Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Part One : Millennium Approaches; Part Two : Perestroika

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Tony Kushner's Angels in America is that rare entity: a work for the stage that is profoundly moving yet very funny, highly theatrical yet steeped in traditional literary values, and most of all deeply American in its attitudes and political concerns. In two full-length plays--Millennium Approaches and Perestroika--Kushner tells the story of a handful of people trying to make sense of the world. Prior is a man living with AIDS whose lover Louis has left him and become involved with Joe, an ex-Mormon and political conservative whose wife, Harper, is slowly having a nervous breakdown. These stories are contrasted with that of Roy Cohn (a fictional re-creation of the infamous American conservative ideologue who died of AIDS in 1986) and his attempts to remain in the closet while trying to find some sort of personal salvation in his beliefs.

But such a summary does not do justice to Kushner's grand plan, which mixes magical realism with political speeches, high comedy with painful tragedy, and stitches it all together with a daring sense of irony and a moral vision that demands respect and attention. On one level, the play is an indictment of the government led by Ronald Reagan, from the blatant disregard for the AIDS crisis to the flagrant political corruption. But beneath the acute sense of political and moral outrage lies a meditation on what it means to live and die--of AIDS, or anything else--in a society that cares less and less about human life and basic decency. The play's breadth and internal drive is matched by its beautiful writing and unbridled compassion. Winner of two Tony Awards and the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for drama, Angels in America is one of the most outstanding plays of the American theater. --Michael Bronski

Book Description

HBO Films will present Angels in America, directed by Mike Nichols from Tony Kushner's own adaptation of his Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. The remarkable cast features Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Mary Louise Parker, Jeffrey Wright, Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, Patrick Wilson, James Cromwell, Michael Gambon and Simon Callow.

Angels in America is one of the most remarkable and celebrated plays of our time. Over 350,000 copies have been sold in paperback since their original publication in 1993.

Praise for the play:

"Angels in America is the broadest, deepest, most searching American play of our time."-Jack Kroll, Newsweek

"A vast, miraculous play . . . provocative, witty and deeply upsetting . . . a searching and radical rethinking of Ameri-can political drama."-Frank Rich, The New York Times

"Something rare, dangerous and harrowingâ€¦a roman candle hurled into a drawing room . . . "-Nicholas de Jongh, London Evening Standard

"Playful and profound, extravagantly theatrical and deeply spiritual, witty, and compassionate, furious and incredibly smart . . . It's impossible to imagine anyone captivated by the beginning not wanting-needing-to go back for the end."-Linda Winer, Newsday

"An enormously impressive work of the imagination and intellect, a towering example of what theatre stretched to its full potential can achieve."-Clifford A. Ridley, Philadelphia Inquirer

"Perestroika is a masterpiece."-John Lahr, New Yorker

Customer Reviews:

A Wonderful Read.......2006-12-19

After watching the Angels in America DVD, I wanted to see how it was originally as a play, and it does not disappoint. In many ways, I think it's a better experience reading this play than it was to see it on my tiny television. Angels in America is essentially a theatrical work, and the miniseries came off just as that, a filmed stage play, espcially in Part 1: Millenium Approaches, so that it seemed really static, even with, if not because of, Mike Nichols' direction. It was, on the other hand, tremendously faithful to the play script. As far as I could tell, not a word was changed.

Part 2: Perestroika, however, had a few changes from the script to screen, and those changes worked well, making the filmed version far more dynamic than Part 1. There's some additional backstory that got dropped in the translation, but the spirit is very much the same.

Ultimately, I recommend that you watch the DVD to get an idea of the characters' mannerisms and the staging, then read the script to fully appreciate the poetry of Tony Kushner's language. Buy it and love it!

Masterpiece.......2006-10-01

Angels in America is probably one of the most important pieces of American theatre of the last twenty years. Outside of musicals, probably one of the few contemporary plays of the period that has had a significant mainstream impact outside of an adapted form (and probably significantly more important then a large number of the adapted ones even before it became an excellent miniseries). And for that reason alone, it is worth reading.

But there is more then that.

