DEATH OF A SALESMAN 2026 Previews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/5/26 at 12:00am

Vintage has it all over new.

Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf lead a sixth Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman, starting previews tomorrow (March 6). Directed by Joe Mantello, Arthur Miller’s timeless drama boasts a strong ensemble cast that features Christopher Abbott, Ben Ahlers, K. Todd Freeman, Jonathan Cake, John Drea, Michael Benjamin Washington, Tasha Lawrence, and Jake Silbermann. Opening night is April 9 at the Winter Garden Theatre, and it will run through August 9.

“One man and his family are caught up in the pressures and delusions of living the American dream. Miller’s play is the story of a traveling salesman whose illusions of picture-perfect business and family life cave in on him.”

Who’s going?

[binau]

Posted: 3/5/26 at 2:01am

I will be there! America's most iconic play with America's most iconic male theatre star alongside its most prestigious female actor, Joe Mantello direction. It's moments like this that reinforce why I truly love Broadway. There is no where else like it. 

Updated On: 3/5/26 at 02:01 AM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/5/26 at 12:54pm

This production features original music by Caroline Shaw, a Grammy and Pulitzer Prize winner known for her contemporary classical compositions and multiple collaborations with Kanye West.

Also, Jonathan Cake is Lane's understudy (he will normally play Uncle Ben). I haven't heard who Metcalf's is yet.

 

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 9:19am

I'll be there April 1st. I am very much looking forward to this. I am also intrigued Mantello trying something new by casting younger versions of Biff, Happy, and Bernard for the memory scenes.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 3:06pm

A runtime is not listed yet on the show's website or on Telecharge, but a Telecharge customer service representative just told me DEATH OF A SALESMAN will run approximately 3 hours, including an intermission. 

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 3:11pm

That makes sense since the last revival with the added musical elements was 3:10

[JT2030]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 4:16pm

Am hoping to catch this at some point next week --- this little tidbit in New York magazine's spring theatre highlights has me quite intrigued - it's a minor one, but dropping into the Spoiler box just in case anyone prefers going in totally cold:

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Unlike prior productions, where most of the action in the two-act tragedy is in the Loman kitchen, this version is set by Mantello and scenic designer Chloe Lamford in the cold isolation of a garage, itself a liminal space between Loman's professional and domestic spheres. The Studebaker Willy drives in the original script is still referred to by that name, but onstage there's a 1964 Chevy Chevelle Malibu in its place. The discrepancy is the point. "He's an unreliable narrator," says Lane.

I was under the impression (not factually backed up at all) that the Miller estate was similarly particular like Albee and Beckett in that non-traditional stagings were rarely at best on the table; then again, from this and the photos I've seen from the Ivo van Hove All My Sons, perhaps they're either more hands off or more willing to approve different concepts and approaches.

Either way, this play is sorta perfect IMO so I'm eager to see what this luxury group of cast + creative do with it / how it undoubtedly grows during previews. Looking forward to reading others reports (and sharing my own!)

Updated On: 3/6/26 at 04:16 PM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 11:05pm

So, how did this evening go?

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 11:08pm

Updated On: 3/7/26 at 11:08 PM

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 11:10pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "So, how did this evening go?"

It’s times like these where I miss Whizzer. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 11:11pm

ClydeBarrow said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "So, how did this evening go?"

It’s times like these where I miss Whizzer."

Me too, Clyde. Such an eloquent writer. 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 12:40am

Updated On: 3/7/26 at 12:40 AM

[lujoc]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 1:18am

What happened to him 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 2:14am

EDSOSLO858 said: "ClydeBarrow said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "So, how did this evening go?"

It’s times like these where I miss Whizzer."

Agree.  Do we know where they went ?

Updated On: 3/7/26 at 02:14 AM

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 2:33am

I believe Whizzer left the city, his job took him somewhere else. His reviews brilliant in every way. The other was the late great Margo Channing his reviews inspired in every way. 
Can’t wait to hear how this went! 

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 5:33am

CoffeeBreak said: "We have not seen this production.. Account was hijacked - and above comment made. Interested to hear what people who have ACTUALLY seen the show think."

So.... you were logged into the wrong account/personality. Got it.

[binau]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 6:16am

It was truly remarkable. This is much closer to 'best ever' territory than mediocre or disappointing. Almost everything (can we go for a Chevy pun) is firing on all cylinders at the same time and mostly harmony (except I wonder about one thing, that I'll get to). The physical production is large and fills the entire stage. It is gorgeous and run-down - it is not lost to me THIS is the theatre that housed the original production of Follies, and what is on stage in play form feels like whatever superlative we'd use for a show of this kind of status and this production a superlative version of it. It's lavish, cool, somehow both retro and modern, and the energy is an unhinged darkness, especially with the tone of Laurie Metcalf's performance washing through and over the piece who plays the character in a kind of unhinged emotional mess channelling Alice Ripley in next to normal and Deanna Dunagan in August: Osage County. I'm not saying she 'stole the show' but she almost does, Somehow the show feels like it now is a subtle comment on both the American Dream and the state of the mental health of the country. 

Christopher Abbott and Ben Ahlers initially frame the stage with the masculine physical presence, but something is off. In Gen Z terms Happy (Ben) is 'mogging' Biff (Abbott). That feeling when the 'handsome, cool older brother' becomes less handsome, less cool and far less successful than his younger brother. In our modern status obsessed instagram follower influencer society almost the worst crime of all - less than mediocre. It's emphasised expertly using the device of 'young biff' being played by one of the most handsome and attractive young men I've ever seen. I'm quite sure like Aaron Tveit's "Gabe" in next to normal, this is Willy's delusional idea of his perfect son that was never real in the first place, and the effect and contrast between the dream young biff vs cold harsh reality of adult biff is clear. 

