Coming Along

Last night was the first time the cast ran through the whole first and second acts of the play. From what I have seen, the characters are really starting to develop and it's becoming a more exciting experience every time we go through a scene. The whole cast is so strong and I am so excited to continue blocking Act III and see what else lies ahead!!

New Pics!!

The Millennium is Approaching

Here are some pics from tonight! Great rehearsal. Tomorrow....we run Act I. The Millennium is approaching!!

Threshhold of Revelation

Tonight we staged two of the most popular scenes in Angels in America: Scene 7, the "Threshold of Revelation scene and Scene 8, the "I burned dinner" scene. As a director working these scenes in acting classes and seeing these scenes in various showcases, I felt a bit of pressure to make them work. What new life could I breathe into words that I had heard countless actors speak before? Tonight I saw these two scenes as if I had never seen them before. Azman Toy and Chelsea Baungarcher brought style and vulnerability to both Prior and Harper tonight. Chelsea brought a particularly inspired take on the following:

Harper (to Prior): Deep inside you, there's a part of you, the most inner part, entirely free of disease. I can see that.

I was in tears. I'm also seeing raw and exillarating work from Shane Todd as Joe and Brad Mascari as Louis. Finally, Jess Brockmeyer as the Rabbi and Sam Wiitila as the Angel are digging deep into the core of their roles.

I'm looking forward to bringing back Andrew Lightfoot's Roy and Julian Archer's Belize in the next few days. My goal is to run the first act on Friday.

Kushner is alive and well in Harford County Maryland!!!!!

-Ryan

P.S. Live performance shots coming soon!!

On Our Feet

Tonight we got on our feet for the first time and it was very exciting. After a fantastic meeting with Teri (our scenic designer) we were moving chairs around and creating the world of the play. This cast continues to amaze me with the raw enthusiasm and energy they bring to the room. I continue to feel that when I really listen to Kushner's words, I can't go wrong.

Scenes 1-5 are blocked....hopefully most of Act I will be finished by tomorrow night.

Stay tuned.......

Angels In America@ HCC--First Post

The purpose of this blog is to document the process of creating Angels In America: Millennium Approaches at Harford Community College in Harford County Maryland. As the cast, design team, construction/TD team and the general Theatre Guild membership prepare to take on this awesome task, I thought it would be great to document our journey. I'm especially interested in everyone keeping in touch during our current weather crisis. So here goes......let's start blogging.

-Ryan