This afternoon I went to the Museum of Performance & Design to visit a gallery filled with memorabilia related to Tony Kushner's epic, 7 hour play Angels in America. The exhibit opens with a Formica kitchen table on which Mr. Kushner wrote the play. Besides playbills, photos, costumes & props from early productions of the play, the exhibit provides a little background on Mr. Kushner & the sources for the play. It is no surprise to learn that Herman Melville is Mr. Kushner's favorite writer. It is amusing to see the Eureka Theatre's original commission, specifying that "The play shall not exceed 2 1/2 hours in its final playing form." No less than 4 pairs of angels wings are on display, & one can read a few pages of Mr. Kushner's notebooks. I learned that there's an opera version by Péter Eötvös which pares the action back down to 2 1/2 hours. The exhibit makes me want to wear the sweatshirt, emblazoned with a winged letter A, that I bought when I attended the play at the end of its Broadway run.§ More Life!
Angels in America at Twenty
Museum of Performance & Design
November 6, 2010 - March 26, 2011
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