Review: An ‘Angels in America’ That Soars on the Breath of Life

I saw "Angels" in San Francisco during its first run there. The characters stay with me still. The reviewer mentions almost in passing "a caustic gay nurse." Oh, my cultural hero Belize!

I saw the first production on Critics' night, and it was the greatest show I saw in the 27 years I lived in the city. It's no surprise to me that this play has legs. It was magical.

I saw a great production, done in two parts, in Seattle years ago. I walked out of the theater thinking I had witnessed something altogether extraordinary. Years later I saw the HBO version directed by Mike Nichols and an exemplary cast. I've watched it twice since then. Brantley's description of this production makes me want to see it again. I don't think I will ever tire of it or get bored with it. Of all the plays I've read, watched and seen made into movies this one will always stand out as one of the most glorious and meaningful plays ever written or performed. It should be mandatory for older teens and adults to experience. I can only hope that before this run is done on Broadway that somehow it is recorded for TV viewing. That would be a true gift to us in difficult times. Words matter and so does revisiting a time in our history when the brave stood up and spoke a truth that is timeless.

YES! "Angels" is a profoundly moving and phenomenally penetrative play that illuminates the darkest and yet most human recesses of one's mind and then hoists you to the philosophical rafters of your intellect. In the end you are brought back to a stronger and more tangible sense of the fragile and complicated bond we share and must embrace with one another. This astonishing production is brilliantly directed and ingeniously staged while performed by a glorious troupe of primo actors who perform their incredibly strenuous high-wire act to sublime perfection. A spirited shout- out to all those involved with this production! Thank you so much for this divine dramatic gift. Bravo!!

Saw this production in London last year and last Wednesday in New York. Mr. Brantley is right that the New York production is better, even though most of the actors, the director, and also the sets are the same. On reflection, it seemed to me that: (1) some of the actors were simply amazing in both productions (i.e. Garfield, Lane, Stewart-Jarrett); (2) some of the actors have grown in their roles (particularly Mr. Ironson and Ms. Gough); but (3) perhaps most importantly, the audience being New Yorkers (and theater-loving tourists) responded more knowingly and enthusiastically to a play (while universal) is placed in New York and about past persons and events which are associated with the city. If you have the chance, go - it's wonderful. As an aside, last week I also saw Farinelli and the King, My Fair Lady and Three Tall Women and they were all also great productions.

Hope I get to see this version. First saw the British production at the National Theater in 1993. One of the 3 or 4 most memorable theatrical experiences I've had. While he's only part of the play's story, it's certainly timely to revisit evil Roy Cohn now that his mentee 45 is in the White House. Trump, Miller, Bannon and the rest of the slime all adhere to the Cohn playbook: deny, deny, deny; never apologize; attack with lies. Repeat as necessary.

I am not quite the target audience for this production - over-65, white, hetero widow woman from the burbs - but this production knocked me off my feet. I should have been exhausted after over 7 hours of bum-numbing sitting. Instead, I left the theater feeling exhilarated and more alive than i have felt in years. Everything Brantley says is true times 100. I re-watched the HBO version to prep me for this production, but even it paled in comparison. The entire cast was a revelation and the words - oh the words - are a work of beauty that can stand alongside Shakespeare. This should be required viewing for every American, especially in this divisive political climate.

How does one "Soar" "on" "the breath of life"? I understand that in some translations of the book of Genesis, God gave "the breath of life" to Adam and Eve, but how does one or a play "soar" on it? Angels soar using their wings. Is there some way that they soar on the breath of life? Or is this incomprehensible title for this review a result of "every one of his senses singing"? Please help.

This play always evokes personal emotion for me. I first saw it in Dallas in 1996 where they split the play in two, showing the first part in the spring and the last part at the end of the year. I saw the first part and loved it, but by the time the second part was presented I had received my own AIDS diagnosis. I remember my timer going off halfway through the performance reminding me that it was time to take my dose of AZT.

wow,can't wait to see it, and despite the analogy I assume it is much better than binging on Netflix soaps. question, in the photo Mr lane clearly has an earpiece in place. is that to feed him lines? if so how common is this practice?

I couldn't be happier for Tony Kushner and the cast and crew of this new production of Angels in America. Bravo! And now, thanks to Ben Brantley, I bet they'll be a stampede to the ticket office. Late last year I had the enormous pleasure of chatting with Tony. Among other things, I told him the HBO version of Angels acts as a balm. I watch it to lift my spirits, to restore hope in dark times. Angels is such a rich, intelligent work. Most of all, it is a work of humanity and compassion. Yes, even extended to the despicable Roy Cohn.

