VALLEY WEEKEND : THEATER / NOTES : The Tragedy of Willie Loman Still Rings True : Revival in Studio City has relevance for countless in pursuit of the American Dream who find themselves victims of ‘90s downsizing.

Professional productions of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” are rare indeed, particularly in Los Angeles. That’s unfortunate. For the past 45 years the play has been an icon for the tragedy of the American Dream gone bad, and its message is as valid today as it was when it opened on Broadway.

Then America was just recovering from World War II, but also thriving on postwar affluence, high-paying jobs, new homes and the good life. Salesman Willie Loman’s rude awakening from the dream, his only flaw that he was too old for the system, was indeed the stuff of tragedy.

The new revival of “Salesman,” opening Friday night at the Ventura Court Theatre in Studio City, couldn’t be more timely. The affluence of the ‘80s is gone, and countless modern Willie Lomans are finding themselves victims of downsizing and age discrimination.

The highly visible cast includes soap stars Jason Brooks of “Days of Our Lives” and Peter Barton of “The Young and the Restless,” as Willie’s confused sons Biff and Happy. Veteran stage and screen actor Richard Herd, who plays Loman, particularly notices the irony of the play’s analogies between yesterday and today.

Herd, memorable in films such as “All the President’s Men” and on television in recurring roles on “Seinfeld” and “seaQuest DSV,” explains his view of Miller’s work, and “Salesman,” in particular.

“In every play Miller wrote,” Herd says, “he had the common man and his struggle. That’s not a subject that’s really dealt with today. You never see that middle ground of the ordinary family in its struggle, working in the factory, trying to make a buck, like the salesman.

“That’s the fiber and backbone of America. Everybody is out there in a quiet desperation. People are used up in this country. They reach 50 and they’re thrown out, garbage. And they’re not recycled. Willie is one of those people.”

Viewing the play and its historic significance from a much younger perspective, Peter Barton, making his stage debut, agrees with Herd.

“I don’t think anything has changed,” Barton says. “It’s still going on--it’s half the stories on the news. It’s kind of like living the dream instead of living who we are and getting to those basic principles, which the play underlines.

“It’s a great dream, I guess, if you don’t lose yourself. That’s the bottom line with the play. We can look back, and this is where it started, what happened to some of those dreams. And the byproduct is now.”

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Herd says, “There was a word then you don’t hear now, a word called hope .”

The production is directed by Jules Aaron. It also features, among other highly visible performers, Patricia Herd (seen in Sunday’s televised “Streetcar Named Desire” with Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange) as Loman’s wife, and “Love Boat’s” Bernie Kopell.

There are two other revivals of interest opening this weekend, both dealing with families that are not as functional as they could be. Glendale’s classical company A Noise Within is adding the third play of its fall repertory season, “Major Barbara,” which gives a witty twist to George Bernard Shaw’s Salvation Army lass forced to choose between her religious fervor and her father’s powerful munitions empire.

Directed by Michael Winters, it opens Saturday, joining “A Doll’s House” and “Cyrano de Bergerac” in a rotating schedule. Kathryn Milton’s staging of Federico Garcia Lorca’s tempestuous “Blood Wedding” opens Friday at Valley College in Van Nuys, and its tragic aftermath to errant amour is as poetic as it is violent.

The Road Theatre on Wednesday will premiere a group of original one-acts from its resident workshop, Golden West Playwrights, under the umbrella title “Roadside Attractions.” Group I of the series plays Wednesdays and Saturdays, Group II on Fridays and Sundays.

Actors Alley, which describes itself as “the indestructible performing company,” celebrates its post-earthquake survival at El Portal with a “Builder’s Bash” on Saturday. This will give the public its first view of El Portal’s interior since it was ravaged by the Northridge quake.

The fund-raiser is open to the public, and will be celebrity-studded with names from Ed Asner and Dyan Cannon to Harry Hamlin and Charlotte Rae. The program includes entertainment, dinner, dancing and the El Portal tour.

DETAILS

* “Death of a Salesman,” Ventura Court Theatre, 12417 Ventura Court, Studio City. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays. Ends Dec. 17. $20. (213) 466-1767.

* “Major Barbara,” A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Call for schedule. $18-$22. (818) 546-1924.

* “Blood Wedding,” Valley College, 5800 Fulton Ave., Van Nuys. 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Nov. 9, 10. 1 and 8 p.m. Nov. 11. $7. (818) 781-1200, Ext. 353.

* “Roadside Attractions,” Road Theatre, 5108 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Group I, 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays; Group II, 8 p.m. Fridays and Sundays. Indefinitely. (818) 761-8838.

* Actors Alley’s “Builder’s Bash,” El Portal Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. 6 - 11 p.m. Saturday. $35 (includes dinner). (818) 508-4200.