Philip Seymour Hoffman (center) is the latest Willy Loman in a new revival of Arthur Miller's classic, Death of a Salesman, directed by Mike Nichols. Hoffman stars with (from left) Andrew Garfield, Finn Wittrock and Linda Emond in the 63-year-old, Pulitzer Prize-winning play.
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Lee J. Cobb (center) starred in the original, 1949 Broadway production of Death of a Salesman.
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Playwright Arthur Miller (left) on set with Dustin Hoffman, who played Willy Loman on Broadway in 1984, and in a CBS Television adaptation of Miller's play in 1985.
Credit Eric Y. Exit / AP
Brian Dennehy and Elizabeth Franz starred in the 50th anniversary Broadway production of the play in 1999.
When Philip Seymour Hoffman took the stage on March 15 in the new revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, he became the fifth actor in 63 years to walk the boards of Broadway in the shoes of the blustery, beleaguered salesman, Willy Loman. In the last six decades, each incarnation of the play has resonated with a new generation of theatergoers.
Two pairs of filmmaking brothers are both releasing movies this weekend. In Jeff, Who Lives at Home, by the Duplass brothers Jay and Mark, Pat (Ed Helms) and Jeff (Jason Segel) encounter each other in a day fraught with fateful events. Also opening is The Kid with a Bike, a Belgian slice-of-life drama from the Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc..
Credit IFC Films
Wild child Cyril (Thomas Doret) forges an unlikely relationship with town hairdresser Samantha (Cecile de France) when his father abandons him.
Call it an accident of the calendar: two pairs of filmmaking brothers both opening movies on the same weekend, both films about the awkwardness of growing up. Jeff, Who Lives at Home is a post-mumblecore slacker comedy from the Duplass brothers, Mark and Jay. The Kid with a Bike is a Belgian slice-of-life drama from the Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc.
This week, along with the nearly 1,000 stories that were submitted to weekends on All Things Considered's writing contest, Three-Minute Fiction, there was a letter from 11-year-old Kahlo Smith of Felton, Calif.
James Mercer's distinctive voice and earnest songwriting have always been at the heart of The Shins, but these days they are the band's only constant. Port of Morrow, the group's new album and its first in five years, finds Mercer leading a completely new set of musicians.
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block. We now know the name of the American soldier who's in custody for killing 16 Afghan civilians last weekend. NPR has confirmed he is Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, based out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State. And for more, we're joined by NPR's Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman. Tom, the name has been withheld now for nearly a week since that shooting happened. Why is it out now?
