Angels in America, Part 1: The Millennium Approaches, Cygnet Theatre in Old Town, now through April 20, 2019
By Eric George Tauber
SAN DIEGO — Many look back on 1980s America as “the good old days.” It was a time of great prosperity with great music, big hair, big cars and cheap gas. To many, speaking ill of Ronald Reagan is near blasphemy, but he’s not such a hero to the LGBT+ community. In those days, coming out could kill your career and AIDS was a certain death sentence. Determined to put a cap on domestic spending, the Reagan administration preferred to ignore the growing AIDS epidemic despite dire warnings from the Center for Disease Control. And to the so-called “Moral Majority,” the “gay plague” was God’s retribution upon a sinful lifestyle. This is the world of Angels in America, Tony Kushner’s two-part epic now playing at the Cygnet Theatre in Old Town.
Meet Roy Cohn, a high-powered behind-the-scenes lawyer and political manipulator. As it’s 1985, he can still call his secretary “Baby Doll.” He has multiple phone conversations at once and somehow remembers whom he’s talking to and what stories he’s told them.
“Homosexuals are men who know nobody and nobody knows. No clout.”
When Cohn is diagnosed with AIDS, he insists that he doesn’t have it. He’s not in denial. He knows that he’s dying, but liver cancer carries no stigma in Republican circles. James Newcomb is fun to watch as Cohn. Smart, jaded and arrogant, politics is a game to him. The stakes are high and he likes winning. He makes Cohn odious even in great pathos.
Joe Pitt is his opposite. Still just a judge’s clerk, he’s young, wide-eyed and idealistic. Cohn has the connections to get him a great job with the DOJ in Washington with a phone call, but he wants certain favors in return. Connor Sullivan is likably charming as Joe. A devout Mormon, he wants to do the right thing and isn’t keen on bending rules.
Rachel Van Wormer is delightfully wacky as Harper, Joe’s mentally ill wife. Though married, they greet with bunny kisses, rubbing noses. While they enjoy a mutual affection, passion is lacking. Harper takes Valium for her anxiety, but too many give her hallucinations. This is where Kevane La’Marr Coleman sparkles with devilish charm as Mr. Lies. A dapper song and dance man, he takes the stage with grace and flair.
Louis Ironson is Joe’s co-worker. Jewish, high-strung and openly gay, he’s content with his dead-end job as long as it keeps a roof over his head. Wil Betham plays Louis with nervous intensity. He’s having difficulty navigating his way through grief and loss. He has just lost his orthodox grandmother, a “complicated” woman he hadn’t spoken to in years and now must face the loss of his lover, Prior Walter.
Lesions “the wine dark kiss of the Angel of Death” are a clear sign of AIDS and Prior has them. Alex Bodine plays Prior with elegance. He breaks our hearts, yet still makes us laugh in the face of tragedy.
Showing the parallels between their relationships, bedroom scenes between Joe and Harper, Louis and Prior play simultaneously. Both couples are being pulled apart, losing their lovers to themselves.
Fantasy and reality flip like pages in a book. Rosina Reynolds and Debra Wanger portray a host of doctors and mothers, rabbis and visions. There are angels of light and mysterious voices from above, Eskimos, ancestors and the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg.
Angels in America is a ride on a ship in a turbulent sea. As the waves crash and the wind roars, it’s exciting, frightening and deeply humbling. It’s a powerful reminder that we cannot control the storm. All we can do is cling to one another for safety and comfort, hoping for the best.
Angels in America runs three hours with two intermissions. And that’s just Part 1. Part Two: Perestroika opens Sunday, March 24th.
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Tauber is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com