(Cover Photo: JACQUELINE WILLIAMS in a scene from Harper Lee's "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin and coming to the Hanover Theatre in Worcester, MA. beginning May 3, 2024. Photo Credit: Julieta Cervantes)

By Kevin T. Baldwin

METRMAG Reviewer

# 774-242-6724

METRMAG Spotlight On: Jacqueline Williams portrays “Calpurnia” in "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" coming to the Hanover Theatre

The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts

Presents Aaron Sorkin's 

Adaptation of Harper Lee's

"TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD"

“The most successful American play in Broadway history!” -NY Times

Written by Harper Lee

Adapted by Aaron Sorkin

Directed by Bartlett Sher

Cast Includes: Richard Thomas as “Atticus Finch,” 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,” Mary Badham as “Mrs. Henry Dubose,” 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, Dill’s Mother,” Ian Bedford as “Mr. Cunningham, Boo Radley.” General Understudies: Lance Baker, Stephen Cefalu, Jr. Ensemble: Denise Cormier, Rae Gray, Greg Jackson, Joey LaBrasca, David Andrew Morton, Andre Ozim, Dorcas Sowunmi  (NOTE: Information obtained from tour website subject to change)    

Performances:

May 3, 2024 through May 5, 2024  

(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)

Presented at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester. 

For More Information:  

877-571-SHOW (7469) info@thehanovertheatre.org

BUY TICKETS

COVID 19 PROTOCOLS

Contact Venue for Most Updated COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Information.

METRMAG Spotlight On: Jacqueline Williams portrays “Calpurnia” in "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" coming to the Hanover Theatre

The Hanover Theatre brings Harper Lee’s quintessential novel "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" to the Worcester stage thanks to a marvelous new adaptation by Aaron Sorkin.   

"TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" was first published as a novel in 1960 by author Harper Lee. 

An instant hit in America, it won the Pulitzer Prize for literature and, even after 60 years, is still widely read in many schools. 

The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee’s observations of her family, her neighbors and an event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in 1936, when she was 10 years old.

The character of “Calpurnia," played on this tour by JACQUELINE WILLIAMS is a steadfast, loyal taskmaster who runs the house for “Atticus,” a widower. 

“Calpurnia” is educated, relentless and stringent but also compassionate and nurturing. She serves simultaneously as spiritual guide, role-model and positive influence to both “Jem” (Justin Mark) and “Scout” (Maeve Moynihan), Atticus’s children. 

In the classic movie adaptation of "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" there was an emphasis made to depict a more employer-employee relationship between “Atticus Finch” and “Calpurnia,” as the latter character was not as developed. 

This newer stage adaptation by the great Aaron Sorkin and staging by director Bartlett Sher expands upon the “Calpurnia” character, making her more a colleague to or contemporary of “Atticus,” especially when it comes to the raising of the children, in particular, “Scout.”   

There is a more significant “partnership” emphasis here. 

“Atticus Finch” is also far from the “moral compass” as originally played by Gregory Peck. That aspect has been largely shifted to “Calpurnia.” 

Now played on tour by actor Richard Thomas, “Atticus” is seen as more flawed, even somewhat  ignorant in some subjects. 

And that’s where “Calpurnia” also comes in to help school him on where he needs to be schooled.     

JACQUELINE WILLIAMS is a multi-award winner whose Broadway credits include playing “Clara” in Horton Foote’s Pulitzer winner and Tony-nominated “The Young Man from Atlanta.” 

Off-Broadway credits include the internationally acclaimed production of “From the Mississippi Delta” (as “Phelia” & “Woman Two”) co-produced by Oprah Winfrey, “The Talented Tenth” (as “Tanya”), and “Mill Fire” (as “Widow Three”).  

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 of “Mae” in “Head of Passes” opposite Phylicia Rashad.

METRMag recently interviewed JACQUELINE WILLIAMS about her career and to learn more on how she has approached this newly expanded role of "Calpurnia" in Sorkins' adaptation.

(Photo: JACQUELINE WILLIAMS as "Calpurnia" in a scene from Harper Lee's "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin and coming to the Hanover Theatre in Worcester, MA. beginning May 3, 2024. Photo Credit: Julieta Cervantes)

"I started performing in grade school with the Christmas play," WILLIAMS recalls. "So, it has been a part of me for most of my life. I enjoy it."

"My family is from Mississippi, I’m the only one technically born in the Chicago area," says WILLIAMS who has appeared in many television shows based in Chicago, including "Chicago Med," "Chicago PD" and "Chicago Fire" as recurring character "Officer Becerra."

WILLIAMS says she is the only artist in her immediate family. 

"I truly been blessed to have done many pieces that have been pivotal or important for different reasons," WILLIAMS says.

"I come from sharecroppers and farmers. So, I had to learn everything on my own," WILLIAMS recalls. "At that time, I don’t know what I was thinking. There was no major event that I can think of that made it happen." 

"The 'light bulb' (over my head) didn’t appear until maybe the middle of high school. I watched TV and films and I discovered 'those are real people playing those parts' and suddenly it registered, like looking into a mirror, that I, too, could make a career out of it." 