The music is spare but when it is used, helps create the atmosphere and doesn't have that awkward feeling of music faded in/out that I often feel in plays. Given a weak season, it might actually be nominated for best score. 

But of course this is Nathan Lane's show and Nathan Lane's production, in what is no doubt his career best work doing the equivalent of Patti Lupone in Gypsy in a role it feels like he was born to play or even written for him. His voice in particular is unmistakable and I can't think of a single other male example that has so much dynamic range in their speaking voice, can seemingly paint a portrait of a sad, mediocre unremarkable person but command an entire stage and command interest with their one of a kind uniqueness. When Nathan Lane says he is "not well liked" there is so much going on in this one phrase telling us not just the banal simplicity of how Willy sees the world but delivered in the classic Nathan Lane comedic way that tells us even MORE about him. "I'm very well liked in Hartford" he then says seemingly trying to convince himself of the same. No one could make the "stop interrupting" lines so funny and insufferable as Nathan Lane can.

The play is just so, so deep and cuts to the very essence of why life can be so cruel. We can live in the land of opportunity but never realise any of that opportunity, and even if we do we can be left at the end with nothing and with no one. 

The ONLY question I'll pose about this production, is it possible that Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf are a little tonally in different shows? There were a couple moments (e.g. SHAKE HIS HANDDDDDDDDD) I wondered if I really did buy that Max Bialystock would marry Diana Goodman. It might just be me!

[quizking101]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 6:57am

Wow. Thanks for that review. Now I’m REALLY excited this. I’m honestly not surprised things are this tight right out of the gate since Metcalf and Mantello basically work in shorthand and this production has been gestating for many years, so there likely has been a lot of development even before it hit the stage.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 10:23am

How exciting, thanks binau!

[TheOtherOne2]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 10:29am

binau said: "...But of course this is Nathan Lane's show and Nathan Lane's production, in what is no doubt his career best work doing the equivalent of Patti Lupone in Gypsy in a role it feels like he was born to play or even written for him. His voice in particular is unmistakable and I can't think of a single other male example that has so much dynamic range in their speaking voice,can seemingly paint a portrait of a sad, mediocre unremarkable person but command an entire stage and command interest with their one of a kind uniqueness. When Nathan Lane says he is "not well liked" there is so much going on in this one phrase telling us not just the banal simplicity of how Willy sees the world but delivered in the classic Nathan Lane comedic way that tells us even MORE about him. "I'm very well liked in Hartford" he then says seemingly trying to convince himself of the same. No one could make the "stop interrupting" lines so funny and insufferable as Nathan Lane can.

The play is just so, so deep and cuts to the very essence of why life can be so cruel. We can live in the land of opportunity but never realise any of that opportunity, and even if we do we can be left at the end with nothing and with no one.

The ONLY question I'll pose about this production, is it possible that Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf are a little tonally in different shows? There were a couple moments (e.g. SHAKE HIS HANDDDDDDDDD) I wondered if I really did buy that Max Bialystock would marry Diana Goodman. It might just be me!"

The first paragraph I quoted has made someone who has stopped seeing every revival of every play he likes a lot more interested in this one than he had been up until now.  Thank you!

The last paragraph I quoted?  Their being in tonally different shows might not matter because of the relationship between these two particular characters.  Laurie is always in her own show, or her own interpretation of her character in whatever show she's in.  Fortunately it's usually a very good one.

 

[halfhourcheckwithmerman]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 10:44am

Binau, thanks for that excellent review. 

Question, if you remember: how far upstage does the action get? Looking at the extreme side-audience-left seats, which aren't marked partial view (the audience-right ones are marked partial view, interestingly) but are much, much cheaper. How much do you think I'd miss?

Thank you!!!! 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 10:53am

Binau, is the play staged with the action in center? I see lots of discounted tickets in the side orchestra (and a few "partial views" in front row mezz)....

[brenway]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 4:23pm

PipingHotPiccolo said: "Binau, is the play staged with the action in center? I see lots of discounted tickets in the side orchestra (and a few "partial views" in front row mezz)...."

I was there last night as well, most if not all of the show takes place in the center however the set design  has columns, that I could see blocking some scenes slightly if you are sitting on the far sides. I was right Orchestra but more in the center and nothing was obscured. 
The show itself was fine, the acting was the highlight, I thought both Nathan and Laurie were superb throughout. But there wasn’t a weak link in the cast, Joaquin Consuelos was perfectly cast. Also, I preface to say I have never seen Death of A Salesman before nor have read it, so this might have skewed my view but I thought some of the plot was a bit dated or unnecessary. Solid but I don’t need to see it again. 

[JT2030]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 4:57pm

Thanks to all for the first preview reports --- it sounds like it's starting from a great place and only going to get better. I thought the Brian Dennehy production was definitive (and it'll always sit rock solid in my theatergoing memory) but this sounds like a more than worthy rendition as well.

I believe I recall reading that Lane and Metcalf are known for starting rehearsals essentially off-book / lines memorized so they can really dig in during the rehearsal process. 

They've given themselves a quite lengthy preview period, too, so lots of time for them to refine.

(A discussion for another time, but am curious where Metcalf will land when it comes to awards consideration - Linda has been placed in Supporting categories and often won, another place where Elizabeth Franz's work in the Dennehy led production remains seared in my memory, but in this case she's above the title. Again - fun chatter for another time.....!) Looking forward to more reviews.

[AC126748]

Posted: 3/7/26 at 5:03pm

I'd imagine the production will petition to have Metcalf considered as a featured actress, which is in keeping with how the role has been classified before and would allow her to avoid competing against herself in LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD.