Joe Mantello on Directing DEATH OF A SALESMAN: 'Sometimes There’s Just Magic'
Joe Mantello is Tony-nominated for Best Direction of a Play.
Fresh off earning a Tony nomination for his direction of Arthur Miller’s classic play, Joe Mantello is bringing a new vision to Death of a Salesman— one that has been decades in the making.
In a recent interview with BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge, the two-time Tony-winning director reflected on collaborating with stars Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf, uncovering a surprising piece of Arthur Miller history, and finally fulfilling a promise he made more than 30 years ago.
Mantello revealed that he casually told Lane decades ago that he would one day direct him as Willy Loman- a conversation that, at the time, wasn’t meant too seriously. Years later, he made good on that promise with the acclaimed new production.
As he began preparing the play, Mantello found himself distracted by the many stage directions included in the published acting edition of the script... so he called up the Arthur Miller estate to find a different version.
“It was Miller’s pure impulse on the page,” Mantello explained. “It was an incredible research document that, honestly, I just stumbled into.”
At the center of the production are Lane and Metcalf, whose chemistry quickly became one of the show’s defining strengths. “Sometimes there’s just magic between actors that you can’t direct,” he said. “They are very likeminded in the way that they work. They both come very prepared. They both show up on the first day having memorized the script, have some ideas about the character, and they’re always at 100% in rehearsal.”
Watch in this video to hear more about revisiting Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, collaborating again with two stage legends, and bringing Death of a Salesman to life for a new generation of theatergoers.
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