BWW Previews: SEARING DRAMA ALL MY SONS DEPICTS THE AMERICAN DREAM TURNED NIGHTMARE at Carrollwood Players Theater

Opening at Carrollwood Players Theatre on April 21 is Arthur Miller's Tony Award-winning drama, All My Sons.

This American masterpiece examines the relationships between fathers and sons, the cost of "the American Dream," the emotional scars caused by war, and the conflict between business and personal ethics.

All My Sons, the first great success of Arthur Miller's career, launched him as one of the leading dramatists of the twentieth century. Provocative and heart-breaking, All My Sons is a compelling story of love, guilt and how greed corrupts. The play, which took Miller over two and half years to write, was inspired by a wartime anecdote Miller heard about a woman who turned in her father for delivering defective equipment to the U.S. military.

That story birthed All My Sons.

The play tells the story of Joe Keller and Steve Deever, partners in a machine shop during World War II that turned out defective airplane parts, causing the deaths of many men. Deever went to prison and Keller remained free, finding great financial success. Years later, a love affair between Joe's other son and Steve's daughter set off a string of events that will transform the families forever.

All My Sons opened on Broadway in January, 1947, ran for 328 performances and won the Tony Award for Best Author and Best Direction of a Play in 1947. It also received the Drama Critics' Circle and Donaldson Awards.

Under the careful direction of Michael Cote, the stellar cast includes Stephan Bielawski (Joe Keller), Mary Kay Cyrus (Kate Keller), Jason Houlihan (Chris Keller), Miranda Rametta (Ann Deever), Bo Smith (George Deever), Colton Larson (Frank Lubby), Casey Hempel (Lydia Lubby), Beth Behner (Sue Bayless), Eric Misener (Jim Bayless), Sawyer Spiegel (Bert).

"The themes are both universal and eternal," said Stephan. "Avarice, family power dynamics, honesty, the horror that war inflicts on all involved... Miller really nailed the ugly side of the chase for the American Dream."

All My Sons is Arthur Miller's searing drama full of family deceit, lies and shame amid the fleeting hopes that a son missing in action will come home.

"It is a great pleasure to be involved with this fabulous show. Written nearly 75 years ago, the message and power of the subject matter still holds true today. This play presents the best and worst of what it is to be human. Love, hate, greed, compassion and loss are all showcased in Arthur Miller's All My Sons," said Michael. "Working with an extremely talented cast and crew rounds out this wonderful experience. Audiences will be enthralled by the writing and the performances."

Carrollwood Players is located at 4333 Gunn Hwy. ALL MY SONS runs Friday, April 21 through Saturday, May 6 with performances at 8 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, 3pm on Sundays. Tickets are $23 general admission. Advance tickets can be purchased at https://carrollwood-players-theatre.ticketleap.com/all-my-sons/

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