Decades Later, The Story Of 鈥楢ngels In America鈥� Lives On

瓜神app

Arts & Culture

Talk

Decades Later, The Story Of 鈥楢ngels In America鈥� Lives On

瓜神app | By Anita Rao,

Frank Stasio

Published March 15, 2018 at 12:12 PM EDT

photo of stage production - a man speaks at a podium and a group of people look up at an angel figure

1 of 4

Prior Walter (Andrew Garland) and the rest of the cast in the Bethesda Fountain scene, New York City Opera production of 'Angels in America,' 2017.

Sarah Shatz / 'The World Only Spins Forward'

photo of smiling protesters holding signs that say 'i support artistic freedom' and 'if you are not going to see it then don't complain'

2 of 4

Supporters of the Charlotte Rep production counterprotest on the night of the show鈥檚 first performance, March 20, 1996.";

Donna Bise / 'The World Only Spins Forward'

photo of people holding signs that say things like 'homosexuality is an abomination in the eyes of the eternal father'

3 of 4

Religious protestors on the route of the Gay Pride parade in New York, June 1983.

Barbara Alper / Getty Images / 'The World Only Spins Forward'

4 of 4

Donald Trump and Roy Cohn, October 18, 1984. Cohn is one of eight central characters in Tony Kushner's 'Angels In America.'

Bettmann / Contributor via Getty Images / 'The World Only Spins Forward'

Playwright Tony Kushner subtitled his seminal work a 鈥済ay fantasia on national themes.鈥� 鈥溾€� is a two-part, seven-hour play that examines the politics and culture of 1980s America through the stories of eight characters living at the peak of the AIDS epidemic. From its debut in a small San Francisco theater in 1991 to its return to Broadway this year, the play has not only earned a Pulitzer Prize and several Tony awards, but it has also struck a chord with actors, activists and writers around the world.

"For many people, for me for example, ['Angels in America'] feels like the defining work of drama for the 1980s and 1990s ... Angels stormed on to the scene and completely changed the economics of what people thought was possible on Broadway."- Dan Kois

The new book 鈥溾€� (Bloomsbury/2018) tells the story of the show鈥檚 creation and legacy through the voices of more than 200 people involved with the production over time, including actors, directors, producers, crew and playwright Tony Kushner himself. Host Frank Stasio talks with the book鈥檚 co-author , editor and writer for Slate, about collecting interviews from behind the curtain. Kois will lead a at North Carolina State University鈥檚 Hunt Library in Raleigh on Tuesday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m.