I was nervous about having to sit in a theater for 8 hours in one day, but this production is electric (and having 2 intermissions for each part helps a lot). Andrew Garfield, coming off his Oscar nom, continues to impress. But the revelation for me was Nathan Lane. Seeing him screaming and spitting as Roy Cohn one minute and exactly one minute later appearing as a laughing effeminate ghost of a Walter past was just amazing. His range and ability was far more than I expected from this veteran actor. As much as I loved the HBO mini-series, this show is something that needs to be seen in person to fully appreciate.

In defense of Lee Pace: what part of Joe Pitt’s character and background suggests that he should possess a “dangerous warmth”? His strict Mormon upbringing? His necessary lifelong repression of his sexuality? His loveless marriage? His chosen profession? The distant and unempathetic treatment of him by his own mother? Joe Pitt IS cold. He’s a product of a broken world, and part of his attraction to Louis is this intense sensitivity and warmth that Joe lacks in himself. That moment when he reaches for Louis and asks if he can touch him is so profound, not only because up until that moment we have only seen him repelled by touch but because it’s the qualities in Louis – his courage, his stark honesty, and his warmth - that Joe is so desperately reaching for. In Perestroika, when Joe strips his soul (among other things) bare on the beach before Louis he stands defiantly against the cold, both externally and internally. It’s powerful and heartbreaking not just because of what happens to him but because of who he is, and who we’ve watched him try to become. This reviewer is doing both Mr. Pace and theatre-lovers a terrible disservice by writing off his Joe and comparing it to that of another actor – Pace embodies this nuanced and beautifully flawed character perfectly, and proves that just because a character is cold doesn’t mean every single person in that audience won’t fall in love with them anyway.

Brantley is spot-on in his analysis of "Angels..." themes of abandonment -- divine, human, self -- all in Kushner's shimmering literary reverie. I paused a day or two as I recalled an "Angels'..." idea, intoned twice, once by Belize and then at play's end by Prior Walter. It is that the world "spins only forward -- never backward." Today's morally calamitous America surely is an exception to Mr. Kushner's hopeful notion. Barack Obama speaks often of history as not linear, but zigging and zagging. Neither contemplates -- even remotely -- our current retrograde cycle.

This sounds like a wonderful production, but I think it's much more impressive to mount this show in Provo, Utah, which is exactly what happened last month, courtesy of An Other Theater Company. The results were electrifying. What a shame the NYT would rather review plays in London rather than in their own proverbial back yard.

Important work for our troubled times. Instead of the AIDS epidemic, the newest plaque on the innocent and the diverse is the Trump Administration. I can imagine the Roy Cohn character as (Cohn disciple) Trump and he's visited by the ghost of Hilary Clinton - her presidential run unjustly executed/killed by innuendo, lies and fear-based propaganda. I hope and pray, years from now when Trump is a really old man, the last thing he sees is Hilary Clinton standing by his hospital bed. Wearing the same expression she had on her face when they released the balloons at the convention.

God is not absent from the universe He has made. He is not sitting back somewhere, ignoring the human beings He made. The human beings ever moving around--talking--acting--loving--writing plays--writing novels--writing poems--living on--living on. Until, of course, they. . .well. . . .you know. I have never seen an angel. Probably never will. But I don't think God's angels are anything like Mr. Kushner's. With all due respect, I don't have any plans to watch "Angels in America." Though let me add. . . . . . . I AM horrified by Mr. Roy Cohn. I have been horrified by him for a long time. "The one truly evil man," wrote the late Clark Clifford, "I have known in my life of public service." "Where's my Roy Cohn," exclaimed our exasperated President not long ago. Sir, I don't know. But when you find him. . . . . .you can keep him. Interesting review. Thanks.

Such an amazing play, easily the best I've seen. Garfield and Lane are stellar, as are the rest of the company. I recommend seeing both halves on a "two-play day" to take the full ride on this roller coaster of emotions.

Seeing it this weekend, I realized that I had forgotten how much wonderful humor there is in this play that I first saw 25 years ago. The difference was partly because the audience and I are less in the midst of the horror that was raging at the time, but also because this is a more cohesive production, where the spoken text comes alive. It is well tailored to our times without losing any of it's bite.

