Tony Kushner's epic gay fantasia Angels in America: Millennium Approaches opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre May 4, 1993. The production, directed by George C. Wolfe, played 21 previews and 367 performances before closing December 4, 1994. The drama was nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning four including Best Play.
Set in 1980s New York City, Millennium Approaches follows a gay man who is abandoned by his lover when he contracts the AIDS virus, while a closeted Mormon lawyer's marriage to his pill-popping wife stalls.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning drama starred Kathleen Chalfant as Hannah Pitt and others, Ron Leibman as Roy Cohn/Prior 2, David Marshall Grant as Joe Pitt/The Eskimo/Prior 1, Marcia Gay Harden as Harper Pitt/Martin Heller, Jeffrey Wright as Belize/Mr. Lies, Joe Mantello as Louis Ironson, Stephen Spinella as Prior Walter/Man in the Park, and Ellen McLaughlin as The Angel and others. Rounding out the company were Jay Goede, Matthew Sussman, Susan Bruce, Beth McDonald, and Darnell Williams as understudies.
Millennium Approaches featured scenic design by Robin Wagner, costume design by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Jules Fisher, sound design by Scott Lehrer, original music by Anthony Davis, and additional music by Michael Ward with stage management by Perry Cline, Mary K. Klinger, and Michael J. Passaro. For the complete cast and creative team, visit PlaybillVault.com/MilleniumApproaches.
In the fall of 1993, Angels in America: Perestroika joined Millennium Approaches at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where the two halves played in repertory. Like the first play in the two part epic, the following year, Perestroika would go on to win the Tony Award for Best Play.
