Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group opens its 20th Anniversary Season with an all-star cast production of Tony Kushner’s epic masterpiece Angels in America: Millenium Approaches, directed by Bobby Garcia.
Angels In America: Millennium Approaches is the first part of Tony Kushner’s monumental opus that first took Broadway by storm in 1993. It has gone on to win 10 Tony Awards including Best Play and Best Revival of a play. It has been nominated for a record breaking 22 Tony Awards and is also the winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Both parts, Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, were first performed in Manila in 1995 in a production also directed by Bobby Garcia.
In the first part of Tony Kushner's epic, subtitled A GAY FANTASIA ON NATIONAL THEMES, set in 1980's New York City, a gay man is abandoned by his lover when he contracts the AIDS virus, and a closeted Mormon lawyer's marriage to his pill-popping wife stalls. Other characters include the infamous McCarthy-ite lawyer Roy Cohn, Ethel Rosenberg, a former drag queen who works as a nurse, and an angel.
Although set in a tumultuous period in American history, it’s a story that can resonate with local audiences in its ability to capture hope in the face of socio-political changes and struggles—something that the Filipino people are no strangers to. HIV has now historically become one of the the most destructive global pandemics in history. In the Philippines alone, recent statistics show that an average of 32 Filipinos were diagnosed with HIV every day in 2018, which is a significant increase from two new daily cases ten years ago. Angels in America returns to the Philippine stage in time for a whole new generation of theatregoers to explore and discover.
As Director Bobby Garcia puts it: “What is our responsibility to the interconnectedness of our lives? What do we hold ourselves accountable for? Those are things we need to reflect on now more than ever.” He continues, “The brilliance, too, of Tony Kushner’s writing is that despite how serious a subject this is, he finds a wildly entertaining way of telling it. It is the best written play of my generation.” Garcia has also gathered a star studded cast of some of the finest actors from stage, film and television. Angels in America features Art Acuña, Pinky Amador, Angeli Bayani, Topper Fabregas, Cherie Gil, Nelsito Gomez, Andoy Ranay and Markki Stroem.
As Atlantis Theatrical opens its 20th Anniversary with Angels in America, the company hopes to inspire in their viewers a moment of reflection and remind us that we are all connected by our human experiences, and that it is through this interconnectedness that we can survive, move forward and draw strength and joy for our coming days.
Catch Angels In America: Millennium Approaches on its limited run from March 22 – April 7 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza Makati. For tickets, visit ticketworld.com.ph or call 891-9999.
