The Black Rep’s presentation of Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Death of a Salesman will open the same week that the most recently acclaimed Broadway revival closes.
Founder and Producing Director Ron Himes will lead as Willy Loman – which is currently embodied on Broadway by film and television star Wendell Pierce.
“I enjoyed him immensely. I believed him totally,” Himes said of Pierce when he caught the performance last month in New York. “He could have been on an empty stage, and you still would have felt the full effect of the story. He is certainly going to get a Tony nomination. If not, then they need to end the Tonys.”
Himes was a special guest of Pierce when he caught the spellbinding portrayal– which is a departure from his acclaimed roles on television shows and films that include HBO’s The Wire, Tremé, Chicago PD and Jack Ryan to name a few.
The fellow actors connected when Himes was in preparation to step into the shoes of Willy Loman for the first time at the request of the Nebraska Repertory Theatre. When Pierce heard that Himes would be bringing the show to The Black Rep, he reached out to suggest actors for the role of Loman’s wife. Mutually busy schedules meant that by the time they were in touch, Himes’ run as Willy at the Nebraska Rep had ended – and the role for the Black Rep production had been cast with the ever-delightful Velma Austin.
He told Pierce that he would be in New York to catch a few shows. Pierce invited Himes to attend the show and meet afterwards for a chat between “the Willys.”
Pierce and Himes had an insightful discussion thoughtful and insightful about the duty of portraying such a monumental role within the canon of classic American theater.
“Wendell said, ‘those of us who are fortunate enough to play Willy, they become part of a fraternity,’” said Himes. “Then he welcomed me to the fraternity. That gives me an added mantle to carry, but it’s a noble challenge – and I am really excited about bringing it here because we have a wonderful, wonderful company.”
A universal story
Himes, Austin, Chauncy Thomas, Christian Kitchens and Kevin Brown are the Loman family. Set in late 1940s Massachusetts, Willy Loman confronts the reality of his unrealized potential. As he struggles to reconcile with the sum of choices that he feels have resulted in a life that amounts to less than his wife and children deserve, he falls apart.
“We have not changed any of the text and Arthur Miller probably never would have thought that a Black company would do it,” Himes said. “But the play speaks so genuinely to the search and the reach for the American dream that we all have.”
As Himes worked to personalize his portrayal of Willy, he thought of the Black soldiers returning home from World War II. They should have been welcomed home as heroes. Instead, they were forced to battle for basic human rights and equality.
“We know what that challenge must have been like for these African American men – with the same dreams of better opportunities, to own a home, provide for their family and to leave a legacy for their children,” Himes said. “African Americans have had these same dreams as long as we have been here, and I think that looking at it through the lens of Arthur Miller’s play I think heightens it in a way.”
Director Jacqueline Thompson is praised by Himes for setting the emotional tone and for “mining wonderful performances from the company.” He also gives her credit for perfectly executing the vision she had for the show – which was to make sure the production stayed true to Miller’s masterful storytelling.
“It is really a love story between a father and a son,” Himes said. “This play opened on Broadway in 1949 and a there has not been a year since where there haven’t been multiple productions of it all over the country – better yet all over the world.
In fact, Pierce played Willy in a 2019 production at The Piccadilly Theatre on The West End – which is London’s Broadway equivalent. And Dunsi Dai, scenic designer for the Black Rep’s upcoming production, saw a staging of the play that Arthur Miller himself directed when Dai was a high school student in his native China.
The Black Rep stays true to the text of the play, but commissioned St. Louis native and Grammy winner Keyon Harrold to compose original music for the production.
“We are pulling out the stops to do this production and put our stamp on it,” Himes said. “It’s going to be a very strong evening of theater. Our stage manager Tracy Holliway-Wiggins said that we should pass out tissues with the programs.”
The St. Louis Black Repertory Company’s production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman runs from January 11 – 29 at Washington University’s Edison Theatre, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. For tickets and additional information, call (314) 534-3807 or visit www.theblackrep.org.
