Chronicle of a ‘Death’ : The revival of Arthur Miller’s classic work lacks the emotion of the living masterpiece.

“Death of a Salesman,” which is being revived at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, is a mid-century American classic that has helped define more than just the nation’s theatrical heritage. Through the prism of its central figure, Willy Loman, whose embittered hopes come crashing down in tragedy, Arthur Miller’s drama has helped shape our image of the national culture for nearly 50 years. First-nighters who saw this ambitious revival at Friday’s premiere got a serviceable glimpse of the play’s historic significance, but not the profound emotional impact of a living, breathing masterwork. The production had the ambience of a museum exhibit. Where it might have struck a nerve, it struck instead the dated tone of a 1940s period piece. Part of the reason may be chalked up to a certain flatness brought on by opening night jitters. That Allan Miller muffed his lines a few times was not terribly important--Willy Loman is a huge role--except that it seemed a symptom of his not yet having turned Willy into a fully textured character. The actor (who is no relation to the author) caught Willy’s narcissistic pride and disappointment, especially the crankiness. But the pathos of this weary Everyman, which is usually guaranteed to have the house in tears, caused scarcely a ripple of mild sniffs and coughs.

Here’s an aging Willy Loman so filled with ignoble rage and childish regret that it’s hard to grant him sympathy, much less the pity and admiration that must be earned by any sort of tragic figure whose terrifying fall is to be taken to heart. If we do not identify, we cannot cry: Willy’s pipe dreams, “riding on a smile and a shoeshine,” seem strictly his own.

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Moreover, all the performances on opening night--especially Michael Reilly Burke as Willy’s son Biff--felt under-rehearsed or at least still not completely formed. Even the two portrayals that seemed most rounded and farthest along--Lynn Milgrim’s Linda (Willy’s wife) and Simon Billig’s Happy (Willy’s other son)--tended to skid along the surface.

The most affecting moment in this production turned out to be, curiously, not Willy’s or Linda’s, but Biff’s--although Burke’s uneven performance was generally the thinnest among the leads. When Biff breaks down, begging to be freed from the burden of Willy’s illusory expectations, Burke’s catharsis could be felt all the way to the back rows. It’s always a strong scene, but this time it stole all the thunder.

What director Martin Benson and company do best is show the osmosis that occurs between reality and fantasy. “Death of a Salesman” deconstructs Willy’s life, following him from present to past and back again, and from real scenes to dream scenes. We are let in on Willy’s teetering state of mind from the moment he arrives on stage, carrying not just a suitcase of salesman’s wares but the baggage of a lifetime’s mortification.

“Salesman” purposely never identifies what Willy is out there selling on the road in New England, although we can surmise it’s some kind of apparel. A salesman’s only real product, after all, is himself. “The man who creates personal interest is the man who gets ahead,” Willy’s philosophy goes. “Be liked and you will never want.”

It’s not enough to be liked, however; in his scheme of things you have to be well-liked. And that becomes the play’s refrain, a devastating self-indictment. When Willy discovers that he’s “worth more dead than alive,” it’s just a matter of time before he hits the road one last time.

Benson clearly wants to be faithful to the original Broadway production of 1949. That is immediately evident in the see-through set of the Loman family’s home in Brooklyn with its gloomy look of a rundown barracks. He makes very few concessions to change in the original’s spare design. He repositions the bedrooms and allows the set only to half suggest the vaulting apartment houses, much spoken of by Willy in his claustrophobia, that now crowd their once-bucolic neighborhood. But that’s about it.

Fidelity to the original can have drawbacks. While this “Salesman” reveals the prescience of the play in its treatment of themes still important to us today, it also exposes the melodrama of a plot, which, for all the excellence of the writing, fairly groans with age. That cannot be disguised. But once the leads settle more solidly into their roles it may be less noticeable because we’ll be more emotionally involved.

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* “Death of a Salesman,” South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2:30 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Ends Oct. 23. $24-$34. (714) 957-4033. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.

Allan Miller: Willy Loman

Lynn Milgrim: Linda

Simon Billig: Happy

Michael Reilly Burke: Biff

Larry Paulsen: Bernard

Mary Kay Wulf: The Woman

Hal Landon Jr.: Charley

Don Took: Uncle Ben

Brian Dillinger: Howard Wagner

Martha McFarland: Jenny

Ron Boussom: Stanley

Kristina Krofft: Miss Forsythe

Laura Hinsberger: Letta

A South Coast Repertory production of a play by Arthur Miller. Director: Martin Benson. Scenic design: Ralph Funicello. Costume design: Ann Bruice Aling. Lighting design: Chris Parry. Original music and sound design: Michael Roth. Wig design: Carol F. Doran. Production manager: Michael Mora. Stage manager: Julie Haber.