Spotlighters' 'Angels' Takes Flight

Friday, October the 13^th turned out to be a day of good fortune for Spotlighters, which opened its solid, thoughtful production of Angels in America: Millennium Approaches on that date.  And as befitting a classic and Shakespearean epic sized play, everything about it is huge, both good and bad.

The play itself is so brilliantly written – both timeless and of its time.  And in this co-production with the MADSHAG Performance Group from New York, a very up close and personal (both by design and default – Spotlighters is a small venue) concept has been adopted.  The concept that this is really about community – it takes place mostly in New York, but is relevant to any community – is immediately clear upon entering the theatre when the company is seated on the stage casually talking to each other, and eventually to various members of the audience.  The device is a calming one; it levels the playing field, and truly does give the impression of "we're all in this together."  In fact, it is so "between all of us" that we watch the actors change costumes and they join us to watch from the seats.  It is a brilliant way to bring the epic down to a manageable size for all concerned.  It is also a shame that this concept is not carried throughout the evening.  Eventually, entrances, exits, scene changes and the like devolve back into standard play/audience separation.  In short, this Angels becomes an oddly normal presentation of a play that is anything but.  One wonders why director Gabriel Shanks abandons his concept so early and easily.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with traditional staging.  Indeed, the transitions are swift, excellently executed and keep the entire evening at a brisk, urgent pace.  The few times things slow down enough for us to collectively catch our breath are well chosen and timed perfectly.  The staging is almost cinematic in style and really fits, especially in the jarring way the fantasy sequences pop up amidst the otherwise even flow.  Aided by stunning slides and minimal set pieces to let us know where we are, the "real" scenes do have an undercurrent of commonality while still being site specific.  For example, during a scene at a coffee shop, a slide shows what is clearly a diner in NYC, but it isn't a well known one, and no famous landmarks in the background make it THAT specific; we know we are in New York, but we also know we could be anywhere.  Those slides, designed by Shannon Maddox and Mr. Shanks, are each and every one truly artistic, and make the design element of this production leagues beyond standard community theatre fare.  Ms. Maddox is also responsible for the costume designs, which are similarly specific and common.  For the "real" scenes, the costumes are earth tones and plain in an everyman way, even for the more colorfully flamboyant characters.  The fantasy sequence costumes are as jarring as the others are non-emotional.  Each fantasy character is completely in white, a visually exciting way to set them apart.  Who knew monochromatic white could evoke such a pallet of emotions?  The lighting, designed by Jody Ratti and executed by Galen Lande, and the sound and music, designed by Chris Meade, Pete Fonda and Robbie Heacock, seamlessly add to the constantly changing and evocative scenes.  Technically, this production is masterful in using a small space while creating a giant, sweeping story.

There is no point in rehashing the quality of the written piece.  It is, whether you like it or not, a modern masterpiece, on the same scale as anything Shakespeare or the Greeks came up with.  Only time will tell if this work will be seen as the next millennium approaches.  This is a work that takes place in a specific time and uses specific historical events, but it is nonetheless a powerful, universal piece.  It is about AIDS and the politics of the disease and of homosexuality and religion, but it is about the larger picture really.  As our country's pendulum swings back and forth between liberalism and conservativism, and as one disease is replaced in the headlines with whatever the media tells us to be afraid of this week, the message of Angels remains as relevant today as it was when the events of the play were current.  Sadly, I suspect that some audience members on opening night were clueless as to the relevance of the play, and only in that context does it seem even remotely dated.  The reactions (you can't help but notice everything that is going on everywhere in that theatre) are what made me realize the emotional baggage each of us brings to the theatre.  Those of us in our early to mid forties and older see it and remember the daily fear of getting sick, of finding care, of finding acceptance if the cruel realities of AIDS were to be ours to bear.  The old anger of a terrified population being scrutinized and blamed while the media and political machines pointed their fingers or turned their backs came roaring back to the surface for us.  But as I watched the young college-aged couple directly across from me throughout the evening, I was at first shocked, then angered, then piteous and even a little jealous.  It was also the only time I felt the play was dated.  You see, they came to the theatre with that air of "we are responsible members of the gay community seeing an important gay play."  But their faces were blank as Prior Walter (played by Don Mullins) goes tragically through each phase of the disease, and they looked honestly clueless at the political scenes.  And I realized these young men only know AIDS as something you avoid by using a condom, but hey, if you get it, you can live on drug cocktails – messy, yes, but you can live "forever."  That ignorance makes me angry and envious.  And, given the level of political rhetoric going on in this political season, I can even understand why they'd be numb to some of the play's dialogue and themes.  By now it must be like a car alarm – people hear it but don't even react.

