City Of Angels
Heaven Sent: Mike Nichols Brings Tony Kushner's Visionary Stage Epic 'Angels In America' To Hbo With A Once-In-A-Lifetime Cast. Here Are The Director, The Playwright And The Stars To Tell Us All About It
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How in heaven's name do you describe "Angels in America" without taking up this entire magazine? After all, this is a play about Jews and Mormons, gays and straights, New York and Antarctica, the ozone, Ethel Rosenberg, AIDS, African-Americans, Reagan Republicans, "Cats"--and we haven't even mentioned the angels, or a devil named Roy Cohn. When "Angels" opened on Broadway in 1993, it blew the roof off American theater. Here, at last, was a play that wasn't afraid to take on the whole world--and the afterworld--with thrilling language and stagecraft, and wicked humor that would have made Oscar Wilde proud. Tony Kushner, then only 36, won a Pulitzer Prize and two Tony awards. See why we're afraid we can't do it justice?
Which is why we've enlisted some expert help. On Dec. 7, HBO will debut a six-hour, $60 million TV version of "Angels." Directed by Mike Nichols, HBO's "Angels" features a dream-team cast headed by Al Pacino (Cohn), Meryl Streep (one of the Mormons) and Emma Thompson (one of the angels). How dreamy are they? For one thing, they help this "Angels" stand shoulder to shoulder with the play. Brutal, hilarious and deeply moving, the movie is like a bonfire that never stops giving off heat and light. At a time when TV movies make news for all the wrong reasons, "Angels" is political, passionate--and better than almost anything on the air. Last week these all-star actors joined Nichols, Kushner and Justin Kirk, who plays an AIDS patient named Prior Walter, in discussing the film with NEWSWEEK. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: So Justin...
Justin Kirk: I knew it! [Laughter] Clearly I have a role to play here today.
What's your role?
Kirk: Coffee-getter.
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