James Black to Star in DEATH OF A SALESMAN at Alley Theatre, 9/28-10/28

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for the Alley Theatre's production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. The Alley's association with Miller dates back to 1954, when Alley founder Nina Vance direcTed Miller's masterpiece Death of a Salesman. The Alley has produced 12 of Miller's plays: a 1997 staging of Death of a Salesman; All My Sons in 1955, 1984, and 2000 (in a collaboration with the University of Houston); A View from the Bridge (1957, 1989 and 1999); and three productions of The Crucible.

In 2005, Arthur Miller passed away days after the Alley closed After the Fall and was in rehearsal for The Crucible. Both plays were programmed as a tribute to Arthur Miller, who would have celebrated his 90th birthday on October 17, 2005. In 1984, Miller visited the Alley to receive the inaugural Alley Award, created by the Alley Board of Directors to recognize significant contributions to the theatrical arts. The celebration coincided with the Alley's 1984 production of All My Sons and also included excerpts from Miller's plays performed by many renowned actors, including Robert Duvall, Frank Langella, and Colleen Dewhurst, who was mistress of ceremonies.

The return to the Alley of Arthur Miller's Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Death of a Salesman is particularly relevant today. The play juxtaposes the American Dream with the realities of a fluctuating economy, unequal opportunities, and unfair advantages, with vivid characters and consummate theatricality. As salesman Willy Loman approaches the end of his working life, he must reconcile his unrealized dreams while struggling against the current world. Recommended for general audiences; mature themes.

Alley Theatre Company Member James Black, celebrating his 25th consecutive season at the Alley, will play Willy Loman. Death of a Salesman also features Josie de Guzman as Linda, Zachary Spicer as Biff, and Jay Sullivan as Happy. In addition to Black as Willy Loman, Death of a Salesman features Alley Theatre Resident Company Members Jeffrey Bean, James Belcher, Emily Neves, Melissa Pritchett, Jay Sullivan and Todd Waite. The Cast of Death of a Salesman also includes Ellen Dyer as Jenny, Drew Hirshfield, Rebekah Stevens, and Sidney Williams.

Death of a Salesman includes scenic design by Hugh Landwehr and costume design by Judith Dolan. Lighting design is by Pat Collins with original composition and sound design by Josh Schmidt, dialect coach Pamela Prather and Assistant Director and Dramaturg Jacey Little.

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