A moment that helped confirm she made the right decision came when WILLIAMS got the opportunity to meet an icon who helped inspire her as an actress.

"I met the late Diahann Carroll while doing a show at the Mark Taper," WILLIAMS says. "First thing I did was to thank her for the series 'Julia' - an absolutely groundbreaking show and the first time many of us got to see a Black woman in a lead title role of a television series. THAT was when the 'light bulb' appeared."

(Photo: Maeve Moynihan as “Scout Finch” hugs JACQUELINE WILLIAMS as "Calpurnia" in a scene from Harper Lee's "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin, coming to the Hanover Theatre in Worcester, MA. beginning May 3, 2024. Photo Credit: Julieta Cervantes)

In WILLIAMS bio, she refers to her daughter, Kara, as her “greatest blessing.” Her daughter now works as a professional ballerina, choreographer and writer. 

In "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD," how does WILLIAMS see the family dynamic working in the relationships between Calpurnia, Atticus and Atticus' daughter, Scout? 

"Calpurnia and Atticus have a wonderful relationship and I think that was always there but not 'socially as easy' for Ms. Harper Lee could get into at the time and not as easy to depict in film in 1960," WILLIAMS says. "But Calpurnia and Atticus have essentially been raising the children together. Scout (played on tour by Maeve Moynihan) was only two when her mother passed. Their relationship is central in this live theatre event. These characters have a long history between them."

WILLIAMS expands upon the significance of that long history of trust and honesty between Calpurnia and Atticus.

"It provides a freedom - a freedom which allows them to freely disagree with one another," WILLIAMS says. "There can also be a lot of playfulness between them, but there are many things that Calpurnia schools Atticus on - things he does not, or cannot, understand from the Black perspective. They have a wonderfully layered relationship."

Despite dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality, the novel is renowned for its warmth and gentle good humor. 

Atticus (played on this latest tour by “Waltons” and Stephen King's “It” actor Richard Thomas), has served as a moral compass and template for many fictional heroes that came after, also representing a model of integrity for attorneys at law. 

In this latest tour, though, the character of Atticus is far less elevated, shown more clearly as a product of his time and of the place in which this story exists. 

Still, "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" is widely regarded as a literary turning point focused on the subject of racism and racist hierarchy in America, and "Atticus Finch" is still most representative of someone who believes in an allegiance to justice, not bias. 

(Photo: JACQUELINE WILLIAMS as "Calpurnia" in a scene from Harper Lee's "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin and coming to the Hanover Theatre in Worcester, MA. beginning May 3, 2024. Photo Credit: Julieta Cervantes)

This is WILLIAMS first time working with the show's director, Bartlett Sher. 

"I was contacted when they were doing the first cast change and also when they were putting the tour together," as WILLIAMS remembers. "I was contacted again and this worked out, which I am really happy about." 

Before seeing the script or being cast as Calpurnia, had WILLIAMS ever read the story before, or seen the iconic film "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD?"

"Oh, yes. It’s been one of my favorites for most of my life but, more importantly, another reason is that we still NEED this story, because we have made very little progress. We still have a lot of work to do. We may need this show more now than we did back in 1962," WILLIAMS says. "So, those were my top two reasons I was excited to do this production."

(Photo: Richard Thomas as "Atticus Finch" in a scene from Harper Lee's "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin and coming to the Hanover Theatre in Worcester, MA. beginning May 3, 2024. Photo Credit: Julieta Cervantes)

WILLIAMS describes Bartlett Sher and Aaron Sorkin as a "Dream Team" and has high praise for her co-star, Richard Thomas, and the entire production. 

"Richard is sublime in the role as Atticus," WILLIAMS says. "I hope when audiences leave after taking this journey with us, that they will have some conversations among themselves and with themselves and ask themselves: what have they done, in the past, to make things better? What can they do, moving forward, to make things better? 

"I hope, then, that they will each proceed out with the notion to have some new common respect and understanding of others in their community...and that this branches out into the next community, and the next, and then throughout the nation." 

"Brick by brick - we can do this."

"TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" will play at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester, MA. from May 3rd through May 5th, 2024. For Tickets and more information call # 877-571-SHOW (7469) or email info@thehanovertheatre.org

BUY TICKETS

Approximately two hours, 30 minutes with one intermission

Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) 

@MetrmagReviews

@Theatre_Critics 

ABOUT THE SHOW

“The New York Times Critic’s Pick 'TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD' is “the most successful American play in Broadway history” - 60 Minutes 

With direction by Tony Award® winner Bartlett Sher, "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" is “the greatest novel of all time” (Chicago Tribune) and has quickly become “one of the greatest plays in history” (NPR).

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. 

Rolling Stone gives it 5 stars, calling it “an emotionally shattering landmark production of an American classic,” and New York Magazine calls it “a real phenomenon. Majestic and incandescent, it’s filled with breath and nuance and soul.” 

Please contact the box office at 877-571-SHOW (7469) for more information.

ABOUT HANOVER THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Worcester Center for Performing Arts is a registered not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, which owns and operates The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

HANOVER THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

2 Southbridge Street

Worcester, MA. 01608

877-571-SHOW (7469) 

info@thehanovertheatre.org