Hoffman Leads DEATH OF A SALESMAN on Broadway, Fall 2011; Nichols Directs

The New York Times has just broke the news that stage and screen vet Philip Seymour Hoffman and Linda Emond will lead a revival of Death of a Salesman on Broadway as Willy and Linda Loman.  The production will be directed by Mike Nichols and open on Broadway next fall. Hoffman and Nicols have been working out details for the production for months, according the report.  The pair last collaborated on 2001 production of the Seagull in Central Park. 

To read the full report in the New York Times, click here.

Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by Arthur Miller. The play ran for 745 performances, winning both the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. The original production was directed by Elia Kazan with Lee J. Cobb starring in the leading role of Willy Loman.

The original Broadway production was produced by Kermit Bloomgarden and opened at the Morosco Theatre on February 10, 1949, and won the Tony Award for Best Play, Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Arthur Kennedy), Best Scenic Design (Jo Mielziner), Producer (Dramatic), Author (Arthur Miller), and Director (Elia Kazan), as well as the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play. Jayne Mansfield performed in a production of the play in Dallas, Texas in October, 1953. Her performance in the play attracted Paramount Pictures to hire her for the studio's film productions.

The play has been revived on Broadway three times since: June 26, 1975 at the Circle in the Square Theatre, running for 71 performances. George C. Scott starred as Willy; March 29, 1984 at the Broadhurst Theatre, running for 97 performances. Dustin Hoffman played Willy. In a return engagement, this production re-opened on September 14, 1984 and ran for 88 performances. The production won the Tony Award for Best Revival and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival; February 10, 1999 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, running for 274 performances, with Brian Dennehy as Willy. The production won the Tony Award for: Best Revival of a Play; Best Actor in Play; Best Featured Actress in a Play (Elizabeth Franz); Best Direction of a Play (Robert Falls). 

 

 

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos