As I watched some early rehearsals of the Portland Playhouse’s upcoming production of Angels in America: Part 1, Millennium Approaches, the excitement was palpable. An epic play, Angels seems to be one of the most sought after for actors and directors alike to be a part of. The Playhouse was especially excited to be able to put it on this year, which is its 20th anniversary. I found myself easily swept up in the excitement, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting opening ever since.
If your not familiar with Tony Kushner’s 6 hour play, it follows the interwoven lives of several individuals in and around New York, most of whom are gay, during the early days of the AIDS crisis. Though the Playhouse is only putting on Part 1 (for now) there is plenty of drama to fill the 3 hours. The Pulitzer Prize winning script delves into the broader themes of the AIDS crisis, politics, religion, hypocrisy and more through the eyes of a WASPy gay man afflicted with the disease, Prior Walter, and his Jewish partner, Louis Ironson. Ironson struggles with this reality and eventually leaves Walter for an affair with a closeted Mormon, Joe Pitt. The other principal character is Ray Cohn, a deeply closeted gay man, who is also dying of AIDS, even as he actively espouses anti-gay and McCarthyist Regan-era politics, and serves as the play’s biggest villain. Through it all an angel watches over, and other characters, alive and dead, weave in and out of surreal scenes, memories, hallucinations.
If that sounds like a lot, it is. This story could have you talking for days. And the Portland Playhouse is acknowledging that with a lunchtime panel discussion the Sunday of opening week, December 11th, 12:30pm at the World Trade Center Theatre lobby. This panel, Angels at 20, is free and open to the public and features panleists Kate Bredeson, Assistant Professor of Theatre at Reed College, Wayne Miya, Executive Director of the Portland nonprofit Our House, which provides health care, housing and support for people with HIV/AIDS; and Portland Playhouse Artistic Director Brian Weaver. Globalization of the epidemic, medical advances and other factors have changed the face of the disease over the past 20 years though it still remains exceedingly relevant.
Questions such as these, as well as insight into the play and the motivations of those involved in this particular production are just some of the topics I got to speak about with Director Brian Weaver and principal star Wade McCollum, who plays Prior, in the interview below. You can also hear complete and unedited audio from our visit at the end of the written interview and be sure to check back after opening night for a full live review.
CLICK Here for the full interview on QPDX.
If your not familiar with Tony Kushner’s 6 hour play, it follows the interwoven lives of several individuals in and around New York, most of whom are gay, during the early days of the AIDS crisis. Though the Playhouse is only putting on Part 1 (for now) there is plenty of drama to fill the 3 hours. The Pulitzer Prize winning script delves into the broader themes of the AIDS crisis, politics, religion, hypocrisy and more through the eyes of a WASPy gay man afflicted with the disease, Prior Walter, and his Jewish partner, Louis Ironson. Ironson struggles with this reality and eventually leaves Walter for an affair with a closeted Mormon, Joe Pitt. The other principal character is Ray Cohn, a deeply closeted gay man, who is also dying of AIDS, even as he actively espouses anti-gay and McCarthyist Regan-era politics, and serves as the play’s biggest villain. Through it all an angel watches over, and other characters, alive and dead, weave in and out of surreal scenes, memories, hallucinations.
If that sounds like a lot, it is. This story could have you talking for days. And the Portland Playhouse is acknowledging that with a lunchtime panel discussion the Sunday of opening week, December 11th, 12:30pm at the World Trade Center Theatre lobby. This panel, Angels at 20, is free and open to the public and features panleists Kate Bredeson, Assistant Professor of Theatre at Reed College, Wayne Miya, Executive Director of the Portland nonprofit Our House, which provides health care, housing and support for people with HIV/AIDS; and Portland Playhouse Artistic Director Brian Weaver. Globalization of the epidemic, medical advances and other factors have changed the face of the disease over the past 20 years though it still remains exceedingly relevant.
Questions such as these, as well as insight into the play and the motivations of those involved in this particular production are just some of the topics I got to speak about with Director Brian Weaver and principal star Wade McCollum, who plays Prior, in the interview below. You can also hear complete and unedited audio from our visit at the end of the written interview and be sure to check back after opening night for a full live review.
CLICK Here for the full interview on QPDX.
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