![]() “But the expense of a lawsuit and stuff like that, that just made it impossible for us.” “We were actually kind of prepared to fight it because we thought we had pretty good legal ground to stand on,” Miller said. He threatened Miller with legal action if the Grand Theatre didn’t cancel its show. ![]() Rudin argued that Lee had “signed over to him exclusive worldwide rights to the title of the novel,” according to The Associated Press, and that the Broadway adaptation was the only version allowed to be performed. Rehearsals were underway for a spring 2019 run when Miller received a cease-and-desist letter from a Broadway production company headed by Scott Rudin, who at the time was producing Sorkin’s newer version on Broadway. Miller didn’t want to do it at the same time, so the Grand Theatre secured the rights with Dramatic Publishing to put on the production for the following season. Their plan got put on hold, though, when Hale Centre Theatre announced it would be bringing Christopher Sergel’s long-standing adaptation of the story to its stage in 2017. Miller and director Mark Fossen began talking about staging “To Kill a Mockingbird” for the first time at the Grand Theatre. The story of Harper Lee, a bizarre true crime story and a thank you note that ended up at BYU.‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ compromise offered to small theaters, including Salt Lake’s Grand Theatre.But after three times, we just said, ‘We’re not even going to try again.’” “It’s an American classic, and we really wanted to bring it to life to our audience and our community. “I’ve always wanted to do the show because the story personally means something to me,” he said. “To Kill a Mockingbird” was officially canceled. On June 30, just a few days before the theater’s long-awaited premiere of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Miller announced that the spike in COVID-19 cases made it “ impossible” for the theater to continue forward with the production - on the day of that announcement, Utah reported 553 new cases and four more deaths. Most recently, the theater was producing Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird” - a newer version that calls into question Atticus’ viewpoints and expands the roles of the story’s Black characters.īut after scheduling conflicts, copyright issues and a pandemic, Miller, the theater’s artistic and executive director, had to cut his losses. Miller has spent several years trying to bring the classic story to the Grand Theatre in Salt Lake City. “It’s still an issue 60 years later,” he said. “To Kill a Mockingbird” has also been criticized for perpetuating the “ white savior” trope through Atticus’ character and leaving Black characters relegated to the margins in a story about oppression.īut for all the criticism, “To Kill a Mockingbird” remains a staple in American literature and has even found heightened relevance lately as protests throughout the country demand racial justice, according to Miller. It’s been banned from schools due to racial epithets, profanity and its discussion of rape - in one early case, a school board in Virginia even called the book “ immoral.” Over the years, Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that tackles racism has come under scrutiny. Saturday marks 60 years since “To Kill a Mockingbird” was published. ![]() “It made me just more aware of how racism still exists and how we have to actively try to overcome that in our society. “It was a very impactful story to me,” he told the Deseret News. He met Atticus’ daughter, Scout, a confident and precocious tomboy.Īnd he met Tom Robinson, an honest Black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman.Īt 12 years old, Miller recognized the injustice of Robinson’s situation. There, through the pages of Harper Lee’s “ To Kill a Mockingbird,” Miller met Atticus Finch, a lawyer with dry wit and a commitment to racial equality. ![]() SALT LAKE CITY - Seth Miller was in the seventh grade when he entered the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, for the first time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |