But each summer, Thomas left the hustle and bustle of city life for the childhood home of his father, a farm in Paintsville where his grandparents lived. Why did actor Richard Thomas spend so much time in Kentucky?Ī child actor himself, Thomas grew up in Manhattan where his parents danced with the New York City Ballet and owned the New York City School of Ballet. Mary Badham - who, as a child actress, played Scout, Atticus’ 6-year-old daughter in the 1962 film "To Kill A Mockingbird" - is in the current touring production playing crotchety neighbor lady Mrs. Sorkin's play refocuses on Atticus as its driving force - the man who wrestles with questions and his own inner flaws and is challenged by Calpurnia, the Finch family cook.īesides Thomas as Atticus Finch, you'll want to know about another famous face in the cast. Sorkin's stage version is crafted as a memory play as Scout, Atticus Finch's daughter, remembers the summer her father defended a Black man falsely accused of rape in the Jim Crow South. "There are parts that are very meaningful and also some that are more humorous than I understood as a kid." "I read it before I took on the part and found it a much different read than what I remembered as a child," Thomas said. You may like: 'Hadestown,' 'Pretty Woman' 'Annie' and more top 2022-23 PNC Broadway in Louisville season Aaron has done this beautifully and made the story fresh through issues of social justice which are top of mind for people today."īefore arriving at the Kentucky Center, Thomas recommends searching your bookshelves for that middle school-issued and dog-eared copy of "To Kill A Mockingbird." A true classic is able to be adapted to current times. "The play has galvanized audiences with its timeliness and its timelessness. "To be entrusted with the opportunity of bringing one of our great American stories to our great American playhouses across the country is a privilege," Thomas told the Courier Journal. Thomas, who heads a cast of 24, wants the audience to understand that Sorkin’s source material was the original novel, not the 1962 film in which Gregory Peck played Atticus so memorably. "Bourbon is Kentucky's great gift to the country."Īcademy Award winner Sorkin’s adaptation of Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work has received rave reviews, nine Tony nominations, and set box office records since it debuted on Broadway in 2018. Not surprisingly, "I love bourbon," Thomas told the Courier Journal. If that was before your time, Thomas might be familiar to you as Nathan Davis, father to Laura Linney’s character on Netflix's “Ozark,” or as Linney's husband on Broadway in “The Little Foxes,” for which he received a Tony nod.Ĭurrently, Thomas is on tour in the iconic role of Atticus Finch in "To Kill A Mockingbird" and whether you are 14 or 64 years old, this American classic should ring a bell.ĭuring his conversation with the Courier Journal, the versatile actor revealed what brought him to Paintsville, Kentucky throughout his childhood, the importance of Aaron Sorkin's stage production of Harper Lee's classic, the phrase shouted most often from the audience during the tour's curtain call and the Kentucky spirit he admires most. He is an Emmy Award-winning and Tony-nominated actor who also happens to be a proud Kentucky Colonel, a bourbon lover, and for many years, traveled from his home in Manhatten to vacation in the Bluegrass State.Īhead of Richard Thomas's long-awaited return to Kentucky this month, the Courier Journal had a chat with the veteran actor who many remember as "John-Boy" from the television drama "The Waltons."
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