Mr. Rudin is nothing if not strong-willed, and willing to litigate. After he bought the stage rights to the novel and won Harper Lee’s approval for Mr. Sorkin as the playwright, Lee’s estate sued him, asserting the new adaptation deviated impermissibly from the novel; he countersued, and offered to stage his play in front of the judge to prove his case. The dispute was settled. (Ms. Lee died in 2016.)
For decades, Mr. Sergel’s version of the play has been a staple at community theaters around the country. The play is staged every year in Ms. Lee’s hometown, Monroeville, Ala., and is scheduled to go forward there this spring as planned.
Besides the productions in Buffalo, Dayton, Marblehead, and Oklahoma City, others have been called off in Braintree, Mass.; Buda, Tex., near Austin; Azusa Pacific University in Southern California; and Salt Lake City.
In Utah, 21 actors at the Grand Theater in Salt Lake City were practicing their lines during a recent rehearsal session, when the theater’s artistic director interrupted with the bad news.
The theater had paid Dramatic Publishing nearly $6,000. It had sold roughly $8,000 worth of tickets, and planned to stage free matinee performances for 2,500 school children.
But with the specter of a legal battle looming, it decided to cancel the play. Seth Miller, the Grand Theater’s executive artistic director, estimates the cancellation will result in a loss of some $20,000.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/28/theater/scott-rudin-mockingbird-broadway.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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