"It's a daunting play," says Bob Miller of his father's masterpiece, "Death of a Salesman." "It's not unlike 'King Lear.' You can't take it lightly or fake it."

As a result, it doesn't get done as often as "The Crucible," Arthur Miller's most-produced play. "Salesman" is a sprawling memory play, about 2¹/₂ hours plus intermission, with a large cast, more often performed by colleges, community theaters or high schools. The only recent professional staging here, by Starlight Productions, starring Bingo O'Malley, was in 1999. Perhaps pros are simply leery of its reputation as the greatest tragedy of the American dream.

So it's not surprising that filmmaker and stage director Bob Miller has never before directed "Salesman." His production for Playhouse Rep, previewing tonight and opening Friday, is only the second time he's directed one of his father's plays at all. The other was also at Playhouse Rep, "A View From the Bridge" in 2004.

Miller is doing "Salesman" now, first, because he was asked, and second, because he felt it was time. The decision speaks of his comfort in working with the Oakland company, where he's directed four shows since he first established a working relationship in 1999 with producing director Ronald-Allan Lindblom.

When Lindblom called to suggest "Salesman," Miller says he thought of all the reasons not to do it, including the recent arrival of his first grandson, Luke Mason Miller, from whom he hates to be separated. But Lindblom seemed disposed to do the play with another director if not him, and since Miller knew he'd direct "Salesman" eventually, where better than here?

A key was his comfort at the Playhouse, knowing he'd have a good production team led by designer Steffi Mayer-Staley and that the Pittsburgh acting pool was up to the challenge. "I was pretty convinced we could make a good run at it."

At 61, he felt he could make a good run at it as well. "I think I'm a better director now," he said during a chat before a tech rehearsal Sunday. "I can hear this play. Certain things resonate as fundamental. It's familiar to me."

Bob Miller, Arthur's son with his first wife, Mary Slattery, was just a couple of years old when "Salesman" famously premiered in 1949, but he knows the recording of Lee J. Cobb and Mildred Dunnock as the original Willie Loman and wife Linda. He saw the Broadway revivals with Dustin Hoffman in 1984 and Brian Dennehy in 1999 (the only other starred George C. Scott in 1975).

"I admired the Hoffman production, but you never really got a sense of the warmth and cohesiveness of that family. [John] Malkovich [as the favorite son, Biff] was wonderful, as was Hoffman" -- but he feels Hoffman's performance was more intellectual than emotional.

He's high on his own cast, led by John Shepard, and calls the Biff of Jared DiGiorgi "one of the best I've seen." Others include Penelope Lindblom, Michael Fuller, Jeremy Czarniak and Philip Winters.

Miller's preparation included reading "Salesman in Beijing," his father's account of a 1983 production by the Beijing People's Theatre, "a distillation of what the play is about." Its informal, first-person tone is conversational, reminding him of "hanging out with Dad."

He also has "clear memories of Dad and [original director Elia] Kazan working together," a creative relationship that was "birthed and built" over "Salesman," before their falling out over Kazan's naming names to the notorious House Committee on Un-American Activities.

Willie Loman has transcended the play, becoming part of American mythology, known to people who have never heard of Arthur Miller. But Bob Miller sees Willie's connection with his grandfather Izzy, an immigrant who never learned to read and write but was a success in the garment business until he lost everything in the crash, and with his father's Uncle Manny, an eternal optimist for whom "things were always about to be terrific."

There are other family memories in "Salesman." The neighborhood is like his grandparents', and the phrasings are reminiscent, eloquent in simplicity. "I recognize family things, such as the decency of Charlie," which he says is based to some degree on Izzy. He points out that although "Salesman" is often called an indictment of capitalism, the most decent character is Charlie, the successful small capitalist.

As to why "Salesman" might resonate now, he cites the Bush administration's consumerist notion that, when attacked by terrorists, we can best respond by going shopping. "They want us hooked on oil and goods." He notes how powerless we feel in the world -- a feeling Willie knew.