 

As far as the quality of the performances, they, too, are huge – both good and bad, and rarely in between.  It seems Mr. Shanks has emphasized the more emotional content (the stories of Prior and his lover, Louis, and of the conflicted Mormon, Joe Pitt and his pill-popping wife Harper) over the political content (Roy Cohn and his cronies bullying their way through life). This, it turns out is an excellent choice – the emotional content is more universal and the players involved are much more interesting and of quality.  As directed here, the political character of Roy Cohn is less the centerpiece of the play than in previous productions.  At least part of that de-emphasis is due to a bizarrely inappropriate interpretation of the character by actor Terry J. Long, who, according to the program takes decade long pauses between stage appearances, while he directs.  Perhaps he has been too long away from the spotlight, because, at least judging from this performance, his strengths clearly lie in direction (he did brilliant work with Southern Baptist Sissies).  During one of many lengthy speeches, Cohn says something to the effect that nothing about him belies the fact that he enjoys sex with men – he ain't no sissy.  Would that Long could erase some of the effete mannerisms and speech patterns he utilizes.  Even Ronald Reagan would have known Cohn was a queer if he behaved like that.  In another speech, Cohn talks about having such immense power that no one would question his proclivities.  Well, by all accounts I've read, Cohn was that powerful, in a Darth Vader kind of way.  Vader/Cohn never bullied or yelled and screamed – he controlled through calm, measured and terrifying rule – he was confidence personified. And yet, as played by Long, Cohn bullies, cajoles and throws what amounts to a hissy fit (his arms flail and his voice rises an octave or two literally).  With the alleged confidence Cohn had, he would never behave in that manner, until the ultimate showdown with someone who refuses to bend, as Joe Pitt does at the end of the play when he refuses Cohn's offer for a job in Washington.  But by coming out of the gate with the hissy fit, aimed at a wise doctor early on, Long's Cohn becomes just another annoying high-strung queen.  Yawn.

That unfortunate performance aside, the rest of the company is quite excellent at least, and superb in some cases.  As the central character of Joe Pitt, Patrick Kilpatrick has certainly stretched his already considerable acting muscles.  His is a performance befitting the epic he is in.  He builds and builds the character as he juggles inner, forbidden desire with the career opportunity of a lifetime, a wife that has numbed herself to reality with dangerous amounts of Valium, and a deeply conflicted relationship with his Mormonism.  The pain and fear Joe Pitt goes through as he realizes his homosexual feelings won't ever go away are so real in Kilpatrick, all lines between the actor and role are obliterated.  One can only imagine how emotionally and physically spent he must be at the end of each performance.  That commitment to character pays off handsomely, as Mr. Kilpatrick is giving one of the finest performances of 2006 on any stage in Baltimore.  Given much less stage time, but with no less effect is Shannon Maddox, as Harper Pitt, his wife.  Not only is she convincing in her drug-induced state, Ms. Maddox also allows us to see very real pain and fear, even as the character feels she is covering it up perfectly.  The bizarre fantasy sequences we see are all the better because this Harper is fully committed and truly believes what she is seeing.  This is a performance of truth, anguish and complete believability – in lesser hands it could be a mess.

