Patrick A’Hearn, CEO and Producing Artistic Director 
presents

To Kill a Mockingbird

Adapted by Christopher Sergel
From the novel by Harper Lee
Incidental Music by David Landrum

Lighting Design - Michael Jarett
Scenic Design - Frank Foster
Costume Design - Erin Welsh
Wig Design - Bethany Cheek
Properties Master - Reilly Cooper
Sound Design - Cheyenne Tenda
Stage Manager - Carissa K. Lanstra
Assistant Director - Nyarai René
Director - Quinn Vogt-Welch

To Kill a Mockingbird is produced by special arrangement with Dramatic Publishing, Woodstock, Illinois
Any video and/or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Hi Friends!  It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to The Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.  As we begin our 27^th Season, we enter it with strength, resilience and gratitude. Theater Operations is now a 501(C)(3), nonprofit organization.  This allows us to join the ranks of all the professional regional theater companies in the country.  It also allows us to fortify our theater by being able to accept grants, sponsorships, and donations at all levels.  Riverside Strong allows us to look to the future with confidence while building additional streams of revenue.

The performing arts are an essential component of the health and well-being of a community.  Riverside takes that responsibility very seriously and relishes the role that we play in our region and community.  We have become a safe space for people to leave their cares behind for a few hours and be transported to another time and place while participating in quality entertainment.  “It is not the voice that commands the story: it is the ear.”  We need you, and we are glad you are here.  You are just as much a part of the production as the performers and musicians on the stage.  That is why we choose these shows for you!

This Season brings a terrific mixture of fun and rock and roll with  Heartbreak Hotel, epic with Jesus Christ Superstar and To Kill a Mockingbird, edgy and riveting with the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, Next to Normal and classic with The Sound of Music and White Christmas. Our Children's Theatre is back in full force with Seussical Jr. in February and Junie B Jones in the Fall.  As I always say, “We all get to do what we love to do here at Riverside because all of you love coming here to support us.”  Thanks for the vote of confidence.  Thanks for your generosity.  Thank you for supporting the live arts!

Patrick A’Hearn

CEO and Producing Artistic Director
Riverside Center for the Performing Arts

When I was 18 years old, I learned that heart disease runs in my family. After my uncles lost the second brother of seven boys to a heart attack, they rushed to get tested and monitor their health more closely. They took responsibility for what they had inherited. They acted on it because it meant life or death. It took me until well into my adulthood to realize that I have inherited things beyond what diseases run in my family, but the illness of a country whose entire foundation of every man being created equal and reputation of enormous wealth is built on the backs of enslaved men, women, and children. The symptoms of this country’s disease, as Atticus calls it, were not obvious to me growing up. When I was in college, a family member told me they were relieved I didn’t bring a black man home for Thanksgiving. I knew it was racist, and my discomfort made me go silent. What I didn’t realize until I witnessed George Floyd’s death in 2020 was that silence and complacency result in violence and death. Looking back, I should have said something to them— had a conversation about the impact their comment made, coming from someone I looked up to, someone I trusted and relied on. Much like a disease, the smallest symptoms indicate an underlying issue of illness. Though it may not seem dangerous in its early stages, ignoring it can cause irreparable harm. To Kill A Mockingbird is not a time capsule piece; it’s a steady reminder since its birth in 1960 of who we are and what we have inherited. We always have a choice to make. Do we accept our country’s illness, or do we take responsibility for it?

Quinn Vogt-Welch
Director

Understudies
Understudies never substitute for listed players unless a specific announcement for the appearance is made at the time of the performance.
Catherine Mayers (SCOUT), Joey Vogel (JEM, DILL), Andy Braden (ATTICUS, HECK TATE), Crystal Arful-Addoh, (CALPURNIA), Adian Chapman (BOO), David Featherston (JUDGE TAYLOR), Alexis Franklin (MAYELLA EWELL), Colby LeRoy (WALTER CUNNINGHAM), David Landrum (MR GILMER)

Maycomb, Alabama 1935