During the matinee of the original Broadway production I ran into an old boyfriend who was clearly dying of AIDS. Between the emotions released by the play and the sorrow of seeing yet another friend stricken, I spent the second half of the show in and out of tears. I don't think I could bear to watch it again but I am glad that it resonates for those who know AIDS as an historical event. As long as this is the case there is hope that such horrors may never again be allowed to occur.

Ah, the magic! Marianne Elliot has done it again:hers is a breathtakingly beautiful staging of our most magnificent play(and, it's clear by now,Tony Kushner's Don Giovanni). I'd like to point out two small, sublime moments in this production that might go unnoticed: Andrew Garfield's Prior( heartbreaking, with a plangent Falcon voice) descents from Heaven-a theater perhaps in San Francisco, with house curtain and all-and lands exquisitely in his hospital bed, held aloft by the Angel Shadows. Nathan Lane(magnificent), now playing one of Prior's ancestors(remember the Bajeux Tapestry?), decked out in a Louis XIV wig and regalia, walks from center stage to stage left and incorporates a miniature leap(a glissé? pas de Basque?)while speaking with the most outrageous Maggie Smith elocution this side of Downton Abbey. One could quibble with one or two of the performances, but that would be ungenerous. Angels in America is, after all, an acting marathon. And Ms. Elliott's reading is such an overwhelming experience that one can only be grateful to all the artists involved. In Perestroika, Harper Pitt mentions "unspeakable beauty". Indeed.

A terrific review and now this play is firmly on my list as a must see. America as a great nation is a thriving complication of many things however no one in the world can match its mastery of translating those diverse forces into art on stage. No one.

Saw the original while a student, standing the whole time - a cheap ticket, please be certain they are offered in 2018! - and found myself unconsciously davening toward this astonishing piece of art. I doubt I will see this new one sadly but perhaps good not to mess with that superb experience of being utterly washed over, and transformed, by a wondrous complicated rich piece of art.

"Ms. Gough provided a convincing portrait of a textbook depressive in London, which made sense but also felt monotonous." Just so. I was disappointed by the National Theatre's staging. Harper's quirks and flights of imagination were weighed down by her flattened affect . . . and as so many have mentioned, the huge venue robbed the play of intimacy. Congratulations to Ms. Elliott and Ms. Gough for rethinking the character of Harper Pitt. "Angels" is apparently receiving in New York an interpretation worthy of its greatness.

I’m old enough that I saw the original Broadway version, and then saw this version in London. Maybe it’s the years of reflection and loss, but I enjoyed this version more than ever. The bitterness and anger have subsided. The hurt and heartbreak have not. This play is art at its best, creating strong emotions and also extremely beautiful.

I'm thrilled by Mr. Brantley's review and have long loved this play and all Mr. Kushner's work. But $500 for two people in the cheap seats is way out of reach. The cheapest tix as of 3/31 are $198 each? Angels in America is a play for the people. The ticket prices are not.

I saw the full show on one day last week and was filled with astonishment and marvel. I have only seen the HBO movie but have lived in NY for 25 years and the New York-ness of this play and this particular direction, the poignancy of the many storylines and the brilliance of almost every single cast member struck me to the core. The 7 1/2 hours flew by and the audience was a connected community of viewers/participants. Andrew Garfield was spectacular, Susan Brown barely left the stage in her many parts and knocked each and every one out of the park. Really, they were all more than outstanding. Don't miss this landmark.

I would love to see the play after reading Mr Brantley’s assessment. I’m inspired just reading the review. The first paragraph was all I needed to know, the paragraphs following explained why. Thank you Mr Brantley for gracefully explaining beautiful art.

Usually, I groan inwardly when I read of remake after remake of famous Broadway plays, as if writers have no imagination left. After reading this magnificent review, I admit my ignorance. This sounds like the best in many years.

This show is ferocious and marvelous and difficult and ecstatic, all at once. See it!

I wish someone brilliant and brave would have a new look at the Kentucky Cycle. It may just have been the context of the time and place, but I saw it in LA on the edge (and from a seat only a few feet from the stage), and its power has stayed with me all these years.

While subsequent performances to the 1993 New York ones, (was it really 25 years ago?) never hit the same mark for me, I will be sure to see this one. (If we’re able to get tickets.) From Frank Rich’s review of the 1993 performance of “...Millennium Approaches” : “Mr. Kushner...sends his haunting messenger...deep into the audience's heart to ask just who we are and just what...we intend this country to become.” A question that begs to be asked, more than ever, in 2018.

Ben Brantley's review is extremely accurate. This was a GREAT show!

