'I'd Like To Think Mr. Miller Would Have Approved': Read Nathan Lane's 'Death of a Salesman' Closing Speech
David Buchanan
After 36 previews and 122 performances, director Joe Mantello’s blisteringly reimagined production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, which stripped the classic play of its domestic trappings in favor of a dilapidated and ghostly industrial hangar, concluded its esteemed run on Sunday, August 9, at the Winter Garden Theatre.
Following an extended ovation for its massive ensemble, star Nathan Lane stepped forward to mark the occasion of the historic production’s last bow. The Windowcard was in attendance for the final performance and for the three-time Tony Award winner’s heartfelt reflections on performing one of the greatest roles in the American theatrical canon. Read Lane’s remarks in full below:
“I wasn’t going to say anything, and then our producer Scott Rudin said to me, ‘I really think you should,’ and since he’s been right about pretty much everything regarding this production, I figured I would.
“This acclaimed production happened because Scott Rudin never gave up on the idea of doing this play for me and for Joe, and he’s played a crucial role several times in my career, but this becomes really the most significant in my life, and I will be eternally grateful for that.
“31 years ago, Joe Mantello, during a rehearsal, came up to me during a break and said, ‘Someday, I’m going to direct you in Death of a Salesman,’ and I said ‘Yeah, right, and some day you’ll direct a musical about the Wicked Witch of the West and it’ll make a fortune and run forever.’ But he’s a man of his word, and he took this 77-year-old masterpiece, blew the dust off it, assembled an unbeatable team, and did the best work of his career.
“I want to thank, on behalf of everyone, everyone at the Winter Garden Theatre, our wonderful front of house staff, our great doormen, our incredible backstage crew led by Chuck [Charles Means] and Tom [Thomas Dieter], and our hair department Meg Murphy, and our wonderful wardrobe department and all of our dressers, especially my dresser Ken Brown, who’s been with me for 34 years, our great design team Jack [Knowles], Chloe [Lamford], and Rudy [Mance], and Caroline Shaw, who wrote that gorgeous score, our brilliant sound designer Mikaal Sulaiman and his team Alex [Tobin] and Matty [Matthew Carney], everyone in the sound department who gave us an incredible amount of intimacy in this glorious theater.
“To our extraordinary company of actors, I can’t look at them or I’ll… That includes all of our understudies as well including Jack Falahee, who went on a lot for Biff and Happy. Every one of them has made a contribution to this piece, and it’s been a very happy experience to work with them every day and they have kept me going, especially my Loman family of Ben Ahlers, who I knew would become a star the minute I saw him in The Gilded Age, my favorite actress Laurie Metcalf — I’m glad you agree — and Chris Abbott, who is the best actor I’ve ever worked with on the stage and I could not have done this without him.
“They really shouldn’t have filmed this today [for the Lincoln Center Theatre on Film and Tape Archive] because I had several nervous breakdowns, some were Willy’s and some were mine. I’m going to end with the words of the great Arthur Miller: ‘There is a certain immortality involved with theater not created by monuments and books but through the knowledge the actor keeps to his dying day that on a certain afternoon in an empty and dusty theater he casts a shadow of a being that was not himself but the distillation of all he had ever observed, all the unsingable heartsong the ordinary man may feel but never utter, he gave voice to, and by that he somehow joins the ages.’
“I’d like to think Mr. Miller would have approved of this production. On a personal note, this production for me will always be a part of the ages. Thank you.”
Death of a Salesman received rapturous reviews from critics upon opening on April 9. The New York Times‘ Helen Shaw deemed the production “a triumph,” describing it as “a beautiful, atmospheric production, full of exquisitely calibrated performances.” For Time Out New York, Adam Feldman concurred, writing, “I consider this revival to be the best account of Miller’s play I’ve ever encountered, and the best I’m likely ever to see.”
The production earned nine Tony Award nominations, the most of any play in the 2025-2026 season, for Best Play Revival, Director (Mantello), Actor (Lane), Featured Actress (Metcalf), Featured Actor (Abbott), Original Score (Shaw), Scenic Design (Lamford), Lighting Design (Knowles), and Sound Design (Sulaiman); it won six, the most of any play or musical at the ceremony, for Best Play Revival, Director, Featured Actress, Lighting Design, Scenic Design, and Sound Design.
As The Windowcard previously covered, Metcalf tied Tony Awards history in the Featured Actress in a Play category with her victory, joining six other actresses who have received two trophies in the category; nobody has ever won three. Those other performers are Judith Ivey, Swoozie Kurtz, Christine Baranski, Frances Sternhagen, Audra McDonald, Judith Light, and Kara Young.
Beyond its critical and awards success, Salesman also exceeded financial expectations, disproving skeptics who doubted that it could consistently fill the cavernous 1,526-seat Winter Garden Theatre, continually grossing over $1 million per week, sometimes with only seven performances. It concluded its run with its highest gross of $2.5 million, outflanking Broadway stalwarts Hamilton and The Lion King.
Read my exclusive interviews with Tony Award winners Laurie Metcalf and Joe Mantello for Gold Derby