Earlier this week, we saw "To Kill a Mockingbird," a fresh stage adaptation of Lee Harper’s iconic novel by Aaron Sorkin that opened on Broadway in 2018 to strong reviews (and business), but closed at the start of this year due to COVID and other issues. The current touring production features Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch—it was a riveting show with themes, sadly, that remain fresh and relevant in today's climate. There’s nothing as electric as live theater when a show really works and this certainly ranked up there for me. Thomas and the entire cast were terrific. It had been awhile since we’d seen a straight stage drama, so it was a nice change of pace from the run of musicals we've seen (though there were many laughs that offset the drama).
We saw it at the historic Pantages in the heart of Hollywood. By coincidence, a few days before the show, I came across a photo on Instagram of the Pantages from 1953—the first year the Academy Awards was televised. (Last October, I posted seeing Moulin Rouge at the same theater.)
We also purposely planned dinner early enough to give us time to visit Amoeba Records catty corner from the theater. It’s an old school record store that includes vinyl, CDs, DVDs and books (including graphic novels) both new and used.
