley Knight. Off-Broadway credits include the internationally acclaimed production of From the Mississippi Delta (Phelia/Woman Two co-produced by Oprah Winfrey), The Talented Tenth (Tanya), and Mill Fire (Widow Three). Ms. Williams has a long association with Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, and Court Theatre, and is a frequent collaborator of Oscar recipient Tarell McCraney and Tina Landau. Extensive regional credits include Arena Stage, Hartford Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, ACT Seattle, Portland Stage Co., Asolo Rep, and Mark Taper where she reprised her role in Head of Passes (Mae) opposite Phylicia Rashad. Tours: Market Theatre of Johannesburg's Born in the R.S.A (Thenjiwe) and Crowns (Mabel). Film and recurring TV credits include season two of The Chi (realtor Mrs. Harriet Brown), Chicago Fire/Chicago Med/Chicago PD (Sergeant Beccera), Empire (Warden Meyers), Heartlock (Captain Rosalyn), The Breakup (Shondra), The Lake House (Madvi Patel). AMC's 61st Street (Nurse Florence) and Amazon's Paper Girls (Dr. Donna Metcalf). Greatest blessing: daughter, Kara.

Justin Mark (Jem Finch) (he/him). Off-Off Broadway: This Beautiful Future (Theater Lab), In a Word (Cherry Lane). Shakespeare Theatre Company DC: Peter Pan & Wendy. TV: FBI Most Wanted, Law & Order SVU, Madam Secretary, Gotham. Education: Juilliard. Hometown: Portland, OR.

Yaegel T. Welch (Tom Robinson) (he/him). Broadway: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Play That Goes Wrong. National Tour: The Play That Goes Wrong. Off-Broadway: Fly, The Royale (Lincoln Center Theatre), The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek (Signature Theatre Company), The Revenger's Tragedy (Red Bull Theatre), The Acting Company, National Black Theatre. Regional: True Colors Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Studio Theatre, The Wilma Theatre, The Arden Theatre, Arkansas Rep, PlayMakers Rep, Seattle Rep. Company member: Everyman Theatre. TV: The Blacklist, Braindead, Madame Secretary, Elementary, Harlem, and Getaway. Education: Morehouse College BA, Brandeis University MFA, The George Washington University Academy for Classical Acting MFA. Insta: @yaegeltwelchthegreatest

Steven Lee Johnson (Dill Harris) (he/him). Broadway: To Kill a Mockingbird. Off-Broadway: Nantucket Sleigh Ride (Lincoln Center Theater). Regional: Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Indecent (Yale Repertory Theatre); Beautiful Thing (Theater Latté Da); Mary's Wedding (Chester Theatre Company); Clybourne Park, Uncle Vanya (Guthrie Theater). TV: Chicago Fire, Masterclass, HBO. Johnson is a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. Education: Interlochen, BFA, University of Minnesota/Guthrie; MFA, Yale School of Drama.

Mary Badham (Mrs. Henry Dubose) (she/her). At the age of 10, Ms. Badham was chosen for the role of “Scout” for the feature film of To Kill a Mockingbird starring Gregory Peck and earned an Oscar nomination for her performance. At that time, she was the youngest person ever nominated for a supporting role. Since then, she has promoted the book and film's message about social injustice across the US (including for the National Endowment of the Arts and two White House appearances) and received a US Speaker and Specialist Grant to participate in programs about To Kill a Mockingbird in Russia. Other Film: Erasing His Dark Past, This Property is Condemned with Robert Redford and Natalie Wood, Let's Kill Uncle, Our Very Own with Allison Janney. TV: Dr. Kildare and Twilight Zone.

Ted Koch (Bob Ewell) was most recently seen as Rad in Days of Wine and Roses (Atlantic Theater Company). Broadway: To Kill a Mockingbird, JUNK, The Pillowman, Death of a Salesman, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Elling. National tours: Frost/Nixon, Death of a Salesman. Off-Broadway and Regional: The Gravediggers Lullaby and Abundance (TACT), Strange Interlude (Shakespeare Theatre), Donnybrook! (Irish Rep.), True West (Arena Stage, Helen Hayes nomination Best Actor), All's Well That Ends Well (Goodman Theatre). TV/Film: Dear Edward, FBI Most Wanted, Succession, New Amsterdam, Bull, The Get Down, The Path, Blindspot, Elementary, The Americans, Punisher, Person of Interest, The Good Wife, Gossip Girl, The Sopranos, The West Wing, Law & Order, Ed, Cold Souls, Hannibal, Englishman In New York, Death of a Salesman, Love to Leenya, Autumn in New York, Dinner Rush.

