Angels in America was commissioned by the Eureka Theatre in San Francisco, by co-artistic directors Oskar Eustis and Tony Taccone.[5] It was first performed in Los Angeles as a workshop in May 1990 by the Center Theatre Group at the Mark Taper Forum.
Millennium Approaches premiered in May 1991 in a production performed by the Eureka Theatre Company of San Francisco, directed by David Esbjornson.[6] In London it premiered in a National Theatre production at the Cottesloe Theatre, directed by Declan Donnellan.[7] Henry Goodman played Cohn, Nick Reding played Joe, Felicity Montagu played Harper, Marcus D'Amico played Louis, and Sean Chapman played Prior.[7] Opening on January 23, 1992, the London production ran for a year. In November 1992 it visited Düsseldorf as part of the first Union des Théâtres de l'Europe festival.[8]
The play's second part, Perestroika, was still being developed as Millennium Approaches was being performed. It was performed several times as staged readings by both the Eureka Theatre (during the world premiere of part one in 1991), and the Mark Taper Forum (in May 1992). It premiered in November 1992 in a production by the Mark Taper Forum, directed by Oskar Eustis and Tony Taccone. In November 1993 it received its London debut in a National Theatre production on the Cottesloe stage, in repertory with a revival of Millennium Approaches, again directed by Declan Donnellan.[8] David Schofield played Cohn, Daniel Craig played Joe, Clare Holman played Harper, Jason Isaacs played Louis, Joseph Mydell played Belize and won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Stephen Dillane played Prior.[8]
The entire two-part play debuted on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre in 1993, directed by George C. Wolfe, with Millennium Approaches performed on May 4 and Perestroika joining it in repertory on November 23, closing December 4, 1994. The original cast included Ron Leibman, Stephen Spinella, Kathleen Chalfant, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeffrey Wright, Ellen McLaughlin, David Marshall Grant and Joe Mantello. Among the replacements during the run were F. Murray Abraham (for Ron Leibman), Cherry Jones (for Ellen McLaughlin), Dan Futterman (for Joe Mantello), Cynthia Nixon (for Marcia Gay Harden) and Jay Goede (for David Marshall Grant). Millennium Approaches and Perestroika were awarded, in 1993 and 1994 respectively, both the Tony Awards for Best Play and Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Play.
The published script indicates that Kushner made a few revisions to Perestroika in the following year. These changes officially completed the work in 1995.[9] In 1994, the first national tour launched at the Royal George Theater in Chicago, directed by Michael Mayer, with the following cast: Peter Birkenhead as Louis Ironson, Reginald Flowers as Belize, Kate Goehring as Harper Pitt, Jonathan Hadary as Roy Cohn, Philip E. Johnson as Joe Pitt, Barbara E. Robertson as Hannah Pitt, Robert Sella as Prior, and Carolyn Swift as the Angel.[10]
The Australian premiere of Millennium Approaches was produced by Melbourne Theatre Company at Russell Street Theatre on 15 October 1993, running till 20 November 1993.[11] The Australian premier of the entire two-part play was also produced by Melbourne Theatre Company, presented at the Playhouse, Melbourne, on 30 August 1994, running through till 25 September 1994. .[12]
A Toronto production of both plays, directed by Bob Baker, opened at CanStage's Berkley Theatre in November 1996 and ran for 8 months. The cast included Steve Cumyn (Prior), Alex Poch-Goldin (Louis), Tom Wood (Roy Cohn), Patricia Hamilton (Hannah, Ethel Rosenberg and others), David Storch (Joe), Karen Hines (Harper), Cassel Miles (Belize, Mr. Lies and others) and Linda Prystawska (Angel and othes).
