Consider my attention paid

In spite of the history of disdain (and mind twisting laughter at his expense) for Philip Seymore Hoffman I decided to bite the bullet, be the bigger person, let bygones be bygones and go see his star turn in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman because if there is one role that he was born to play it was walrus-like Willy Lohman. Ok, full disclosure, Andrew Garfield playing his son and a $30 promotion also played a big part.

Alot has changed, I suppose, since I experienced the play as a high school senior 8 years ago (What? Really? when did that happen?!) and it seemed to have a much different effect on the adult version of myself. Perhaps this could have also been because reading a play and then watching the video of a performance is not the same as live theater <insert pretentiousness here.> Regardless, my personal response to the characters and subject matter in my 20s verses my teens isn't the point of writing this. Not that that wouldn't be an interesting topic but it just isn't really something I feel like doing because now that I am a grown up I would prefer not to disect how the problems of make believe people make me react. It is just such a depressing story bleh.

More importantly, what did Arthur Miller have against his father? I mean this one and then add on All My Sons and we are dealing with some serious daddy issues. I understand that at this point in American theater there was a huge swell in popularity of stories of family strife but even so. I might have know the answers to this question 8 years ago but my notes are buried in the back of my closet.


As for this specific production, it was staged masterfully by director Mike Nichols and as I said earlier, Hoffman fit the lead to a T, though I will say Brian Dennehy was better in my opinion. Andrew Garfield was beyond brilliant making his Broadway debut as the once great and now completely lost Biff, though if I have to nit pit (and I do) the character is supposed to be 35. Try to forget that because Garfield looks way too young, even with the illusion of the stage being far away, the man who will be playing teen-age spider man this summer and who was a college student co creating Facebook last winter just doesn't work as middle-aged. I hope this doesn't hurt his Tony chances as i believe it to be his only flaw. The rest of the cast keeps pace as the friends and family of the Lohman clan and overall I'd rate the production at A- with a high recommendation.


Salesman plays at the Barrymore Theatre until late Spring

*http://lissiedsviewfromhere.blogspot.com/2010/09/nowhere-girl.html?m=0