The American Dream takes Center Stage at The Levoy with Death of a Salesman
by Abigail Williams
The crushing weight of the American Dream is taking center stage in South Jersey. The Levoy Theatre kicked off their run of one of the most famous plays of all time, Death of a Salesman on October 2nd, 2026. Even if we haven’t seen the play, we’ve all heard of this masterpiece of a story. As both a first-time viewer of Death of Salesman and guest at The Levoy Theatre, I had high expectations for this legendary tragedy. Thankfully, the opening night performance delivered in more ways than one.
Before it became a timeless classic, Arthur Miller’s tragedy premiered in 1949 at the Morosco Theatre in New York. Miller is frequently regarded as the best American playwright of all time. He is also credited with popular works such as, The Crucible and All My Sons. The inspiration of the play came from a chance encounter between Miller and his salesman Uncle Manny Newman in 1947. Soon after the encounter, Newman died by suicide. Newman never acknowledged Miller’s successes and even compared the achievements of his own son to Miller’s. Despite Newman making Miller feel as if he was a failure, his strange behavior always captivated him. Since its debut, there have been a number of Broadway revivals (1975, 1984, 1999, 2012, 2022, 2026) and one West End production (2019).
The Levoy Theatre is probably one of my favorite spaces in the South Jersey area. The ambience is top-notch and classy. I couldn’t recommend it enough! If you love having a drink during the show, The Levoy offers a complete bar and concessions stand to its audiences. It is just a gorgeous theatre with such friendly staff!
The director of this production was Lauren Van Embden. I genuinely think Van Embden did a great job with the play as this is a beast of a show and it is not an easy task to take on whatsoever! I give Van Embden their flowers for successfully steering the ship and bringing this story to life. However, I struggled at times with Van Embden’s blocking. There was a lot of standing in lines, actors standing in one place for extended periods of time, and stagnant movements making it hard to keep focus on the story. Van Embden did a great job with the vision of the production overall and the high intensity scenes. However, I feel more naturalistic movement could have been encouraged. Curtis Matias held a number of positions on the production team. Matias is credited as the Stage Manager, Assistant Director, and Sound Designer. Shout out to Matias for helping the production in so many ways. They did a great job with the sound design, which can absolutely function as its own character when executed well, and Matias certainly rose to the occasion. Matias was aided by Assistant Stage Manager, Maria Black, as well.
I was a huge fan of the lighting design in this production! Al Caggiano served as the Lighting Designer. The lighting served as a big element in the storytelling of Willie Loman’s (Richard Curcio) visions of the past. Any flashback scenes received a warm wash of light over the scene. Everything in the present-day was dark and cold. My favorite artistic choice was the lighting for Uncle Ben’s (Peter McMahon) entrances. Ben entered through a tunnel of blue light and smoke. Frankly, it was pretty awesome to say the least! The set was also one of my favorite aspects of the play. The sheet metal in the background of the scenes also illuminated and was a great touch. The set consisted of six sheet metal forming the backdrop. There were numerous wooden panels painted with a brick design and windows on both stage right and left. Center stage featured a layout of the Loman home complete with a table and chairs, fridge, door frame, and armchair. There was a platform holding the bunk bed on one side serving as the Loman boys’s bedroom. The stage right side of the platform served as Willie and Linda’s bedroom. Additionally, there was a bench stage left and three lanterns hanging above the rooms of the Loman home. Each lantern was lit at different moments to signal which room the scene was taking place in. We can thank Lauren Van Embden, Curtis Matias, Caggiano, Michael Sipin, Al Caggiano, Steven Ciapanna, Cormac Morrissey, Shawny Shuman, Stella Ogren, Arthur Ogren, and Abigail Ogren for designing, building, and painting this marvelous set! Overall, it served as a great playing ground for the actors and home for the story.
The costumes, props, and set dressing was all provided by the cast, staff, and community. The costumes were period accurate and fitting for each character. Whether it was intentional or not, I think the costumes had a very nice color palette across the board. Each piece of clothing was cohesive with one another and nothing stood out as unfitting or unpleasing to the eye. As for props, I really think actors could have benefitted from more interaction. By that I mean, having more activities around the home and such for actors to play with while in appropriate conversations at the Loman home. For example, a newspaper, a milk carton, a sewing kit, maybe even food! This would have definitely helped to the naturalism of the play and make these characters feel a bit more like real people at home. Just because it’s not in the script doesn’t mean we can’t do it- within reason!
