Death of a Salesman’ - A Triumph With An All-Black Cast.
I wonder what the late playwright Arthur Miller would think about having an all-Black cast bring life to the classic characters that have shaped Death of a Salesman into an undisputed classic?
For producers, Cindy Tolan, Elliott & Harper Productions, and Kwame Kwei-Armah bringing Death of A Salesman to Broadway starring Wendell Pierce, Sharon D Clarke, and André De Shields was a no-brainer.
Opening this week at the Hudson Theatre the assembled audience witnessed a
poignant moment, at curtain call when Pierce paid tribute to his 97-year-old father, Amos Pierce, who was in the audience with other members of Pierce’s family from his hometown of New Orleans. Cheering Pierce and the cast was a star-studded audience including the playwright Miller’s daughter, filmmaker Rebecca Miller, and granddaughter Kate Miller.
Following its critically acclaimed run at London’s Young Vic Theatre and on the West End, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is told – for the first time on Broadway – from the perspective of a Black family. This vibrant and timely production is directed by Miranda Cromwell, who co-directed the London production alongside Marianne Elliott. Together, they won the 2020 Olivier Award for Best Direction.
Olivier Award nominee Wendell Pierce and Olivier Award winner and 2022 Tony Award® nominee Sharon D Clarke reprise their roles as Willy and Linda Loman, and they are joined by Khris Davis as Biff, McKinley Belcher III as Happy, and Tony Award® winner André De Shields as Willy’s brother, Ben. Additional cast includes Blake DeLong as Howard/Stanley, Lynn Hawley as The Woman/Jenny, Grace Porter as Letta/Jazz Singer, Stephen Stocking as Bernard, Chelsea Lee Williams as Miss Forsythe, and The Wire’s Delaney Williams as Charley.
The creative team includes Olivier Award winner and Tony Award® nominee Anna Fleischle (scenic and co-costume design), Sarita Fellows (co-costume design), Tony Award® nominee Jen Schriever (lighting design), Tony Award® nominee Mikaal Sulaiman (sound design), Femi Temowo (composer), Drama Desk Award nominee Nikiya Mathis (hair design), Erica A. Hart & Daniel Swee (casting) and John Miller (music coordinator).
The producing team for the show also includes Steven Chaikelson, Gavin Kalin, Hunter Arnold, Catherine Schreiber, Bob Boyett, Brian D. Kessler, Michael Watt, Eilene Davidson, Chuchu Nwagu Productions, David Mirvish, Playing Field, Tom Saporito, Triptyk Studios, Iris Smith, LD Entertainment, Salman Al-Rashid, Concord Theatricals, Lamar Richardson, JamRock Productions, Young Vic Young Ones, Jamie deRoy/James L. Simon, TackelRaven/Louise H. Beard, Ferguson Simons/Marjuan Canady, Al Nocciolino/Blumenthal Performing Arts, Phenomenal Media/Meena Harris, and The Young Vic.
Few works of drama loom as large in the national psyche as Miller’s seminal Death of a Salesman. It caused a critical sensation when it premiered on Broadway in 1949 with a production directed by Elia Kazan. It went on to win six Tony Awards® including Best Play and was also honored with the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play. The play has enjoyed four previous Broadway revivals, three of which won the Tony Award® for Best Revival of a Play.
For more details about the production, including information about how to purchase tickets, please visit www.salesmanonbroadway.com.
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