Director Nichols praised for play’s revival
Media and theatre luminaries turned up at the tony Four Seasons Restaurant on Monday to honour director Mike Nichols on his latest achievement: the hit Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, running at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre through June 2.
Tom Brokaw, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Roberts, Judi Dench, Cynthia Nixon, Frances Mcdormand, Bill Hader, Tony Kushner, Paul Rudnick, John Guare, Liz Smith, Lara Spencer, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Wintour and Tina Brown were among the guests who joined Nichols, wife Diane Sawyer and members of the cast of Salesman, which had earlier collected five Outer Critics Circle Award nominations, for lamb chops and french fries at the swank eatery.
Nichols, 80, spoke before lunch was served, after comments by Barry Diller and Miller’s daughter, Rebecca, who said, “I know my father would have been hugely impressed and moved by this production.”
Diller quipped that he had been so moved by Nichols’s revival of the wrenching tragedy that he “almost threw up” on another famous audience member, Meryl Streep.
Nichols called the process of putting his acclaimed Salesman together “as mysterious as sex: You know you had a great time, but you don’t quite remember what happened.”
Although the invitation had billed the lunch as a cast celebration of Nichols, it was the director who wound up paying tribute to his actors and other creative team members — all of whom he asked to stand up as he called their names.
Leading man Philip Seymour Hoffman, neatly casual in a blue sweater, grinned as Nichols praised his portrayal of Willy Loman, calling Hoffman “arguably our greatest actor.” Andrew Garfield, who plays Willy’s elder son, Biff, was still en route when his time came, but Nichols spoke of him no less highly.
“This is the happiest I’ve ever been doing a play,” Nichols said. “Make of it what you will.”