Casting:
"Most of the cast members perform double duty...playing various roles throughout the story. It’s left unclear whether they are playing different characters or manifestations of a single character... The only one that doesn’t fit is Streep’s initial appearance, which serves more for a lark than thematic importance." http://www.thecinemasource.com/movies/reviews/Angels-in-America-DVD-review-2356-0.html
In regards to the question of whether or not to honor Kushner's original intent with the double casting of certain parts, I definitely would follow what is specified in the script. The reason being that I think there is thematic and artistic statements made in the choices of which character doubles which part, and that appeals to me as a director. For instance, the Actor playing the Angel and Emily also plays The Woman in the South Bronx as well as Sister Ella Chapter, Hannah Pitt's one real friend in Salt Lake City. After Hannah leaves Sister Ella and the safe haven of Utah for New York, the first person she deals with and is helped by is the slightly psychotic Woman of the South Bronx. The double casting is an important specification by the playwright that should not be ignored if given a choice.
"Reflections, doubleness and ambiguity organise the protagonists' world, a fact emphasised already by the double casting of many of the roles." http://www.dialogfestival.pl/eng/programme-spectacles-angels.htm
The Angel:
"She appears rather undramatically as just a very special nurse, an interesting angels-among-us concept that nonetheless diminishes a grand theatrical and potentially glorious musical moment." Photo taken from An Opera Unlimited presentation of Angels in America, an opera in two acts with music by Peter Eotvos, libretto by Mari Mezei, based on the play by Tony Kushner. Directed by Steven Maler. Conductor, Gil Rose. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117930862.html?categoryid=33&cs=1
This is a review of the operatic version of Kushner's play, yet it encompasses the same feelings I have towards the presentation of the much anticipated angel. Throughout the show, the angel's voice is heard, heralding an impending event of great importance. The arrival of the angel is arguably the play's most most powerful visual statement. The flying of the angel should be realized with an artful, dramatic, and beautiful approach.
"One of the most notorious lines from Millennium is Prior's reaction as the angel crashes through the ceiling at the end of the play: "God Almighty . . . very Stephen Spielberg!" Yet however effective this moment is on stage, it becomes problematic when the medium of the play is, in fact, film. The HBO production thus made the somewhat predictable choice to omit this line. The special effects of this scene in the film are remarkable-the ceiling crashes in, books tumble off the shelves, the entire room tilts and shakes, and eerie light emanates from closets as items fly mysteriously outward. Yet although this scene may look like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, no reference to Spielberg remains. This is an unfortunate cut, because without this line the film does not access the metatheatrical potential of the angel's arrival in the same way that the original play did, so we are left instead with a great deal of dust and debris and a dangling angel (Emma Thompson) who looks uncertain as to what her role in these proceedings should be. "
Nudity
"In a posting on MLive.com, Glenn called the nudity in the play, 'tax funded porn.' " http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:CfHoa6ipN5gJ:www.pridesource.com/article.shtml%3Farticle%3D24847+angels+in+america+prior+nudity&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us
In my production of the show, I would keep the nudity to, again, perserve the raw, button-pushing script that Kushner has provided. AIDS is not a pretty disease, and the nudity really drives this point home. However, I do think it should be handled with taste and respect. If the community standards called for a different approach, this is one area that could perhaps be toned down with staging effects like the use of a scrim, or lighting.
" 'I opted not to pretend, or to keep secrets,'' she said in a telephone interview from her home in Middletown after a recent rehearsal. When two men kiss, for example, or there is a nude scene, it is possible for a director to soften the images or darken the stage as an offering of protection, one might say, but Ms. Gardiner said, ''I feel it's all part of Tony's storytelling.' " http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9D03E6DE143FF935A1575AC0A96F958260
Language
"What I still don't care for (and what would have made this very wrong for the theatre for which I read this originally)is the graphic language and imagery. " http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/37604505
Yes, there are a lot of hot-button issues touched upon in the play, aided by the use of curse words, graphic expressions, and racial slurs. The Roy Cohn character, being the primary advocate of foul language, is defined by such syntax. A Roy Cohn walking around on stage without his distinctive adjectives is far less effective and completely against character. The curse words are so frequent in Roy's speeches that cutting the language would leave the actor playing Roy far less lines to memorize.
"Although I felt the book was surprisingly full of language and explicit details, details I sometimes think should have been left to my imagination, I can't help but appreciate the truth that it provided for me by being so real and surprising. We live in a sheltered world where we want to shelter our children from all that can harm them, but in the end we don't realize that it is the sheltering that does the most damage to our youth. " http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:wPOVXnueZpIJ:www.amazon.com/Angels-America-Parts-One-Two/product-reviews/1559361077+angels+in+america+review+language&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=us
Intermissions
"I don't think I can adequately express how good this performance was. The play started at 7 and we were out at 10:30 (there were two intermissions). I didn't even notice the time." http://www.goldstar.com/events/fullerton-ca/angels-in-america.html#member_reviews
Personally, I like where the intermissions fall in the script and would take two 10 minute breaks between each Act. However, the way we are doing it here - with just one intermission - is also quite effective. In this case, I feel that either choice would be acceptable, and factors like the type of audience, theatre, and run time goals would help shape the decision.
"And Carter J. Davis, as the sincere and nervous Louis, helps us forget how slowly the time is crawling by. But it's not enough: After the two-hour first act, I wanted to leave. So I did." http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=640938
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