Wendell Pierce calls his ‘Death of a Salesman’ a ‘watermark’ | Entertainment

NEW YORK — Wendell Pierce hopes to lead a black-dominated cast in the historic revival of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” not just to a new audience Showcasing classic American plays.

“Whether people are seeing it for the first time or seeing it for the 20th time, I’m really excited that new viewers are coming to see our point of view,” Pierce said in the show’s press release.

Pierce plays Willie Lohman, an aging traveling salesman, and Sharon D. Clark plays his devoted wife Linda. With only minor changes, the play remains the same as Black from the Loman family. Pierce sees parallels between the struggles Willie Loman faced in 1949 and the dilemmas that black families currently face in their quest for the American Dream.

“A dream can turn into a nightmare,” Pierce said.

But he said many of the show’s themes remain universal, particularly the question “Are my best days over?” Because Loman couldn’t adapt to the world around him.

Pierce, best known for his role as Detective Bunk Moreland on HBO’s crime drama “The Wire,” called the iconic role a “high-water mark” of his career.

“The best thing about being an actor is that we are students of human behavior. We are the closest thing to what a therapist does and understand what the human psyche is that causes the behavior we see in our lives, whether it’s dysfunctional or healthy ,” Pierce said.

The Tony Award-winning Pierce starred in the show in 2019 when she made her West End debut with Clark, who won an Oliver Award for her efforts. Pierce, who was nominated, won his Tony Award for his performance in the 2012 play Claiborne Park.

British-born Clark praised Miller for creating a play with a timeless theme that resonates no matter where it is performed.

“People understand it. It talks to workers. It talks to ordinary families. I think now with an African-American family at the helm, what you’re seeing is the impossibility of chasing the American dream,” Clark said.

Miranda Cromwell, who shared the Oliver Award with Marianne Elliott, runs the Broadway production alone. The supporting cast includes Chris Davis, McKinley Belcher III and Delaney Williams.

Tony Award winner Andre De Shields, who plays the ghost of Willie’s older brother Ben, said he took the opportunity to introduce Miller to a new audience.

“It’s been resurrected for a cultural population that hasn’t yet experienced the American Dream, and that’s the heart of the show,” DeShields said. “That’s why the Lohman family is black.”