Angels in America

You may have missed "Angels in America" on Broadway from May 1993 to December 1994.  The playwright Tony Kushner won a Pulitzer Prize and the Tony award for Best Play, directed by Mike Nichols.  After having only one previous production, Kushner was asked to write a play about the impact of AIDS on the gay community in San Francisco.  The play appeared at the Mark Taper Forum, the Eureka Theater in San Francisco, and then the National Theater of Great Britain, where it earned its worldwide following.  The play has been translated into several languages, including Chinese. 

"Angels in America" took 10 years to get to the small screen, as an HBO miniseries shown in 2003.  It starred Al Pacino as real-life lawyer Roy Cohn and Meryl Streep in four roles, including a man.  The miniseries also starred Emma Thompson in three roles, Jeffrey Wright in three roles, and Mary-Louise Parker as Harper, among other outstanding actors.

It's 1985, God seems to have disappeared, while Death is everywhere from the mystery of AIDS.  The story involves two couples, one gay and one straight.  Prior, diagnosed with AIDS, breaks the news to his partner, who panics and leaves.  Prior has heard mysterious voices and has visions of an angel messenger who will soon arrive for him.  Mormon lawyer Joe Pitt joins the Justice Department working for Roy Cohn, his bigoted and closeted mentor.  But Joe's wife Harper doesn't want to move to Washington, and has the additional issue of an addiction to Valium.  The two couples become intertwined.

The HBO miniseries won five Golden Globes and 11 Emmy Awards and was nominated for an additional 20 awards, from the Directors Guild of America to the National Board of Review to the Screen Actors Guild.

The miniseries is available on DVD.  Don't miss this masterpiece.