The stars of Miranda Cromwell's current Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman, along with the director herself, will appear at 92Y as a part of their flagship "A Conversation With" series.
Tony winner André De Shields, Wendell Pierce, and Cromwell will appear October 3, representing the older generation of Arthur Miller's Loman family. Pierce was nominated for an Olivier Award for his performances in the production in London's West End, with the revival set to open on Broadway October 9.
The conversation will be moderated Salamishah Tillet, and the performers will be joined by Cromwell in an in-depth discussion of the play's legacy, 73 years after it first premiered. The conversation will be held October 3 at 7:30 PM, at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. In-person tickets are available, as is a digital stream.
The new revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman began previews for a 17-week engagement at Broadway's Hudson Theatre September 17. Pierce and Shields are joined by Sharon D Clarke as Linda Loman, Khris Davis as Biff and McKinley Belcher III as Happy, with Blake DeLong as Howard/Stanley, Lynn Hawley as The Woman/Jenny, Grace Porter as Letta/Jazz Singer, Kevin Ramessar as Musician, Stephen Stocking as Bernard, Chelsea Lee Williams as Miss Forsythe, and Delaney Williams as Charley. Melvin Abston, Jerome Preston Bates, Brandon E. Burton, Maya Jackson, Lisa Strum, Chris Thorn, and Shona Tucker serve as understudies.
The work, which debuted on Broadway in 1949, follows a traveling salesman and his family who are caught up in the madness of the all-too-often unreachable "American Dream."
“Looking at Death of a Salesman from the perspective of a Black family living in a predominantly White capitalist world changes the way that you hear this text,” said director Cromwell in an earlier statement. “Wendell and Sharon illuminate the heart of this play in a new way that is both universal and entirely specific.”
The production's creative team includes Olivier-winning and Tony-nominated scenic and co-costume designer Anna Fleischle, co-costume designer Sarita Fellows, Tony-nominated lighting designer Jen Schriever, Tony-nominated sound designer Mikaal Sulaiman, composer Femi Temowo, hair designer Nikiya Mathis, and music coordinator John Miller. Casting is by Erica A. Hart and Daniel Swee.
Upon its 1949 Broadway premiere, the show took home six Tony Awards, including Best Play and Best Author of a Play. Miller's show has bene revived on Broadway four times; it was last seen on the Main Stem in a 2012 revival starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Linda Emond, Andrew Garfield, Finn Wittrock, and John Glover.