Kushner made relatively minor revisions to Millennium Approaches and additional, more substantial revisions to Perestroika during a run at the Signature Theatre in 2010, which were published in a 2013 complete edition. That production was directed by Michael Greif and featured Christian Borle as Prior, Zachary Quinto as Louis, Billy Porter as Belize, Bill Heck as Joe, Zoe Kazan as Harper, Robin Bartlett as Hannah, Frank Wood as Roy, and Robin Weigert as the angel.[13]
In 2013, a production of the two-part play was produced by Sydney-based theatre company, Belvoir. The cast featured Luke Mullins as Prior Walter, Mitchell Butel as Louis Ironson,[14] Marcus Graham as Roy Cohn, Ashley Zukerman as Joe Pitt, Amber McMahon as Harper Pitt, Robyn Nevin as Hannah Pitt, DeObia Oparei as Belize, and Paula Arundell as The Angel.[15] The show ran from June 1 to July 14 at the Belvoir St Theatre, before transferring to the Theatre Royal for the remainder of its run. The production finished its season on July 27.[16][17]
A second Toronto production by Soulpepper Theatre Company in 2013 and 2014 starred Damien Atkins as Prior Walter, Gregory Prest as Louis, Mike Ross as Joe, Diego Matamoros as Roy and Nancy Palk as Hannah, Ethel Rosenberg and the rabbi.[18]
Millennium Approaches made its Edinburgh Fringe Festival debut, in a production by St Andrews-based Mermaids Theatre, in August 2013 to critical acclaim.
Asia premiered the play in its entirety in 1995 by the New Voice Company in the Philippines.[19]
This was followed by another production in November 2014 at the Singapore Airlines Theatre.[20]
An Italian adaptation of the play premiered in Modena in 2007, in a production directed by Ferdinando Bruni and Elio De Capitani[21] which was awarded several national awards.[22] The same production ran for three days in Madrid in 2012.
In the fall of 2016, the Round House Theatre and Olney Theatre Center in Montgomery County, Maryland, collaborated to present a 25th anniversary production of the play, offering Parts I and II in repertory.[23] The Washington Post's theater critic called it an "epically engrossing, acidly funny masterwork."[24]
In April 2017, a new production began previews at the National Theatre, London in the Lyttleton Theatre. Directed by Marianne Elliott, the cast included Andrew Garfield as Prior Walter with Russell Tovey as Joe, Denise Gough as Harper, James McArdle as Louis Ironson, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Belize and Nathan Lane as Roy Cohn.[25] In April 2018, the production was nominated for six Olivier Awards, winning for Best Revival and Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Play for Gough.[26] The production was filmed and broadcast to cinemas around the world as part of the National Theatre Live initiative, and later released in 2021 on the company's NT at Home streaming service.[27]
In August 2017, a new production of Millennium Approaches was brought to San Juan, Puerto Rico, by Teatro Público Inc. Directed by Benjamín Cardona, the cast featured Carlos Miranda as Roy Cohn, Jacqueline Duprey as Hannah, Gabriela Saker as Harper, and Liván Albelo as Prior. The production received critical praise and launched the new theater company.[28]
In September 2017, a revival of the two plays were staged in Melbourne at fortyfivedownstairs for nearly a four-week run. The cast included veteran actor Helen Morse as Hannah Pitt, and Margaret Mills (who had appeared in the original Australian premiere of the play in 1994) as The Angel.[29][30]
In February 2018, the 2017 Royal National Theatre production transferred to Broadway for an 18-week engagement at the Neil Simon Theatre. The majority of the London cast returned, with Lee Pace replacing Tovey as Joe, and Beth Malone playing the Angel at certain performances.[31][32] Previews began on February 23, 2018 with opening night on March 25.[33][31] The production won for Best Revival of a Play at that year's Tony Awards, with Garfield and Lane winning for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play respectively for their reprisal of their National Theatre performances, while Denise Gough and Susan Brown were nominated for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play. The production was recorded as an audiobook by Random House Audio, with Malone as the Angel and Bobby Canavale and Edie Falco narrating.[34]
A critically acclaimed production opened at Berkeley Repertory Theatre[35] in April 2018, directed by original commissioner Tony Taccone and featuring Randy Harrison as Prior, Stephen Spinella (who originated Prior Walter on Broadway) as Roy Cohn, Carmen Roman as Hannah, Benjamin T. Ismail as Louis, Danny Binstock as Joe, Bethany Jillard as Harper, Francisca Faridany and Lisa Ramirez alternating as the Angel, and Caldwell Tidicue, better known as Bob the Drag Queen, making his stage debut as Belize.
In the spring of 2023, Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage presented Part 1, Millennium Approaches, starkly staged by Hungarian director Janos Szasz.[36] The Washington Post's critic noted "Angels in America is back in freshly provocative, exhilarating form," particularly "the collision of seven disparate figures...who interconnect over matters political, medical, romantic — and most malignantly, through the machinations of one of them, lawyer Roy Cohn, played by Edward Gero to the toxic T."[37]
