One of my biggest regrets in all my years of theatergoing is that I never saw the Broadway production of Angels in America. I could have; although I was in school in Virginia when both parts played in repertory in 1993-94, I made several trips home to visit my family, and I could have seen it during any of those visits. But I never did. I was very uncomfortable with my sexuality at that point, and in fact I barely saw any theater at all during that time. (A perusal of my Playbill collection informs me that the only Broadway shows I saw in 1993-94 were Kiss of the Spider Woman and She Loves Me.)
I was glad when HBO did a TV version a few years ago, because I finally had a chance to experience the show. But watching it on TV wasn’t the same as seeing it on stage. So I was thrilled last year when the Signature Theater announced a new stage production of the show. We snapped up tickets the day they went on sale, and this week we finally saw it: Part 1 on Tuesday night, and Part 2 last night.
It’s a terrific production, with superb acting all around. It’s just a 160-seat theater — much more intimate than the 975-seat Walter Kerr, where the Broadway production played — so I was thrilled to be able to see one of my major crushes up close: Zachary Quinto as Louis Ironson. Quinto has a decidedly different take on the role than Ben Shenkman did in the HBO production: more intense, more anguished, even a little threatening. I saw hints of Sylar at times. Robin Bartlett, as Hannah Pitt and Ethel Rosenberg, was every bit as good as Meryl Streep; having learned a few weeks ago that my great aunt knew Ethel Rosenberg, it made those scenes even more poignant. Billy Porter, as Belize and Mr. Lies, brought sass, wit and comedy. Bill Heck conveyed a masculine vulnerability as Joe Pitt; his voice sounds like that of a masked superhero carrying the world’s weight. Zoe Kazan as Harper Pitt seemed to be channeling Mary Louise Parker from the HBO production, and she’s a lot shorter than Bill Heck, which took some getting used to, but she was excellent. Robin Weigert as the Angel and the nurse was loopy and compassionate, respectively. Frank Wood as Roy Cohn was appropriately mean and evil.
But the standout was the actor in the role of Prior Walter. Christian Borle is supposed to play the role, but he was absent on both nights, so instead we saw his understudy, Eric Bryant. And it turned out to be his first time in the part. He did a great job: scared, funny, strong, thoughtful. I didn’t realize until I picked up our tickets for Part 2 that it was his debut in the role, but during the bows at the end of Part 1, the other actors had given him pats on the back, which made more sense when I found this out.
Interestingly, sitting in the audience on both nights was Michael Urie — best known as Mark on Ugly Betty, but he also won a Lortel Award last spring for playing Rudi Gernreich in The Temperamentals Off Broadway. He’ll be taking over the role of Prior Walter at the beginning of February. He was sitting a few rows in front of us each night, so it was interesting to occasionally look over and watch him watching the show. I wondered what was going through his mind.
So… last night, during the second intermission, I went over and said hello to him. He was sitting by himself and everyone around him had gotten up to stretch their legs, so I impulsively got up and walked a few rows down to his seat. “Excuse me,” I said. He looked up. “Sorry to bother you… you’re going into this in February, right?” He said he was. I chatted with him for a couple of minutes. I asked how he felt about going into the role, and he said it’s a pretty intense role, and in addition to the performances, he’d watched the understudy in rehearsal earlier that day. I told him I’d enjoyed him in The Temperamentals. I wished him luck in his new role and then walked the few rows back to my seat. I think Matt was mortified. I was a little embarrassed myself; when I talk to actors I’ve seen perform, I feel like a babbling little fanboy.
Anyway, it’s a great production, and I’m so glad I finally got to see it on stage. I have more thoughts on Angels in America, but I’ll leave that to another post.