The star of the show, Willie Loman, was played by Richard Curcio. Everyone needs to give Curcio his flowers, because- WOW, THIS IS A CHALLENGING ROLE! There are so many layers to Willie and it is crucial to get it right. The entire story is really relying on it! Curcio brought a softness to Willie that I really enjoyed. It was very endearing to watch the switch from gentle to aggravated from scene to scene. Curcio’s portrayal of Willie is exceptionally unique in every best way possible. His sweetness and vulnerability made the story more tragic, but still allowed Willie’s flaws to be believable. Thinking back to Miller’s story that served as the inspiration from the play, Curcio mirrors the nature of that encounter perfectly. Curcio was terrific and his interpretation of Willie alone is worth the trip to see this production.
Linda Loman, played by Bobbi Kukal, is Willie Loman’s wife. Kukal brought a headstrong and independent nature to her portrayal, which I really enjoyed at the beginning of the play. As the play progressed, I felt this interpretation occasionally began to conflict with the text and the character’s emotional journey. I felt Linda’s characterization would have benefited from more vulnerability as she seemed almost unbothered throughout the play. I would have liked to see her explore some of emotions underneath anger, such as fear, desperation, or vulnerability. Despite these critiques, Kukal gives a performance that has its strong moments and complements her castmates well. The most vulnerable and succesful we see her is in the Requiem. I appreciated Kukal’s choice to portray Linda as a strong and assertive woman, particularly given the gender expectations of the time period. It was an interesting choice that pushed against some of the traditional expectations placed on women in the play.
The Loman boys, Happy and Biff, were played by Benjamin Hunt and Jim Cook Jr. respectively. Both boys had great chemistry with each other and Curcio. I really felt like I was watching a father and his two sons interact. I particularly loved the journey Cook took with Biff. His struggles felt real and gave compelling reactions to the situations happening around him. Hunt perfectly encapsulated younger brother energy and fit in well within the dysfunctional family dynamic. He brought humor to a heavy story and I appreciated it! It didn’t take long for the brotherly relationship to feel real and lived in. From the flashback scenes to the present day, the two played off each other well and portrayed a difference in their characters between the past and present effectively. Shawny Shuman, who played Bernard, also achieved this in their performance as well. I loved his character and he played the nerdy next-door neighbor perfectly!
Peter McMahon, who played Uncle Ben, gave a chilling and mysterious performance. Audiences couldn’t help but be on the edge of their seats when he made his entrance. Steven Ciapanna as Charley also delivered a compelling performance. The cast was rounded out by Maura Mather as The Woman, Sam Grossman as Howard Wagner, Cormac Morrisey as Stanley, Leila Baez as Miss Forsythe/Jenny, and Maria Black as Letta. All of the supporting performers went above and beyond in their scenes despite their minimal stage time. I’d like to single out the performance of Mather and Baez specifically. Mather nailed her two scenes as The Woman. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but she executed this type of character without fail! Baez had a wonderful natural stage presence about her. She is elegant and delivers her lines with such ease. Brava to both of these talented women!
My only criticism for this cast as a whole is line memorization. There were a couple stutters or obvious line slip-ups from multiple performers which took me out of it a bit. Shout out to Kukal for completely nailing her lines and if she had a slip up it went completely unnoticed. This cast put their all into their performances and it was wonderful to see such a stacked cast of performers execute this beast of a show.
Overall, I think it was a great production with an amazing cast and crew. It was evident that there was clearly a tremendous amount of care, time, and effort put into bringing this story to life. Death of a Salesman is no easy show to tackle, and The Levoy Theatre’s production successfully captured the heartbreak, dysfunction, and complexity at the heart of Miller’s story. From the impressive set and lighting, to the committed performances, there is plenty to appreciate in this production. As my first experience seeing this classic play, I left the theatre with a greater appreciation for Miller’s work and a lot to think about regarding the crushing expectations we place on ourselves in pursuit of the American Dream.
Unfortunately, Death of a Salesman had a short run at the Levoy Theatre ending on October 4, but I highly recommend checking out their future performances at: https://levoy.net/broadway-events/
