These LI actors brought life to 'Death of a Salesman'

"It's almost a rite of passage for actors — it’s like Hamlet, a lot of actors want to do it," said Tony DiBari.

"It’s a bucket list role for many actors," said James Bradley, while Steve Fallis said simply, "I would do it again in a second."

The three local actors are talking about playing the most tragic of tragic heroes, Willy Loman, in "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller. The play, which debuted on Broadway in 1949, is "the ultimate American drama, written by probably one of our greatest playwrights," said Fallis, who portrayed Loman in 2017 at Star Playhouse in Commack.

"Salesman" is back on Broadway in its sixth revival with Nathan Lane portraying the iconic Willy Loman through Aug. 9. It’s an incredible challenge for an actor, said DiBari, who did the part in 2018 at Theatre Box in Floral Park. For actors who think they’re any good, "playing Willy is one way to find out just how good you are," said DiBari, 60, a television executive from Floral Park.

Despite the challenges, DiBari said, playing Loman’s broad mood swings "can be a blast. He’s goes back and forth between young and old ... from calm, peaceful and optimistic to furious and volatile in the blink of an eye."

It’s not a part you can phone in, said Fallis, whose intense preparations included reading about Miller and researching what was going on in the postwar world of the late 1940s. "I wanted to get into what life was like being a salesman at that time," said Fallis, 72, a Bayside, Queens, resident who works in medical education. He paid close attention to others who’d done the part, including watching a 1966 TV production starring Lee J. Cobb, who originated the role on Broadway.

‘Salesman’ carries many lines

Memorizing the lengthy script was the primary focus for Bradley, 76, a retired attorney from Huntington, who played Willy in 2014 at the Merrick Theatre and Center for the Arts. "There are a lot of lines," he said, recalling that he wanted something that was challenging. "But this," he said, "is a very demanding role."

He also studied the play’s history, recognizing the economic uncertainty as people returned from war.

"You have to know the lines, Willy says a lot of words," DiBari said. "That was an undertaking." He reread the play many times, "trying to determine what Arthur Miller was trying to say. Then I needed to figure out how to bring that to life once I got on the stage."

"We dissected that script line by line by line," said Bradlee Bing, 79. who directed the play in 1990 at Theatre Three in Port Jefferson when he was the executive artistic director. "There wasn't a single line in that play that we did not talk about."

Even more than 30 years later, Bing remembers the thrill of tackling "Salesman." One of the things he remembers focusing on is "the way the Industrial Revolution changed the relationship of worker and laborer," adding he stills see that today. "Small, independent stores are dying, so the play remains as relevant as ever, even more so."

Lane considers the play "a sacred text." Appearing in March on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,’ Lane said doing the role has been a "lifelong dream ... the culmination of 50 years as an actor," noting that he first saw the play when he was 10, watching the Cobb version on television. "Other children," he told Colbert, "were watching ‘Gilligan’s Island.’ I was mesmerized by Arthur Miller’s attack on capitalism."

Whether it’s Lane, Brian Dennehy, Dustin Hoffman or a regional performer, anyone who takes on the part feels the pressure. "The role has been historically tough on actors playing Willy," said Lane, noting that the part has more lines than "King Lear." Cobb wanted a vacation after three months, said Lane, and both Hoffman and Dennehy cut back the number of weekly performances. Lane is doing eight shows a week, meaning "I’m on death watch," he quipped to Colbert.

"It's such a complex role, a nuanced, multidimensional role," DiBari said. "I definitely felt the pressure," he said, talking about the need to "get past the fact that you’re acting and get to the point where you really feel like you’re in the moment and reacting as if you were that person. You can't help but infuse your own life experience in how you portray him."

Who is Willy?

The key to playing Willy is getting into Loman’s head. Who is this man? The character’s name goes to the heart of it, Fallis said.

"Loman, he’s the low man on the totem pole," said Fallis, adding he had "no fiber, no backbone. He lives his life in a fantasy, he’s the collapse of the American dream."

Fallis remembers tearing up in one of the final scenes, when Loman concludes that after all the miles, and all the traveling, "he’s worth more dead than alive." The moment summed up Loman’s life, said Fallis. "You could hear people bawling in the audience."

He’s a "man who got out of touch with people, especially his family who loved him," Bradley said. In the end, "everything was disintegrating around him. He couldn’t deal with the pain of failure."

Bing described Loman as "a man’s man. He wants to make something of his life but those things don’t exist." He’s done everything for the benefit of his sons, DiBari said. "In that desire," he added, "he creates a false image, sometimes even delusional image of himself ... he feels overwhelming guilt about his poor choices."

Most everyone agrees that Miller’s goal was to poke holes in the American dream. "I think all of us, as we grow older, we look back on our lives," said Bing. That’s what Miller is examining. "Was I a success?" Miller was depicting the desperation of Willy’s life, said Bradley. "He was telling people they shouldn’t let outside pressures like the economy, your job, your business take away from what's truly valuable, which is your family and the love you get from people who are around you."

Miller was addressing the "false gold of the American dream," said Fallis. "Going out and making money was the wrong dream, the focus should be on your marriage, the health of your children."

While taking into account Miller's own ideologies and political leanings, DiBari said he thinks the real intent of the work is "being true to yourself, and not allowing society to impose ... find what it is that drives you and motivates you and chase that."