BWW Preview: Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize Winning ANGELS IN AMERICA - PART I Will Play at Desert Rose Playhouse

Tony Kushner's ANGELS IN AMERICA, which consists of two separate plays, constitutes a landmark in the history of gay theatre. The Desert Rose Playhouse will present Part 1- MILLENNIUM APPROACHES as its 2016 Gay Heritage production, opening on Friday, January 15, 2016 for a six-week run. The Desert Rose's artistic director, Jim Strait, directs the ensemble cast, many of whose members are well-known to Coachella Valley audiences.

Part I, set in the late 1980s, won two Tony awards, the Pulitzer Prize for drama, and many other accolades. It focuses on two troubled couples: "word processor" Louis Ironson and his lover Prior Walter; and Mormon lawyer Joe Pitt and his wife Harper. Prior tells Louis that he has contracted AIDS, causing Louis to panic. Meanwhile, infamous attorney Roy Cohn offers Joe a job in the Justice Department, but Valium-addicted, agoraphobic Harper does not want to move to Washington. Joe struggles to deal with his loyalties towards the corrupt Roy, his blossoming feelings towards Louis, and his relationship with his wife.

Please note that ANGELS IN AMERICA is appropriate only for mature audiences, because of its subject matter, language, and brief nudity.

Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, from January 15, 2016 through February 21, 2016. Tickets are $33 for the evening performances and $30 for matinees.

The Desert Rose Playhouse is located just north of Frank Sinatra Boulevard, near the Emperor Buffet, at 69-620 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270. The Box Office opens at 4 p.m. before evening performances and at noon on Sundays.Tickets are available at the box office, by phone at 760-202-3000, and by Internet at www.desertroseplayhouse.org. There is no service charge for Internet or phone orders.

The rest of Desert Rose Playhouse's 2015-16 season consists of:

COCK by Mike Bartlett, March 11 - April 10, 2016, an award winning play performed in the round, without props or set pieces, in which a man who thought he was gay meets his dream woman and engages in the verbal equivalent of a cock-fight between them (hence the title).

JUNK by J. Michael Penny, April 29 - May 29, 2016, the world premiere of a new musical, in which two gay men with a large age gap have been offered the contents of a deceased man's house in exchange for tidying it up. It turns out that the house is stuffed with old porn. As the two men sort through the owner's belongings, they begin to learn a great deal about the deceased and about their unusual relationship to one another.

Desert Rose Playhouse, as a 501(c)(3) organization, must collect a third of its funds through gifts from the public. Desert Rose must raise $55,000 during this season, and financial donations are gratefully accepted. The address for financial contributions is P.O. Box 2256, Cathedral City, CA 92235.

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