'To Kill a Mockingbird' tour goes on, landing in Des Moines with Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch

Editor's note: Richard Thomas may not appear as Atticus Finch in "Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird" at the Des Moines Civic Center through Sunday as he is currently out due to illness, Des Moines Performing Arts announced in an email to ticketholders.

Even someone who has a passing familiarity with the work can tell you that it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.

In spite of Atticus Finch's wisdom, the producers of the latest Broadway adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird" announced that the highest-grossing American play performed on Broadway wasn't returning. Production closed in January when actor Jeff Daniels announced he was leaving the show.

Originally, writer Aaron Sorkin's ("The West Wing," "The Social Network") stage adaptation of Harper Lee's classic novel planned to resume on June 1.

According to e-mails obtained by the New York Times, the decision seemingly comes from producer Scott Rudin, who — against the apparent wishes of Sorkin and director Bartlett Sher — decided not to remount the New York production. The New York Times reported that collaborators previously accused Rudin of bullying behavior.

“I hope (the Broadway show) reopens. It would be lovely. It’s such a good production," Richard Thomas, who plays Finch in the show's touring production, told the Des Moines Register. “Right now, we are the American (production of) 'Mockingbird.'"

'How it feels to play an icon'

The touring version of "To Kill a Mockingbird" continues with performances across the nation scheduled as far out as July 2023. The touring production arrives at the Des Moines Civic Center, 221 Walnut St., on Aug. 23 with eight shows running through Aug. 28.

Yaegel T. Welch, who was the understudy for Tom Robinson — the Black man on trial in arguably the story's most pivotal sequence — on Broadway, is reprising that role in the touring production.

“I did a version of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' to get my (actors') equity card in Boston, so this is a role that’s always been with me," said Welch, noting that he'd been interested in the role from the moment he heard the show was heading out on tour.

Mary Badham, who plays the crotchety Mrs. DuBose, played Jean Louise "Scout" Finch — the novel's narrator and main character — in the classic 1962 film, a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress at age 10.

“Mary Badham was Scout. She's a great addition to have, a cherry on top," said Thomas, famous for playing John-Boy in "The Waltons." “We talked about (the original film) at the beginning, if she had insights or things she wanted to say — we share those things at the top of the rehearsal process.”

As Thomas went on to describe, this adaptation from Sorkin provides not only a different script than the 1962 film but a different take on the character of Atticus for Thomas to work from.

“I think people will get a kick out of seeing Richard Thomas… He’s one of those actors who’s different every night and is really honest," Welch said. "He's a real treat to work with."

Actor Gregory Peck helped make the character Atticus Finch famous in pop culture, his iconic performance defining the role for the mainstream and earning him an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1962.

"People ask how it feels to play an icon and you can't play an icon. You play people," Thomas explained. “Aaron Sorkin sort of takes him off his pedestal. He’s not this knight in shining armor. He’s a man who’s going through this process of losing his ideals in certain ways.

"With the material as a whole, without sacrificing the spirit of the novel… he’s brought the story forward in terms of the perspective that we have now in issues of social justice and growing up.”

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'As soon as we had to take a break for COVID-19, the George Floyd situation happened'

As both Thomas and Welch pointed out, issues of social justice bubbled to the top of the national consciousness in the time between when the touring cast was supposed to start performing — June 2020 — and when the show actually started touring in March of this year.

“As soon as we had to take a break for COVID-19, the George Floyd situation happened, the Breonna Taylor situation happened," Welch said. “Our audiences are primarily white audiences and they can now see how real (Tom Robinson's situation) is.”

Welch's relationship with his character has also changed over the past few years with more prominently pronounced instances of racial injustice across the nation.

"I think it’s evolved to a greater level of empathy for me as an American citizen, and witnessing these videotaped injustices happening to the Black community, it’s just become more immediate," Welch explained.

In the text and the film based on it, though Tom Robinson is a significant character, he and other Black characters don't necessarily have much agency in the previous versions of the story.

"There’s more agency given to my character, Tom Robinson, some that I don’t want to spoil," Welch said, speaking to some of the changes Sorkin brought to this adaptation. "There are choices that he has to make that make the outcome more heartbreaking... This version of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is not the book. It’s not the movie. It’s Aaron Sorkin’s slice of life play centered around the trial of Tom Robinson.”

Another prominent part that actors indicated as significantly enhanced in this version is that of Calpurnia, the Finch family housekeeper played by Chicago actress Jacqueline Williams, with Welch calling her role "central" to the adaptation.

“I love the way that (Sorkin) has brought the relationship of Calpernia and Atticus forward," Thomas said. "It’s a beautiful relationship they have together."

In a nation where individuals are becoming more socially conscious while — at the same time — texts like "To Kill a Mockingbird" have been the subject of fresh scrutiny at some schools, Welch hopes that whether an audience member is experiencing the story for the first time or the 15th, they're able to take something away from the show.

“If you leave with a sense of empathy, I hope that we can be more proactive," Welch said. "You don’t have to be gay to support gay rights. You don’t have to be trans to support trans rights. You don’t have to be a woman to support women’s rights. And you don’t have to be Black to know that Black lives matter.”

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'The main thing I remember about Des Moines... I loved the audiences'

This will be Welch's first time in Des Moines. The actor originally planned to perform in the city when he was part of a touring production of "The Play That Goes Wrong," but had to miss the Des Moines show.

For Thomas, this is his third time coming to the city with a touring show. He previously visited with productions of "Twelve Angry Men" and "The Humans."

"(Touring) has rewards that are very profound for me," Thomas said. "It’s a very ancient way for actors to play as a group, to go from town to town and play for the local population... Things don’t get stale, but you’re always re-inventing yourself.”

Though his performance may change in tiny ways from city to city, Thomas hopes that at least a few aspects of the places he's been to have stayed the same since his last tour.

“I hope Fong’s Pizza is still in business. I told the whole company that ‘You gotta go to Fong's,’” said Thomas, citing the restaurant roughly a block from the Civic Center and stays open late.

As much as Thomas enjoys sampling restaurants that are unique to their respective cities, he also mentioned enjoying walking the wide streets of Des Moines and the reception by audiences here.

“The main thing I remember about Des Moines, both times I played there I loved the audiences — they were warm. They were enthusiastic. They were wonderful to play to," Thomas said. "I hope that’s still the case because I told everybody that I love playing in Des Moines and I don’t want to be proven wrong.”

Tickets for the show range from $40 to $175 and are available through desmoinesperformingarts.org.

Isaac Hamlet covers arts, entertainment and culture at the Des Moines Register. Reach him at ihamlet@gannett.com or 319-600-2124, follow him on Twitter @IsaacHamlet.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Richard Thomas returns to Des Moines as Atticus Finch in 'To Kill a Mockingbird'