Angels in America Begins Performances at Roundhouse Theatre
(© Sarah Pressler)
Angels in America begins performances tonight at Round House Theatre in a coproduction with Olney Theatre Center.
Angels in America Part I: Millenium Approaches and Part II: Perestroika make up Tony Kushner's Tony- and Pulitzer-winning play and will be presented in rotating repertory. Set in late 1985 and early 1986, as the first wave of the AIDS epidemic in America is escalating and Ronald Reagan has been elected to a second term in the White House, Angels in America brings together a young gay man with AIDS and his frightened, unfaithful lover; a closeted Mormon lawyer and his valium-addicted wife; the infamous New York lawyer Roy Cohn; an African American male nurse; a Mormon housewife from Utah; and a steel-winged, prophecy-bearing angel. The lives of these disparate characters intersect, intertwine, collide, and are blown apart during a time of heartbreak, reaction, and transformation.
The cast will perform in both productions and includes Jonathan Bock, Kimberly Gilbert, Mitchell Hébert, Thomas Keegan, Sarah Marshall, Jon Hudson Odom, Tom Story, and Dawn Ursula. Part I is directed by Olney Theatre Center artistic director Jason Loewith, and Part II is directed Round House artistic director Ryan Rilette.
On undertaking the project, Loewith said, "You don't try to tackle this Mt. Everest of the American theater without an army of extraordinary collaborators. First you need a supremely talented partner, and that's what I've got in Ryan Rilette and his amazing team at Round House. Then there's a cast that reads like my personal bucket list of 'actors I must work with before I die.' And finally, a design team of trusted colleagues, some of whom I've worked with over decades. The whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts with this production."
The artistic team includes scenic designer James Kronzer, projection designer Clint Allen, costume designer Ivania Stack, lighting designer York Kennedy, and sound designer Joshua Horvath.
The production will run in rep through October 30.
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