The play actually is one of the most influential plays for a reason. It speaks to a number of socially relevent themes about the American experience. It deals heavily with the roles of gays in society giving a fascinating dialectic about the potential roles that gays can play in society. One of the most interesting social arguments in the play has to be the complete failure of the traditional nuclear family on every level, a statement that can echo the larger social issue where the image of the nuclear family has failed. As a tangent to that, the play deals heavily with the Mormon church, being both one of the only major religions founded in America and one of the religions with the heaviest focus on the family (and one of the ones with the harshest line towards homosexuality).

This probably isn't a great play to read if you like to read things out of a larger social context. Honestly, though, I really can't imagine how any American could read this play without connecting it to the larger social issues (and I think that would be true for people of a lot of other nationalities as well, though to what degree I'm not sure).

In terms of the actual play, its quite good. But I found (and just about everyone I've asked) has said that they found Part I to be much stronger then Part II.

Well written.......2006-07-08

Wow, I don't usually read plays, but this one is the exception, its astonishing! I even went out to rent the play from HBO studios! I strongly reccomend this book.

Deeply Flawed But Nonetheless Brilliant.......2004-10-05

A playscript is a blueprint for a performance--a document that is intended to be interpreted by those trained in theatre arts. For this reason most non-theatre people find reading a play akin to a tour of purgatory: it is often extremely difficult for the layman to imagine how these strings of words on a page will actually play on a stage before a live audience. This is particularly true of Tony Kushner's ANGELS IN AMERICA, a play which even many theatre arts people (myself included) find very, very flat on the page; consequently, I do not really recommend it for those without a background in theatre arts.

Set in 1980s New York and subtitled "A Gay Fantasia on National Themes," the play concerns a group of largely homosexual men who find themselves caught up in series of disasters that range from love to religion and from politics to philosophy--and most specifically caught between the rising tide of AIDS and a generally unsympathetic society. In the midst of this, AIDS patient Pior Walter begins to have a series of visions, which may be fever dreams, medicine-induced hallucinations... or, most unnerving of all, real. His long dead ancestors rise to speak to him, the floor cracks open to reveal a burning book--and at the conclusion of the play's first half a beautiful woman with majestic wings crashes through his roof. She is the Angel of America. He is, she tells him, a prophet, and she has come to bring him a message for mankind.

Intertwined with Prior's other-earthly experiences are oddly parallel lives. Joe and Harper Pitt are a deeply dysfunctional couple doubting their faith in the Mormon Church, Joe a closeted homosexual, Harper a valium-addicted and mildly psychotic woman given to visions as strange as those of Prior Walter's. And as further counterpoint historical figure Roy Cohn (1927-1986), among the most sinister figures of 20th Century America, finds himself taunted by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg as he drifts toward his own AIDS-induced death. The characters swirl in and out of each other's lives and dreams, playing to stereotypes and yet defying them, arguing politics and philosophy and love and death--and it is fascinating stuff. And the play, which ran six hours and had to be performed across two consecutive evenings, astounded theatregoers: nothing similar had been seen on Broadway since the days of Eugene O'Neill's MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA.

But for all of this remarkable vortex of dreams and realities, issues and ideas, there is a tremendous problem with ANGELS IN AMERICA, and even the most casual reader should be able to spot it. When an angel crashes through the roof you naturally expect startling revelations to follow--but having spent the first half of his play building to this amazing climax, Kushner seems to have painted himself into a dramatic corner. The ideas, issues, and characters continue to swirl as brilliantly as before, but the angelic revelations and their gradual unraveling seem to be born more of desperation than of true originality.

Is ANGELS IN AMERICA a play that will resonate through time? It is possible, but I think it unlikely. To return to MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA, that play is very much of its era in terms of style--but it deals with themes and ideas that are of all times and places, and in consequence it remains as powerful today as it was when it startled Broadway some seventy years ago. But ANGELS IN AMERICA is not only stylistically of its place and time, it is also a play that deals specifically with issues peculiar to its place and time, and as our thinking about these issues change the play's authority begins to fade. While it remains required reading (and ideally required viewing) for any one who is seriously interested in theatre, it seems unlikely that it will forever maintain that status.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Couldn't put it down.......2004-09-16

As an actor I have a very discerning eye when it comes to plays, and i was amazed with this piece of literature. I decided to read the first few pages before bed, and before i knew it i had finished and it was almost dawn.
No matter what personal views you have on the subject of politics, AIDS, or religion there is a clear message aimed at all of us as Americans, regardless of beliefs. I found Kushner's ideas compelling, making me think and even more so, feel. there's nothing like reading a great book and becoming enveloped by it and this is one of the best plays of our time; hands down.

Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes : Part One : Millennium Approaches (Angels in America)

Average customer rating:

Like Plays of Old
A Piece of Garbage
The 'Angels' have come!
The 'Angels' have come!
I love this book!

Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes : Part One : Millennium Approaches (Angels in America)
Tony Kushner
Manufacturer: Theatre Communications Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

United States | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1559360607

Customer Reviews:

Like Plays of Old.......2007-05-21

This play is very accessible to the reader accustomed to reading prose. Contemporary situations are embellished to make this play a work of art.

A Piece of Garbage.......2007-04-17

This book was assigned to me as college reading and all I can say is that I am offended with the language and feel verbally abused by the content. The author is abusing the audience. I have friends whom are gay and they never talk like the trash that represnt them in this book, they hold themselves to a higher level and have class. The author creates gay hatred instead of encouraging people to embrace the gay culture. This book makes you think gays have no sense and that they are wierd instead of just average people. I believe the author has hurt the gay community more then he has helped.

The 'Angels' have come!.......2004-12-17

This remarkable play writen by the best playwrite since Shakespeare has achived not only rocking your mind with it's beautiful prose, language, and story, but also has gained the title of the most wonderufl play in modern liturature (counting plays). Its star-stricken plot will not make you put it down! It is truly wonderful.

The 'Angels' have come!.......2004-12-17

I love this book!.......2004-04-16

I'm a college student majoring in Theater Design. I had to read this play for one of my classes my freshman year. So I sat down expecting to plod through a story that I'd never read again. Boy was I shocked! I loved it! I couldn't put it down until I'd read the last page, and then I got right online and ordered the sequel. Honestly, I'm not as big a fan of the second book. I haven't read it in a while, but from what I remember it's more offensive, and honestly, a little more like smut. There's an angel with 7 vaginas and it has sex with one of the characters...one of the gay characters..go figure. The second book also seems to take more pot shots at God, which I didn't appreciate as a Christian. Anyway. This is a review of the first book, not the second. (just reminding myself!) I have 7 big bookcases of books at my parents' house, plus my dad is a librarian, so I do a LOT of reading. This book is ALWAYS one of the few "Chosen" books that I take to college with me to keep in my dorm. And just as a side note, I'm not gay, so this book is NOT just for gay people like some of the people whom I've talked to seem to think. BUY IT! You'll be enlightened and inspired to think.

Angels in America. A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Part One : Millennium Approaches. Part Two : Perestroika.

Average customer rating:

Angels in America. A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Part One : Millennium Approaches. Part Two : Perestroika.

Manufacturer: Theatre Communications Group.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I3760G

Angels in America. Part One: Millennium Approaches; Part Two: Perestroika

Average customer rating:

Angels in America. Part One: Millennium Approaches; Part Two: Perestroika
Tony Kushner
Manufacturer: Theatre Communications Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000H7G2SU

Customer Reviews:

A Great Reference Source For Bootlegs Cds...........2003-05-15

that are almost impossible to finds...practically rendering this book obsolete. Most of the online and retail sellers of this form of music have all but dried up and blown away. There is only one retailer listing at the end of Supplement 6 compared to six or seven retailer ads in Supplement #1.
If you do get lucky, and I mean really lucky, Hotwacks is the best reference source available. The "Wax" has yet to steer me wrong.
The tracklists are extremely accurate and the recording quality assessment of the discs is very accurate as well. Any collector needs this book ('cause you probably have the 800+ page "bible" and the other 5 updates as well). Whether or not you'll get a chance to use it is another story.

