FEBRUARY 29 • 2024 | 49
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courtroom and about Atticus 
coming to terms with the 
reality of the jury and, 
therefore, society as a whole. 
For our Atticus, he goes 
through a real catharsis. It’s 
almost a coming-of-age story 
for him.”
To Kill a Mockingbird had 
been playing on Broadway for 
16 months when the COVID 
shutdown happened. Wolf 
and his team were brought on 
to co-produce Mockingbird

when it resumed on Broadway 
on Oct. 5, 2021. Following its 
final performance on Jan. 16, 
2022, NETworks launched 
the national tour two months 
later. Wolf’s Broadway and 
tour credits include Tony-
nominated Fiddler on the 
Roof, Beautiful — The Carole 
King Musical, Once, Orphans, 
A View From the Bridge, 
Funny Girl, Beetlejuice, Book 
of Morman, Mean Girls and, 
winner of 10 Tony Awards and 

one Grammy, The Band’s Visit. 
The blockbuster success of 
adapting the 2007 Israeli film 
version of The Band’s Visit 
into a Broadway musical that 
swept the Tonys in 2018 was 
a 10-year project for Wolf. It 
started with seeing the movie 
at the Israeli Film Festival in 
Manhattan on a date night 
with his wife, Shiri, who was 
born in Tel Aviv. Following 
an a-ha moment when he 
decided he wanted to adapt 

DETAILS Performance times for To Kill a Mockingbird, appearing March 5-17 
at the Fisher Theatre (3011 W. Grand Blvd.) are: Tuesday through Saturday evening 
performances at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday matinees at 2 p.m.; Sunday matinees at 1 p.m.; 
Sunday evening performances at 6:30 p.m. Individual tickets start at $43 (includes 
parking and facility fee). Tickets can be purchased online at BroadwayInDeroit.com and 
in person at the Fisher Theatre box office starting at noon.

the film for the stage, Wolf 
embarked on a long, arduous 
journey to secure the rights.
“I had to chase down the 
filmmaker in Israel,” Wolf 
said. “I really had to work for 
it. But the musical went on 
to be a big success, so I feel 
that it was a very successful 
experience.”
While Wolf grew up in 
Cleveland, Shiri’s family 
moved to California from 
Israel and then to Midland, 
Michigan, where her 
stepfather was a patent 
attorney for Dow Chemical. 
She double-majored in 
comparative literature 
and political science as an 
undergrad at the University 
of Michigan.
“As she describes it, she 
went from Tel Aviv to the 
trauma of growing up as one 
of the only Jewish kids in 
Midland,” Wolf says about 
his wife, who then received 
her J.D. from New York 
University’s School of Law. 
“But she had a great time at 
the University of Michigan. 
She loved the school and 
had many friends who were 
very involved in the Jewish 
community.”
Next up, Wolf is 
developing a new musical 
based on the Buena Vista 
Social Club album. He 
encourages everyone to see 
To Kill a Mockingbird, as the 
tour is coming to a close.
“[Tony Award-winning] 
director Bartlett Sher has 
staged the show gracefully 
and beautifully. His team has 
done an extraordinary job 
of mounting an elegant and 
pointed tour,” says Wolf. “To 
Kill a Mockingbird is a once-
in-a-lifetime experience 
for anyone who loves the 
theater, who loves literature 
and loves great writing. I 
think what Aaron Sorkin has 
done with this play is really 
genius.” 

LEFT: Richard 
Thomas (“Atticus 
Finch”) and the 
company of To Kill 
a Mockingbird. 

PHOTOS BY JULIETA CERVANTES

Maeve Moynihan (“Scout 
Finch”) and Jacqueline 
Williams (“Calpurnia”). 

Steven Lee Johnson 
(“Dill Harris”), Maeve 
Moynihan (“Scout 
Finch”) and Justin 
Mark (“Jem Finch”). 

