Birth of a Dream About ‘Death’ : Miller’s Drama of Disappointment Is the Fulfillment of a Career Goal for ‘Salesman’ Director

Joel Cotter was 10 the first time he saw “Death of a Salesman.” As a boy, he sat cross-legged in front of his family’s TV in Boston while Lee J. Cobb rumbled through his interpretation of Arthur Miller’s most famous hero, the defeated Willy Loman.

“It was over my head,” he admits. “Still, I knew on an emotional level that something profound was happening. I didn’t get all the complexities, but had a feeling that they were there.”

A few years later, Cotter was entranced when a traveling troupe presented a shortened version of the drama at his high school. And that, he said, was that.

“It was important, just the way it was staged, how the dialogue was,” he said. “In some ways, it gave me the impetus to go into the theater.”

Now, more than two decades later, Cotter is directing “Death of a Salesman” for the first time. His staging is in preview tonight and opens Saturday at the Alternative Repertory Theatre, where it continues through March 5.

“I’ve been pretty excited about this, but it’s a helluva undertaking,” said the 40-year-old Fullerton resident during a recent interview between rehearsals. “This is one of the best-known plays in American theater, (and) getting the audience to appreciate all the dynamics is the challenge.

“I’ve wanted to do this,” he continued with a laugh, “but sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.”

Few dramas have made the impact “Death of a Salesman” has since premiering at the Morosco Theatre in New York City in 1949. It won the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize for best play that year and has since been revived countless times, including a culture-barrier-testing production directed by the playwright in Beijing, China, in 1983.

Large and small screens also have taken to the story of Willy, the aging and desperate salesman hoping to find a germ of greatness in his loser son, Biff. Besides the made-for-TV version featuring Cobb that aired in the early ‘60s, Dustin Hoffman (as Willy) and John Malkovich (Biff) starred in an atmospheric, 1985 American Playhouse offering that won Emmys for both actors. Fredric March and Kevin McCarthy starred in a 1951 film version, while Italian director Luchino Visconti did an adaptation in 1956 with Marcello Mastroianni as Willy.

Despite its prominence, Cotter believes that few local residents have actually experienced “Death of a Salesman,” or any other Miller plays for that matter. South Coast Repertory staged “The Crucible” a few years ago, but Cotter said he can’t remember the last time an Orange County professional or community theater produced “Death of a Salesman.”

“It’s just too intimidating for directors and actors,” Cotter suggested. “People want to see it, though. At ART, we try to look for (pieces) that haven’t been seen often, (and) this fits, even though it’s so difficult.”

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What tends to worry most playhouses--and has left Cotter and his cast anxious--is giving life to the themes at the drama’s heart. When Miller examines the Loman family, he examines how dreams sour when illusions can’t sustain us, and how painful it is to accept mediocrity, as Willy is forced to.

Beyond that, the thorny relationship between fathers and sons is evoked in the angry but deep bond shared by Biff and Willy.

“I think Miller was trying to make a statement about the American dream--the sacrifices we have to make and the pitfalls” of trying to realize that dream, Cotter said. “Willy wants Biff to give up the things he loves in life (and join) the rat race. . . . It has great consequences for both.”

That tension has often led to resonance for audiences, especially for men who have complicated emotions about their own fathers. Kenna James, who plays Biff at ART, said he identifies closely with the play because it reflects, in many ways, his relationship with his father and family.

“Things that really drew me are the similarities that I share with Biff,” he explained. “From my father, who was a salesman, to the relationship I share with my brother. Even to the pain . . . at facing the fears in my life.

“In some way, I get to take this journey with Biff and face some of these issues. And, in fact, even for just a night, to deal with them.”

The frayed family threads in “Death of a Salesman” are also familiar to Laurie Freed, who plays Willy’s devoted wife, Linda. Freed explained that her father “mirrored many of Willy’s yearnings, hopes for his family and lost opportunities.”

As for Linda, all Freed had to do was think of her own mother.

“Linda was my mom, the consummate mother and housewife,” she said. “I never heard my mother yell at my father--she defended him to a fault and cared for him as his heart and eventually his body gave out.

“Linda resonates within me (as) a mother trying desperately to do the best job she can.”

* Alternative Repertory Theatre’s production of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” previews tonight at 1636 S. Grand Ave., Santa Ana. 8 p.m. $12. The regular run opens Saturday and continues Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. through March 5. $16. (714) 836-7929.