Jeff Still (Judge Taylor). Broadway: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Minutes, Oslo, August: Osage County, Fish in the Dark, Therese Raquin, Bronx Bombers, Lombardi. Off-Broadway: Oslo, Our Town, Tribes, Orson's Shadow, Adding Machine: A Musical. Regional: Rothko in Red (Pittsburgh Public Theatre), Harry Brock in Born Yesterday (Guthrie), Salieri in Amadeus (Cardinal Stage Co.) and 13 plays with Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

Christopher R Ellis (Horace Gilmer) (he/him) is thrilled to be working with such talented artists on such a monumentally important show. Favorite past credits include Frankenstein (The Creature, Cardinal Stage), Titus Andronicus (Lucious, Utah Shakes), Peter and the Starcatcher (Captain Falcon Scott) and To Kill a Mockingbird (Heck Tate, Utah Shakes). TV/Film: Chicago Fire, Chicago, P.D. Redline, Empire, Power Book IV: Force, and The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain. Education: BA Theatre from Idaho State University. MFA from Wayne State University. IG: christopher.r.ellis.1

Mariah Lee (Mayella Ewell) returns to Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird after making her Broadway debut with the company in 2019. New York Theatre: New Light Theatre Project, “the cell”, 59e59, Ensemble Studio Theatre. Regionally: Okoboji Summer Theatre, Southwest Shakespeare Company, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. Television: NBC, CBS, SHOWTIME. Film: Darya Zhuk's The Real American. Training: William Esper Studio; BFA, Stephens College.

Travis Johns (Sheriff Heck Tate, Fight Captain) (he/him) has worked on stages all over the country. Theatre credits: West Coast premiere of Barbecue (Geffen Playhouse); West Coast premiere of Boy (LA Theatre Works); National Tour of In the Heat of the Night (LA Theatre Works); world premiere of Atlanta (Geffen Playhouse); the West Coast premiere of National Pastime (Fremont Centre Theatre); Take Me Out (Ensemble Theatre Company). Film: Danny Collins (opposite Al Pacino), Term Life, Swelter (opposite Alfred Molina), Sound of My Voice, Adventures of Power, Dead Man Rising. TV: Westworld, Queen of the South, NCIS, CSI: Vegas, Truth Be Told, Fear the Walking Dead, Goliath, Bosch: Legacy, The Shrink Next Door. Travis was raised in Elizabethton, TN, graduated from Wake Forest University, and resides in Los Angeles.

Greg Wood (Link Deas) (he/him). Recent regional theatre credits: An Iliad (Poet), Cyrano de Bergerac (Cyrano) at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival; The Best Man (William Russell), The Humans (Erik Blake), Noises Off (Lloyd Dallas) at Walnut St. Theatre; A Christmas Carol (Scrooge), Skylight (Tom Sergeant) at McCarter Theatre; Once (Da) at Arden Theatre. Film: The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Happening, A Gentlemen's Game, Killing Emmett Young. TV: Dr. Death, Evil, The Blacklist, Law & Order, Ed, Hack, Homicide.

Anne-Marie Cusson (Miss Stephanie, Dill's Mother) (she/her). Broadway: To Kill a Mockingbird, Magic/Bird (u/s). Off-Broadway: Stalking The Bogeyman, Echoes of the War, Far And Wide. Select Regional: Native Gardens, Equus, Collected Stories, Good People, Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike. Syracuse Stage, Geva, Portland Center Stage, Asolo, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Delaware Theatre, Virginia Stage, Alabama Shakespeare. Film: The Good Shepherd, My Dead Boyfriend, A Nice Girl Like You. TV: FBI, VEEP, L&O: SVU, Mrs. Maisel, HBO's The Gilded Age.

Ian Bedford (Mr. Cunningham, Boo Radley) (he/him) Broadway: Ink, To Kill a Mockingbird. Stages around the country: Eddie in Ivo van Hove's View from the Bridge (Goodman Theatre), Murder on the Orient Express (Hartford Stage), Oslo (Pioneer), Taming of the Shrew (Chicago Shakespeare), Beaux Stratagem (Shakespeare Theatre, DC), Macbeth in Macbeth (Alabama, Orlando, and Pennsylvania Shakespeare). On screen: Shameless, Chicago PD (recurring), Blue Bloods, Good Fight, God Friended Me, The Path, Law & Order: SVU (recurring). Associate producer, The Promise, with Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac.

Lance Baker (General Understudy). Chicago: A Red Orchid Theatre (ensemble member), Court, Chicago Shakespeare, Northlight, Goodman, Writers, Theater Wit, Victory Gardens, Chicago Dramatists, Steppenwolf, Marriott. Regional: Asolo (Sarasota FL), Maltz (Jupiter FL), St Louis Rep, Odyssey (Los Angeles CA). TV: The Bear, Dark Matter, Power Book IV: Force, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD. This is his first national tour.

