FTC’s ‘Angels in America’ is a love letter to the queer community

It’s 3:00PM on Sunday, April 12th in the Studio Theatre. Angels in America director Dr. David Krasner is giving his curtain speech to a full house. As soon as his speech is over, I will cue a blackout and the actors will start their final run. Three months of rehearsals for four performances, all coming down to this last show. The audience applauds as Krasner ends his announcements. Blackout.

Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches, written by Tony Kushner, tells the story of people living with AIDS in NYC at the height of the AIDS epidemic. The play follows two couples: Joe (Jason Torres) and Harper (Raelyn Leibowitz, u/s Samantha Fiore), and Prior (Bear Williams, u/s Alex Fabrizio) and Louis (Cody Meares, u/s Victor Calcano IV). Joe and Harper are a married couple with Mormon principles who contend with Joe’s aspiring political career and his mentor Roy Cohn (B Sam Adler). However, as the play progresses and peels back the layers on their happily married facade, we learn of Harper’s drug addiction and Joe’s struggle with his sexuality. Prior and Louis, the play’s other main couple, deal with the devastating news of Prior’s AIDS diagnosis. As the couples unravel and the characters’ lives intertwine, the play explores themes of homosexuality, politics, and love.

Live theatre is akin to watching magic unfold onstage. The audience becomes mesmerized in the show, wholly absorbed and belief suspended for the two hours they sit in the theatre. If all goes smoothly, an audience should be unaware of all the technical aspects all working together to seamlessly put up a production. I had the pleasure of working as the production stage manager on Angels, and I have the insight to pull back the curtain and put a spotlight on all of the many people who’ve dedicated their time, skill, and talent to making this show possible.

Our first read through occurred all the way back in December, when all of the actors sat down together to read their lines in the script. On the first day of the spring semester, we started rehearsals, led by Krasner, the chair of the Theatre Department. Krasner encouraged the actors to find their characters’ motivations and reasons behind the choices they make, and offered the cast guidance when they needed. At rehearsals, Krasner spoke of the inherent beauty in the LGBTQ+ experience, highlighted in the play.

“Kushner subtitles the play a “Gay Fantasia,” which sums up the play and defines the meaning of Queer and Gay as not one, uniform, stereotypical identity, but rather as a multi-level collage, an improvisational musical arrangement of beautiful people – out, open, closeted, proud, ashamed, defiant, withdrawn, passionate, intellectual, stubborn, manipulative, generous, compassionate, and angelic, ultimately demonstrating the politics of what it means to be Gay in American at that time, and even now,” reads Krasner’s Director Note.

FTC Reporters Joshua Clooper and Eric Guli spoke to the actors about their craft.

Scenic designer Frank Seitz, who also played Henry and Prior 1, took inspiration from these themes when creating the cracks on the floor and walls to represent the world around the characters crumbling/changing. The cracks themselves were painted in the pride flag colors and created a glowlike illusion of colors seeping out.

The lighting design by Sammi Rooney also emphasized the importance of color in this show. The stunning purples and blues representing Prior and Louis, the cold hospital white lights, the bright and flashing lights for the Angel, and the foreboding red when Roy and Joe have their confrontation. Instantaneous lighting changes signaled the abrupt mood shifts. The ambience of the Studio Theatre was completed with two color changing lamps, operated by assistant stage manager Iris Arencibia.

FTC Reporter Olivia Collado spoke with Rooney before Opening Night.

Jillson McGarry’s costume design and Aniya Woods’ hair/makeup design fleshed out the characters, grounding some in the real world (Prior’s lesions made by hair/makeup assistant Jonny Iris) and playing into the fantastical elements of other characters. The Man (Tryston Bellon) could pass as a member of the Village People in his leather clad costume as a prostitute. Characters like Prior 1 (Frank Seitz) and Prior 2 (Aidan Barrio) provide comedic relief, embellished with medieval robes, pointy hats, and powdered wigs. The Angel (Saija White) bore intricately designed wings and an ethereal headpiece to accentuate her natural charm.

Monica Athenas’ sound design supports the grandiose, otherworldly moments of the Angel’s appearances (heavenly harp and processional trumpets) and Prior’s visions (the sound of explosions as sparks light up the theatre). This production’s song list, which includes Mystery of Love (Sufjan Stevens), We Are Family (Sister Sledge), Sign of the Times (Harry Styles), and the main theme Something about Julien (Scott Helman), modernizes the play while also paying homage to the time period it takes place.

The show plays with the idea of spectral beings interacting with Prior, Roy, and Harper who are all going through mental breaks and near-death experiences. Prior has his ancestors (Prior 1 and Prior 2) and the Angel, Roy is haunted by Ethel Rosenberg (Stacy Wiener), and Harper hallucinates Mr. Lies (Josiah Prescod). Prior also mixes reality with visions, hearing his nurse Emily (Maggie Switzer) speak Hebrew, the nurse oblivious to both this and the sparks flying in Prior’s hospital room.

This play remains a modern classic for a reason. The audience feels the emotional turmoil of watching both couples fall apart and the heart-wrenching phone call Joe makes to his mother Hannah (Becky London) as he comes out to her as a homosexual at the end of the first act. The second act picks up with the comedy duo of Prior 1 and Prior 2, providing the levity needed after the heavy first act.

Audience reactions to the play were positive.

Angels in America creates a dichotomy of heartbreak and spectacle that encompasses the messiness and radiance of all complex humans, especially those in the queer community. As my time on this production comes to an end, I am so grateful to work on a show that holds so much meaning. It’s been a labor of love for all involved in the cast and crew, and as the actors take their places for the last time at this Sunday matinee, I can’t help but wish to do it all over again. Lights up.