Angels in America
Angels in America
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/10/03
Angels in America #1
Posted: 10/10/10 at 7:45pm
Wow. Saw both parts yesterday and it is a magnificent and rich production. The seven plus hours flew by, and I came home and snatched up single tickets to do it again in February.
The cast is strong. Christian Borle and Zachary Quinto ... hell, everyone in the show ... lends dimension and texture to their characters that are accessible in so many different ways.
I haven't seen a stage production before, just the movie, but although it was set at a specific point in time, it was still about today. And not just about AIDS, but about relationships, and loyalty, and change, and healing.
Bravo!
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
Angels in America #2
Posted: 10/10/10 at 7:51pmI look forward to seeing PERESTROIKA this coming weekend. MILLENNIUM APPROACHES didn't really thrill me; found the casting to be a bit uneven. (That could also be due to the fond memories of the production of MA that I worked on a few years ago).
Angels in America #2
Posted: 10/10/10 at 8:06pm
I bought a pair of tickets for both parts in January, but now can't go. Boo!
I'm selling them at cost if anyone wants to take'em off my hands. Msg me!
Angels in America Part 1 Friday January 21, 2011 7:30pm
(2) Online Full Section Main Floor Right $85.00/each $170.00
Angels in America Part 2 Saturday January 22, 2011 8pm
(2) Online Full Section Main Floor Left $85.00/each $170.00
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/15/04
Angels in America #3
Posted: 10/10/10 at 8:14pmThis sounds wonderful.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/10/03
Angels in America #5
Posted: 10/10/10 at 9:41pmIt's really something, PJ.
Angels in America #6
Posted: 10/10/10 at 10:00pmI've always thought this play was flawed. Part 1 really builds to an interesting climax. Part 2 seems to wander around and not be as interesting as Part 1. I've always found the mother in the visitor's center to drag down Part 2.
Angels in America #7
Posted: 10/10/10 at 10:00pmIs the current cast contracted through the end of the run in February?
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/10/03
Angels in America #8
Posted: 10/10/10 at 10:40pmThat's the thing. I'm not sure if it's been tightened up or whether it's THIS direction, but Part II seemed clear to me. I didn't feel like it wandered around at all...the Visitor Center didn't seem all that long. Things seemed relatively clear and meshed together pretty coherently.
Featured Actor Joined: 8/3/05
Angels in America #9
Posted: 10/11/10 at 12:00pmThe play is so strong, the dialogue so intellectual and legitimately funny...its hard to really screw this show up, even when the direction is a little messy (the set in the Signature production is very cluttered as well). What a good production of Angels comes down to now (especially after the amazing casting of the HBO movie) is the acting. That can make or break a production of this show. On almost all counts the Sig production scores. Billy Porter isn't very good and Zoe (who I usually love) is a little whiny and a little too-young-looking as Harper). The rest of the cast (especially Quinto) is as good a cast as one could hope for. For barely having a "straight" play credit on his resume, Christian is marvelous. As good as any Prior I have ever seen. Frank Wood actually manages to underplay Roy and is fantastic (has it been noted yet how scarily he looks like the real Roy Cohn?) Robin B is perfection (some may argue a little too Streep-like in her delivery) and Robin W is WAY better than the original Angel and/or Emma Thompson in the film. Bill Heck is the most "Ken Doll"-ish Joe ever. If someone can be "blandly" gorgeous, he's exactly that--which is perfect for the character). And such depth. I have a feeling he won't get all the reviews he should, but his Joe is very raw and innocent. I know Kushner thinks of Joe as the "villain" of the piece, writing those horrible decisions, but besides that (and beating Louis) he really didn't write him that way. And Bill does such a good job at making Joe sympathetic. Plus, he and Quinto are so hot together in their erotic scenes... I loved this cast and hope they get the credit they deserve come review time.
Angels in America #10
Posted: 10/11/10 at 11:01pm
I've been meaning to see this one. It was mentioned that Zoe Kazan is a bit young for Harper. How old is she? Harper's only supposed to be around 30/32. To me, though, nobody is ever going to be able to top Mary-Louise Parker's performance.
I don't see Joe as the villain. At his worst he's a self-loathing enabler, and at his best he's just very, very confused. I think if there is a villain it's Roy. And don't make me tell you what I think of Louis. 
Featured Actor Joined: 8/3/05
Angels in America #11
Posted: 10/12/10 at 12:24amWell, that's what I mean. Louis is apparently forgiven. Joe gets no moment of redemption, no final monologue.
Angels in America #12
Posted: 10/12/10 at 12:30am
"nobody is ever going to be able to top Mary-Louise Parker's performance"
I saw Marcia Gay Harden, Cynthia Nixon and Susan Bruce do much better than that.
Angels in America #13
Posted: 10/12/10 at 1:30amKushner's treatment of Joe (ie- no apparent redemption. Even Roy, in the optional monologue, gets to continue on the way he likes after death) is a point of contention for some.
Featured Actor Joined: 8/3/05
Angels in America #14
Posted: 10/12/10 at 4:16amI've heard the best Harper ever was Deborah Messing...
Angels in America #15
Posted: 10/12/10 at 10:09amUgh. I can imagine what she was like, trying to suppress the smirks before the laugh lines. That's one I'm glad I missed.
Featured Actor Joined: 8/3/05
Angels in America #16
Posted: 10/12/10 at 12:12pmYes, I'm sure she played Harper exactly like she played Grace. The characters are so similar and she ISN'T an NYU Graduate Theatre Program alum and has no other acting style but sitcom. Oh, sorry. She IS and DOES.
Angels in America #17
Posted: 10/12/10 at 1:03pmIt's just that I've seen the smirk in everything I've ever seen her in. Maybe it's just a fun affectation she picked up AFTER NYU. Maybe her Harper was divinity itself. Maybe after that she said to herself, "If I'm gonna make it big I'm gonna need a signature move like George Clooney's head bob."
Angels in America #18
Posted: 10/12/10 at 1:24pmMarcia Gay Harden was light years ahead of Mary-Louise Parker. She was what every other Harper (including Harper Lee) wished that they could be. MLP always comes across too whiney for my liking.
Angels in America #19
Posted: 10/12/10 at 1:34pmHarper Lee. Good one!
Angels in America #20
Posted: 10/12/10 at 1:39pm
See, that's why I liked MLP. I never saw Marcia Gay Harden, but I always thought of Harper as a whiney, annoying character.
Angels in America #21
Posted: 10/12/10 at 1:59pm
"See, that's why I liked MLP. I never saw Marcia Gay Harden, but I always thought of Harper as a whiney, annoying character."
Not when she's played correctly. She's not Betty Draper.
Harper is a woman who didn't quite become grounded in life. She married a handsome, but cold, career driven man. She can't quite cope with all that her life demands of her and so she begins to drift.
Angels in America #22
Posted: 10/12/10 at 2:23pmI see your point. She's got Linda Loman syndrome - husband can't cope so it starts affecting the wife.
Angels in America #23
Posted: 10/12/10 at 2:52pmAlso, Harper doesn't have anything to stabilize her. She has no children, she doesn't like living in the city, she doesn't know how to make friends in the city. She's out of her element.
Angels in America #24
Posted: 10/28/10 at 12:06pm
In honor of opening night, The Doc finally does Angels in America.
What's Wrong with Angels in America
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