Stephen Cefalu, JR. (General Understudy) (he/him) Credits: The Cherry Orchard (Goodman Theatre); Mary Page Marlowe (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); End Days (Windy City Playhouse); Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Redtwist Theatre, Jeff Nomination: Best Supporting Actor); The Gradient (St. Louis Rep, Theatre Circle Nomination: Outstanding Supporting Performer); PerkUP PerkUP (City Theatre); Scenes from a Court Life, Assassins (Yale Rep.); In A Word, Damsels, Brotherhood (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Slave Play (Original Cast at Yale Drama). TV/film: Shameless, Law and Order: SVU, Evil, This Afternoon. MFA: Yale School of Drama.

Denise Cormier (Ensemble). Broadway: The Minutes, Linda Vista. National Tour: The Graduate. Theatre: Asolo Repertory, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Indiana Repertory, Pioneer Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, Hudson Valley Shakespeare. TV: Search Party, The Affair, Law & Order: CI. MFA: ACA-Shakespeare Theatre DC. 2017 Lunt-Fontanne Fellow.

Rae Gray (Ensemble). Broadway: The Real Thing (Roundabout). International: The Beacon (Druid/Gate, IRL). Regional: Domesticated, Slowgirl, The Book Thief, Wedding Band (Steppenwolf); Graveyard Shift, The Little Foxes, A Christmas Carol (Goodman); Slowgirl (Geffen); Queens (La Jolla Playhouse); King Charles III (Chicago Shakespeare); Sunday in the Park with George (Ravinia). TV: A League of Their Own, Justified: City Primeval, American Rust, Power Book IV: Force, Fear the Walking Dead, Grace and Frankie, For the People, Sea Oak, Boardwalk Empire, Shameless, The Resident, Bull, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Chicago Med. Animated TV: Bossy Bear, Adventure Time. Film: Slice (A24), I Do…Until I Don't, The Robbery (Sundance Selection), Dismissed, and Invitation to a Murder. Rae is a graduate of the University of Chicago and a Rivendell Theatre Ensemble Member. @heyraegray

Greg Jackson (Ensemble). Broadway: A Gentleman's Guide To Love & Murder, The Lion King (Nat'l Tour). Off-Broadway: The 39 Steps, Duet!, Go-Go Kitty, GO! Regional: Ogunquit Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Cleveland Playhouse, Maltz Jupiter, St. Louis Rep, Geva, Pioneer, Cape Playhouse, Weston Playhouse, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Tennessee Rep, The Acting Company, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. TV: Blue Bloods, New Amsterdam. Love to Camille.

Joey Labrasca (Ensemble). Broadway: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Original Broadway Company), Regional: HPCC (San Francisco and Toronto Company), Lord of the Flies (Barrington Stage). TV/Film: Hightown (Starz), New Amsterdam (NBC), Follow Her. For Dad.

DAVID Andrew Morton (Ensemble). Last seen touring with the Broadway national company of Jersey Boys. TV/film: FBI: Most Wanted, Bumbld, Gothic Slayers. Comedy writer for The Onion. Grateful for Take 3 Talent. GO BLUE! IG: @davidmorton.info

Andre Ozim (Ensemble). Born in Oklahoma to a Nigerian Igbo Mother, Andre is a former paralegal who quit his internship in Wash, D.C. and moved to New York in search of finding his passion. Andre has since won a Best Actor Award at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival for his performance in one of his first films Jahar. Classically trained in Shakespeare at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Recent credits include: Beauty (Pastor Colman, Netflix, 2022), Power (Starz, 2020), FBI (CBS, 2018). Andre recently published Based on a True Love Story, available through Amazon, a children's book for ages 5 and up. He hopes to get his book into schools nationwide. He is very excited to join the TKAM tour.

Dorcas Sowunmi (Ensemble). Selected theatre credits: Tiny Beautiful Things (The Old Globe); A Raisin in the Sun (Indiana Repertory Theatre & Syracuse Stage, SALT Award for Leading Actress); Nollywood Dreams (Cherry Lane Theatre); Romeo and Juliet (Classical Theatre of Harlem); Mary Stuart, Measure for Measure (Stratford Shakespeare Festival); Macbeth SS! (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Trust (Lookingglass Theatre); I, Barbara Jordan (Alley Theatre). TV/Film: New Amsterdam, Search Party, The Last O.G, Blacklist, Modern Love, Holiday in Harlem, Beneath the Fold. Dorcas has trained at the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Training at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada, The School at Steppenwolf in Chicago, and Stella Adler Actor's Studio in New York. She holds an MFA from The University of Texas at Austin. Love and gratitude to family, and friends.