Eric Rosen to Helm Kansas City Repertory Theatre's DEATH OF A SALESMAN; Gary Neal Johnson to Star

One of Kansas City's most acclaimed actors, Gary Neal Johnson, is set to star as the iconic Willy Loman in Kansas City Repertory Theatre's production of Arthur Miller's Tony Award-winning Death of a Salesman. The Rep's artistic director Eric Rosen will direct the production, which runs January 18-February 10 at Spencer Theatre. Miller's classic play about a down-on-his-luck salesman searching for his American Dream remains one of the most profound dramas in the canon of American theatre.

Rosen is a writer, director and producer who has been Kansas City Rep's artistic director since 2007. His Rep directing projects include Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses; The Trip to Bountiful; Clay; Winesburg, Ohio; the world premiere of A Christmas Story, the Musical!, which was a 2012 holiday hit on Broadway; Venice; Cabaret; August: Osage County; The Whipping Man and Pippin. Rosen will also direct the New York premiere of his musical Venice, co-written with Matt Sax, when it opens at The Public Theatre (May 28-June 23).

The complete cast for Death of a Salesman includes:

KYLE HATLEY (HAPPY LOMAN) is an actor, director and playwright and also serves as the Rep's Associate Artistic Director. His Rep directing credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Nathan Louis Jackson's Broke-ology, Circle Mirror Transformation, The Borderland and A Christmas Carol since 2010. He has also acted at the Rep in The Glass Menagerie and The Whipping Man.

GARY Neal Johnson (WILLY LOMAN) is an associate artist at the Rep, where he has appeared in many productions over almost three decades, including most recently in A Christmas Carol; Little Shop of Horrors; August: Osage County; Cabaret; Bus Stop; Winesburg, Ohio; The Drawer Boy; King Lear; Give 'Em Hell, Harry and The Voysey Inheritance (co-production with American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where he received the Dean Goodman Award for best supporting actor). He has also acted at Heart of America Shakespeare Festival (HASF), Starlight, Kansas City Actors Theatre (KCAT), Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. and Utah Shakespeare Theatre.

MERLE MOORES (LINDA LOMAN) has an extensive list of Rep credits, including: August: Osage County, Machinal, A Christmas Carol, Man and Superman, Major Barbara, The Seagull, Oedipus the King, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Hamlet. She has also appeared at the Unicorn, KCAT, HASF and New Theatre.

Kip Niven (BEN) has appeared at the Rep in August: Osage County, the world premiere of A Christmas Story, The Musical!, Into the Woods, Later Life and Blithe Spirit. His extensive credits also include productions at Spinning Tree, the Coterie, New Theatre, Starlight, KCAT, American Heartland Theatre and Quality Hill Playhouse.

BRIAN PAULETTE (HOWARD) has appeared in The Front Page, Saint Joan, The Philadelphia Story, Inherit the Wind, Royal Hunt of the Sun and several years of A Christmas Carol, all at Kansas City Rep. Local credits include productions at KCAT, HASF and the Unicorn.

Michael PaulEY (STANLEY) is making his KC Rep debut. UMKC Theatre acting credits include The Lady from the Sea, the Last Days of Judas Iscariot and The Winter's Tale.

CHRIS ROADY (BERNARD) is making his KC Rep debut. Local credits include productions at Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre, The Living Room, the Unicorn and KC Fringe Festival.

Mark Robbins (CHARLEY) is a veteran of more than two decades of Rep productions including, most recently: The Mystery of Irma Vep, A Christmas Carol for 20 seasons, Circle Mirror Transformation, Bus Stop, A Flea in Her Ear, the title role in Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure and The Voysey Inheritance (co-production with American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco). He has also acted in or directed many productions at the Unicorn, The Living Room, American Heartland Theatre and HASF. Robbins is a founding member of Kansas City Actors Theatre.

RUSTY SNEARY (BIFF LOMAN) has appeared at the Rep in August: Osage County, A Christmas Carol and Liliom. He has also acted at the Coterie Theatre, Unicorn, New Theatre, HASF, American Heartland Theatre and The Living Room, of which he is co-owner and artistic director.

Cheryl Weaver (THE WOMAN) has acted at the Rep in August: Osage County, Bus Stop, A Christmas Carol for three seasons, The Voysey Inheritance (co-production with American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco), The Trip to Bountiful and Living Out. She has also appeared at the Unicorn, KCAT, New Theatre, the Coterie and Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre.

Three second-year MFA graduate students in the UMKC Department of Theatre acting program are making their Rep debuts:

JESSICA BIERNACKI-JENSEN (LETTA) UMKC Theatre credits: The Winter's Tale and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Local credits: Unicorn, KC Fringe Festival.

JANAE MITCHELL (JENNY) UMKC Theatre credits: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Cymbeline, The Lady from the Sea, A Devil Inside and upcoming KC Swing.

COURTNEY SALVAGE (MISS FORSYTHE) UMKC Theatre credits: A Devil Inside, The Lady from the Sea, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, The Winter's Tale, Cymbeline.

The creative team for Death of a Salesman includes: Meghan Raham (Set Design); Lindsay W. Davis (Costume Design); Victor En Yu Tan (Lighting Design); Tom Mardikes (Sound Design); Larry Bailey (Composer); John Wilson (Fight Director). Mary R. Honour is production stage manager.

Additional biographical information about Death of a Salesman's cast and creative team can be found at www.KCRep.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.