Angels in America... — Page 2

I can't wait to see this. I saw the National Theatre production in Manchester and loved it will all my heart. They are easily the plays that I have read the most too. I guess I will have to wait for the Region 1 DVD that people seem to be expecting next february / march since it is not going to be shown on television here till Autumn 2004 I believe.

Look how long they make us wait for AbFab. Tis only fair. Still Lee, I feel your pain.

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Although I've never seen it on stage, I have read it several times. Considering how often film versions of plays/musicals are mutilated, I was quite pleasantly surprised to see how much of the original script was retained. I had performed the Pryor/Harper hallucination scene and it was verbatim. I was completely absorbed and engaged. The scenes that dragged a little for me in the film dragged for me as well upon reading. Mostly the Roy Cohn scenes only because I have a problem with incompassionate characters as focal points (i.e. hate Glengarry Glen Ross). But I do think the casting was inspired and the direction tight and well-focused. By far, better than anything in theatres this year.

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robbiej - i think what you're saying emphasizes my point. my reaction to prior's showing of his lesion was not "so what?" but rather "okay, what is this trying to relate in the context of this story..."

i did not see it as so shocking or disturbing that i needed to cry but neither do i think that was the point as you mention "angels" is not singularly about AIDS.

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LOL...Bill, you're being a little hard on Louis. He loved Pryor and he tried as best he could. It can't be easy to watch someone you love slowly dying. I think many people see this character as one who is cold and a coward. I tend to see him as human. Some people are able to muster up teh strength needed to deal with a partners illness, some can't in spite of how much love tehy feel for the person. In fact, maybe it's because you love someone so much taht you have to walk away so as not to see what happens to them.

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I don't need to go on about the movie/show itself as Namo, Robbie and Auggie have pretty much said all I wanted to BUT...did anyone else find Patrick Wilson alarmingly bad and moreover, boring? His scenes with Shenkman (who I find about as charming as a slab of meat) were totally uninspired. I know Dolly is going to have a fit after reading this, but really, he did nothing for me. For my money, it's Kirk and Wright who are the brilliant stand-outs.

personally, i can relate to louis. i cannot imagine how hard it would be to watch someone die and face your own mortality in the process. does he stay and continue in a relationship that could expose him to infection himself (plus, remember the time period is mid-80s and he does not know to what extent he could get infected himself - thru kissing, casual contact, etc.)

as much as i would like to think that i would stay, i cannot honestly say what i would do if i were in his shoes. and as for the screwing in central park, i think that his guilt drove him to that. he says he doesn't care when the condom breaks and to "go ahead, infect me." the sex obviously was not about love and not about just getting his rocks off, it was about the way he was feeling. remember he says he wants to be hurt and to "make me bleed."

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I think that's a huge part of it, his guilt, that drives him to engage in risky sex in teh park. There is also this whole psychological thing taht happens when you are dealing with a sick loved one. That's teh part I didn't even want to try to explain. For some people, the sexual urge is strongest when you've just left your lover in the hopspital after an all nighter in the emergency room. The stress and fear can easily come out as sexual desire.

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It is interesting to read the varying responses to ANGELS.

It appears that among gay men the responses vary as they well may vary in other segments of the theatre audience.

From those members who have posted their responses to seeing the film the level of resonance by ANGELS ranges from low to very high.

That scene was exquisite in my opinion as well.

Did you, or anyone else notice, that none of the principals (Streep, DeNiro, Thompson) actually played any scenes together? Even if their characters were supposed to be in the same room (Streep & DeNiro) through editing (not to mention that Rosenberg is a "ghost") she and Bob were not actually on the set simultaneously? Same goes for the scene in the vacant lot in the Bronx...Thompson and Streep were not together when they filmed their lines. At least that what I recollect. If that's true, it demonstrates the high wattage of acting each of these are able to generate to make those scenes believable.

Bulldog.

Bulldog.

oops!. Sorry Al & Bob.

But hey, I watched it all the way thru!

Bulldog.

I'm waiting for part II tonight, very excitedly. I thought part one was terrific, the acting across the board excellent. I did see the original Broadway production of Millennium Approaches, and I have to say that I think Justin Kirk's Prior is far more interesting than Steven Spinella's. I thought Spinella had two modes, campy bitchery on one hand and smug self righteousness on the other. I found Kirk to be much warmer, more human and sympathetic. When Kirk's Prior said, "Je t'aime" to Belize I believed he meant it. Spinella never convinced me at all.

The only element of the original production that I really missed was Ron Liebman's Roy Cohn. Liebman's opening scene, that multi-page harangue with him punching those buttons on the phone and screaming obscenities was one of the funniest and most alarming things I've ever seen on stage. I was sorry they cut the scene, and toned Cohn down. Well, I'm glad they decided to tone it down as long as Pacino was playing the role: I prefer Pacino in his less-is-more mode. I guess I miss that long scene because it was the one scene in the play when Cohn was shown in his element, as the raging favor broker gleefully doing and saying awful things.

I can't say I was very happy about the score. That ghastly Thomas Newman score is really bloody awful, a pseudo-New Age travesty. Too syrupy sweet, and it sounds a lot like everything else Thomas Newman has written. Feh.


Otherwise, there is a lot to admire in the movie so far. I can't wait to see how the second half is handled. The chance to see more of Jeffrey Wright's astonishing Belize has me very excited.

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Justin Kirk is friggin' amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS I am now a Stand-by. Rob, this board is just toooooooooo cute!

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Updated On: 12/14/03 at 10:15 PM