First saw “Angels” in Seattle several years ago, in a relatively intimate space. The play’s overwhelming power was unexpected. I am glad the review said the NY space is a better “fit” — the NT Live broadcast disappointed me because I kept thinking the stage is too big for such an intimate play, with scenes spread out to cover all the real estate. I hope to be able to experience the NY production.

I saw the original 25 years ago and, probably because I was not fully attuned to the extent of the AIDS epidemic, felt slightly befuddled, though I found it worthwhile. I saw this production with Garfield and Lane and found it the most enthralling theatrical experience of my 74 years on this planet. I believe the leads--indeed nearly all the cast--infused the story with an urgency befitting the times, as the world today indeed seems to be coming apart at the seams because of--God help us--an acolyte of Roy Cohn. I confess I thoroughly enjoyed watching Cohn, whom I have hated since the HUAC days, die in misery, and I wouldn't have been saying the Kaddish at his bedside like Ethel.

My 15-year-old daughter and I saw this production last year in London and adored it. Will be very surprised if Andrew Garfield and Marianne Elliott do not win Olivier awards (and I'm amazed that Nathan Lane was not nominated).

An extraordinary experience and one-- when I attended a matinee preview-- that included Mr. Kushner in the audience. It does not get any better. THE great American play.

My friends and I saw this play pretty much the week it opened and yes, what a revelation! As someone else has aptly pointed out this this is perhaps the most important play written in the past 25 years. We followed up the play with an after evening get together at the bar Don't Tell Mommas, and were entertained there by drag queens. I have no doubt that this revival is as good as the original and wish the happiness we found that first night on all the others that see this for the very first time.

For those who follow these plays like fans of The Ring Cycle, the upcoming Berkeley (CA) Repertory Theatre production of "Angels" will have Stephen Spinella, who won the Tony twice (once for each part) for playing Prior Walter 25 years ago, now playing Roy Cohn! Directed by Tony Taccone who co-directed (w/Oscar Eustice) the original production in San Francisco in 1991. Woo Woo! Plays April 17- July 22, 2018.

ANGELS is not only the greatest American play to have been written in the 1990's, but also in the last 25 years. You have heard of Willy Loman, Hamlet, and Macbeth- well, don't laugh but Prior Walter and Roy Cohn are right up there with them. Garfield and Lane -- in roles of monstrous emotional complexity--have ascended to the top of Mount Olympus with these magisterial performances. Mr. Garfield could easily play a great Hamlet, but how many other actors who have played Hamlet could even dream of playing Prior Walter with the genius that Mr. Garfield exhibits here. What is one to say about Nathan Lane--he simply continues to astonish. And the extraordinary ensemble of actors-- McArdle, Gough, Pace, Brown and Lawrence-- just adds to the great magic of this great theatre work which will last through the ages. Whether in the NYC of the 1980's or interjected into Mr. Kushner's intellectually surrealist heavenly world, the dazzling artistry of these actors leave you with a night to remember for the rest of your life. Big problem, though, down the road in May: how will the Tony Award committee manage to nominate so many actors from this devastating production. And, at the end, when you walk out of the theatre, you simply won't believe what you have just experienced.

I saw the original Broadway production and than the great HBO series directed by Mike Nichols and finally last summer I ran to the movie theater to see The National Theater's production. Over the 25 years this play has sent chills through my body each time. It is a great work and in each production the actors have really risen to the heights that Mister Kushne'rs great writing provides.

The mid-1980s New York conjured here is a town of endless night. In so many ways, it ways. This landmark play, 'Bright Lights, Big City' and 'Bonfire of the Vanities' all speak of the same endless night, but in different ways.

Last summer I had the great fortune to see the broadcast of the London version in a movie theater. I had seen the play two times before but I was transfixed by the incredible play once again whose words ring true even more so today. Tony Kushner’s magical genius and the artists of the production left me full of wonder. Nathan Lane’s portrayal of Roy Cohn stands among the strongest I’ve ever seen. It is incredible how time stands still while you are immersed in this production. It is unlikely I’ll see the Broadway version, but I feel that I got pretty close.

When Angels appeared it was the most unexpected and monstrously beautiful thing in sync with an audience's real world of death, neglect and hatred. It was wartime for gay men and we were all loosing. Angels was not entertainment but a life raft against hopelessness. And for that its audience was deeply devoted. Angels is now disconnected from that audience. And I can't help but think that it unburdens Mr Kushner and frees his masterpiece.

Oh yes Mr Kushner will test those of little faith,As he brings us his breath of life angel. Parallel epic production.