Zachary Quinto Blogs ANGELS!

Signature Theatre Company's production of Tony Kushner's ANGELS IN AMERICA: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, began performances Tuesday, September 14. The first New York revival of Kushner's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play is directed by Michael Greif. The production, originally slated to run through December 19, has been extended a second time through February 20, 2011. BroadwayWorld has been bringing you clips featuring current and past team members reflecting on the ANGEL's experience.  Today, we bring you thoughts from current cast member Zachary Quinto, who plays Louis Ironson in the Signature production.

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"...Angels in America.

brazen.
brave.
unapologetic.
vital.
fierce.
intelligent.
compassionate.
graceful.

Tony Kushner gave voice to a movement. a movement of human beings who were unwilling to let themselves - or each other - off the hook. who - in the face of tremendous adversity and horrific decimation - asked questions of courage and took action that elevated them - and all of us who came after them - to another experience of life. a deeper level of acceptance and understanding.

humanity is honored by these plays. he has both captured and created a momentum in these works that is unmistakable and timelessly provocative. he manages to weave the quiet grace of an intimate moment into the terrific power of celestial movement. technically and creatively the plays demand profound momentum and stamina. it is nothing short of an epic journey.

and now here we are - twenty years after the creation of these plays - bringing them back to the city where it all began. in a world more advanced - but no less fractured - we once again turn to ourselves and to each other with the same questions. maybe now they are framed in a different context. but at their core they ask us to - "look up, look up, prepare the way..." because i believe there are forces much larger than all of us at work in these plays. intangible forces that are occasionally harnessed at times of great need. Tony wrote these plays at such a time. he has taken that need and given it inspired and graceful language. and i am deeply humbled to be a part of this ensemble - bringing his language to life at this specific moment.

surrender..."

-Zachary Quinto

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Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, the two parts of ANGELS IN AMERICA, will begin alternating in repertory from the start of performances. ANGELS IN AMERICA opens October 28 at the Peter Norton Space (555 West 42nd Street).

Tickets for performances through December 19, 2010 are available for $20 through The Signature Ticket Initiative, which seeks to make great theatre accessible to the broadest possible audience. All regularly-priced single tickets ($85) are underwritten and will be available for $20 for every performance at The Peter Norton Space for the entire season, during a show's initial run.

The Signature Ticket Initiative is made possible by the lead sponsorship of Time Warner Inc. Generous support for The Signature Ticket Initiative is provided by Margot Adams, in memory of Mason Adams

Tickets for performances beginning December 21, 2010 will be $85. For the full performance calendar, to purchase tickets or for more information, please visit http://signaturetheatre.org/angels or call (212) 244-PLAY (7529).

ANGELS IN AMERICA features Robin Bartlett as Hannah Pitt, Christian Borle as Prior Walter, Bill Heck as Joe Pitt, Zoe Kazan as Harper Pitt, Billy Porter as Belize, Zachary Quinto as Louis Ironson, Robin Weigert as The Angel and Frank Wood as Roy Cohn, with Eric Bryant as Man 1 and Hubert Point-Du Jour as Man 2.

Scenic design is by Mark Wendland, costume design by Clint Ramos, lighting design by Ben Stanton, sound design by Ken Travis, projection design by Wendall K. Harrington, music by Michael Friedman and Chris Miller, hair and wig design by Charles LaPointe, dialect coaching by Deborah Hecht, fight direction by Rick Sordelet, aerial design by Paul Rubin, and make-up by Cookie Jordan. Production Stage Manager is Monica Cuoco and Stage Manager is Joshua Pilote.

The production of ANGELS IN AMERICA is made possible by a major grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Signature Theatre Company's 20th Anniversary season celebrating Tony Kushner also features the New York premiere of iHo: THE INTELLIGENT HOMOSEXUAL'S GUIDE TO CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM WITH A KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES, also directed by Michael Greif and co-produced with The Public Theater in association with the Guthrie Theater; and THE ILLUSION, Kushner's freely adapted version of Pierre Corneille's L'Illusion Comique, directed by Tony Award-winner Michael Mayer.

The season will also include readings of selected other plays from Tony Kushner's body of work. Plays under consideration include A BRIGHT ROOM CALLED DAY, TINY KUSHNER (A NEW COLLECTION OF ONE ACTS), IT'S AN UNDOING WORLD, OR WHY SHOULD IT BE EASY WHEN IT CAN BE HARD?, THE HENRY BOX BROWN PLAY, HYDRIOTAPHIA, OR THE DEATH OF DR. BrownE and HOMEBODY/KABUL.

For more information visit www.signaturecenter.org.

Blog Courtesy of Signature Theatre

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.