Book Description

These dramatic, never-before-published photographs portray a young Elvis Presley during a pivotal year in his career, capturing his magnetic sensuality, physical grace, and innate sense of style.

In 1956, Presley burst into superstardom. His first film, Love Me Tender, opened to mass teenage hysteria. He had his (and the world's) first million-selling album. He broke all viewing records when he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. And Marvin Israel created this potent photographic essay of the 21-year-old star that is now being published for the first time.

Israel captured Elvis in the heat of performance, relaxing backstage, and at the new house he bought for his parents in Memphis. His singular portrait is set within a critical moment in American popular culture, when it was hijacked by a new generation. Martin Harrison, who selected the photographs, provides a brief essay on Israel's work and his stature in the history of American photography.

The late Marvin Israel was a designer and artist, mentor to such important photographers as Diane Arbus and Richard Avedon, and art director of Seventeen magazine and Harper's Bazaar.

Martin Harrison is a curator, critic, and one of the foremost historians of postwar photography.

Customer Reviews:

Marvin Israel's pitcures of Elvis Presley........2001-06-22

Elvis Presley 1956 is not the same than other Elvis Presley books. It is shorter than any other books about Elvis Presley. And has more pitcures. The pitcures were taken by Marvin Israel but he didn't live to see this book because in the spring of 1984 he died of a heart attack.

The pitcures were taken in 1956. And they are never seen before pitcures of Elvis Presley. Marvin Israel took a pitcure of Elvis Presley's high school diploma. But Elvis Presley is not living at Graceland yet. If Marvin Israel lived to see this book, would he be happy to see his pitcures in this book.

Maybe not if he wanted the pitcures to be private. But like it or not he had no choice since he is dead. Marvin didn't want to follow in the family business which was making clothes. But still a great book for your Elvis Presley fan.

Average customer rating:
Elvis Close-Up: Rare, Intimate Photographs of Elvis Presley in 1956
Ger J. Rijff , and Jay B. Leviton
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Manufacturer: Louisiana Hayride, Inc.
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Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0977830519

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The "Elvis at the Hayride" boxed set consists of a 168 page (9.25" X 12.25") mat finish softcover coffee table book with 150 high gloss rarely seen photos showcasing the young Elvis, 2 CD set of recorded history of Elvis' actual radio broadcasts and narrated DVD photo scrap book with seldom heard stories about Elvis Presley's appearances and performances at the Louisiana Hayride radio program between 1954-1956.

Book Description

Broadcast News Handbook enables students and professionals to become better writers and better broadcast journalists. Backed by 50 years of combined broadcast journalism experience, the authors provide helpful discussions on crafting language and becoming an effective storyteller. Topics addressed include "Deadly Copy Sins and How to Avoid Them"; "Interviewing: Getting the Facts and the Feelings"; "Producing TV News"; and "Writing Sports."

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Carol Marsh book
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Useful and interesting book for media students

Television: A Media Student's Guide
David McQueen
Manufacturer: Arnold Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 034070604X

Book Description

Television: A Media Student's Guide is an essential companion to the study of television. It offers a clear, student-friendly account of television's brief but influential history, a description of the major television genres and a summary of concepts and debates related to this field of enquiry. There are also exercises, essays, readings and case studies which complement these areas of study.

Customer Reviews:

Useful and interesting book for media students.......2003-01-11

David McQueen's "Television - A Media Student's Guide" provides a good introduction to the study af television. I discovered the book while researching for a paper on sitcoms and the book has a chapter on this as well as soap operas, game shows, documentaries and so on. McQueen also covers topics such as public service broadcasting, new technology and even a little semiotics. It's a well-written all-round book on television.
Sadly, the book focuses mainly on British television. The chapter on sitcoms for example only focuses on British sitcoms and this somewhat limits the book's usefulness, especially if you're writing about sitcoms in general (as I was). Of course, if you're British you might not agree with this.
Still, I can recommend the book to all fellow media students.

The South Dakota media book: A surprising guide to the amazing print & broadcast media of our state for students, teachers, writers & publishers

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The student guide to mass media internships

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The student guide to mass media internships
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Manufacturer: University of Colorado, School of Journalism, Intern Research Group
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