The other central relationship in Angels is that of Louis, an emotionally needy, insecure man and his lover of many years, Prior, who is dying a slow agonizing death from a disease that changes inexplicably from day to day.  Richard Goldberg, as Louis, gives a fascinating, mesmerizing performance.  His take on the role is layered and so interesting that one never becomes bored with the character's incessant need for validation and acceptance after a cowardly departure from his lover.  The nuance, gravitas, and even delightful humor Goldberg brings to the character allows us to alternately hate Louis for abandoning his partner at his time of greatest need, and to completely sympathize with him.  As fate would have it, Louis and Joe Pitt are brought together at their biggest times of crisis, and they find in each other a palpable and ultimately satisfying place of comfort, freedom and acceptance.  Kudos to both Mr. Goldberg and Mr. Kilpatrick for having such a complete commitment to a difficult, intense scene.  Don Mullins, as Prior Walter, has perhaps the most sympathetic role in the play, and ultimately he wins the audience's sympathy, but his performance doesn't start out in that direction.  Mullins' Prior has built up such a veneer of hardcore nonchalance and don't-give-a-damn-what-you-think bravado, common among similarly self-professed and self-possessed queens, that he never once lets any of the cracks (fear, suffering, loneliness) show until much later in act one.  It is hard to warm up to him at first.  Thankfully, as the play goes on he allows the vulnerability of Prior to really show, creating a sense of sympathy for him, but not pity.  During one later scene, Mullins' anguished screams of literal pain and unbearable fear as he writhes around the floor convulsing and confused brought tears to my eyes.  From then on, I was hooked, and he finished the show with an overall winning result.

In the supporting roles, the casting is solid.  David Gregory, as Belize - everyone's best friend, and advice queen – brings us a man who has seen much, has been affected by it, but knows he must store up his strength for the long haul.  His Belize knows that the future has promise, but it'll be a long time until it brightens.  Suzanne Knapik does well as the nearly ancient rabbi who opens the show and dispenses unsolicited wisdom, and as Joe Pitt's mother whose anger and disbelief at her son's sinful ways is effective and affecting.  She is considerably weaker as Ethel Rosenberg, as she giggles unconvincingly throughout a dully-performed monologue while wavering between a Scarlet O'Hara drawl and a poor man's Brooklyn-or-is-it-the-Bronx accent.  Rounding out the cast is the thoroughly engaging Towanda Underdue who plays a wide variety of roles, including a Republican henchman of Roy Cohn's, a sympathetic nurse, a supercilious real estate agent, a schizophrenic homeless woman, and the titular angel who brings with her prophesy and wonder.  Ms. Underdue creates distinct, layered characters and only once gets close to nibbling the scenery during her scene as the homeless woman.

Perhaps when it first premiered, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches had slightly more impact.  Then, we were hopeful that under a new president we would be released from oppressions both real and idealized, hopeful that cures for all of our ills, both physical and societal, were close at hand.  Then, we feared the change of the millennium would bring about the apocalypse or Y2K would destroy the world's economies, bring planes crashing down or unleash nuclear bombs run by computers unable to recognize the year.  Six years later, nothing has changed, but has rather been put off.  AIDS still exists, but there are other viruses circling the globe, be it avian flu or the latest worm attack on Windows, and indeed planes came crashing down, but in ways more terrifying than a computer glitch, and just this past week or so the nuclear demon has reared its ugly head once again.  As whatever approaches gets closer, let's hope an angel is there to guide us.  Until then, let Angels in America: Millennium Approaches at Spotlighters into your life.  This beautiful production is there to remind us of hope and love and beauty in the unlikeliest of places and circumstances, and we are all the better for it.

 

PARENTAL ADVISORY: Due to graphic language, brief nudity and adult situations, no one under the age of 16 will be admitted without an accompanying adult.

 

In order to receive the 25% discount ($20.00 tickets are just $15.00), you must mention "BroadwayWorld.com" at the time of reservation or at the box office when purchasing tickets.  Reservations are strongly recommended.

  

PHOTO: (L) Richard Goldberg as Louis and (R) Patrick Kilpatrick as Joe Pitt in Spotlighters' Angels in America: Millennium Approaches.  Photo by Amy Jones.

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