Tom Skerritt to co-star in 'A Time to Kill' on Broadway

NEW YORK, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Tom Skerritt is to make his Broadway debut in "A Time to Kill," the stage adaptation of John Grisham's best-selling novel, producers said Wednesday.

Producers Daryl Roth and Eva Price said Skerritt will portray Lucien Wilbanks, the mentor to protagonist Jake Brigance, played by Sebastian Arcelus, in the courtroom drama adapted by playwright Rupert Holmes.

Ethan McSweeny is directing the play, which will co-star Chike Johnson, Patrick Page, Tonya Pinkins, Fred Dalton Thompson, John Douglas Thompson, Ashley Williams, Dashiell Eaves, J.R. Horne, John Procaccino, Tijuana Ricks and Lee Sellars.

"A Time to Kill" is to open on Broadway Oct. 20 at the John Golden Theatre. Previews are to begin Sept. 28.

"We are so thrilled to welcome the enormously gifted Tom Skerritt to this production of 'A Time to Kill,'" Roth and Price said in a joint statement.

"His uncanny mixture of warmth, command and intelligence have been on display throughout his remarkable, decades-spanning career, and will undoubtedly bring our Lucien Wilbanks to vivid life on Broadway this fall."

"For almost a quarter of a century, 'A Time to Kill' has captivated readers with its raw exploration of race, retribution and justice," Grisham has previously said. "It was my first book and the first that I have allowed to be adapted for the theater. Rupert Holmes did an excellent job of translating it from the page to the stage, and I am happy that not only my loyal readers, but a whole new audience will be able to experience this story in live theater. I am looking forward to opening night on Broadway."