Trivia for
"Angels in America" (2003) More at IMDbPro »

• Some of the actors play multiple parts, just as was done in the play.
  
  
• Jeffrey Wright was the only original cast member to appear in the film version.
  
  
• The bearded, older gentleman who guides Prior around heaven is played by Oskar Eustis, who was the director of the play when it played (twice) in Los Angeles (on its way to New York).
  
  
• Both Robert Altman and Neil LaBute were considered to direct. It was Altman who first attracted Al Pacino to the role of Roy Cohn.
  
  
• When Louis speaks to the Rabbi played by Meryl Streep after his grandmother's funeral, two of the rabbis also sitting on the cemetery bench are played by Tony Kushner (who wrote the play and screenplay) and children's book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, who collaborated on the book Brundibar with Kushner.
  
  
• The painting displayed during Joe and Harper's living room talk about his childhood dreams is entitled "Jacob Wrestling with the Angel" and was painted in 1865 by Alexander-Louis Leloir.
  
  
• Sir Michael Gambon reportedly threatened violence on anyone on set who addressed him by his full proper title.
  
  
• The first episode drew 4.2 million viewers, making it the most-watched cable show of the year.
  
  
• Among its seven Golden Globe nominations were mentions for all its principal cast members (a most unusual occurrence) with the sole exception of Justin Kirk. The reason for his omission was that he was originally put forward for a Supporting Actor nomination, until it was realized that he actually has more screen time than most of his co-stars. However, by switching to the Best Actor category, he was effectively canceled out as he lost the votes he had previously amassed in the supporting category.
  
  
• Co-executive producer Cary Brokaw brought Tony Kushner's script to Mike Nichols' attention when they were working on the TV movie Wit (2001) (TV).
  
  
• P.J. Hogan was another director under consideration.
  
  
• The play's subtitle was "A Gay Fantasia on National Themes".
  
  
• When Prior Walter and Harper Pitt share a dream, the set is based on a dream in Jean Cocteau's film La belle et la bête (1946). When Prior Walter ascends to heaven, portions of heaven are based on Cocteau's view of the afterlife in Orphée (1950).
  
  
• The telephone number Roy calls in the hospital, 202-244-3116 is the telephone number of a DC area movie theatre.
  
  
• When Nurse Emily starts babbling in Hebrew to Prior, she's actually reciting El Malei Rachamim, the prayer for the dead, asking for the repose of Prior's soul.
  
  
• The Yiddish song that Ethel sings is "Tumbalalaika", an Eastern European/Russian folk song often used as a children's lullaby.
  
  
• The Central Park fountain that is prominently featured in Kushner's play and its film adaptation is officially titled "The Angel of the Waters" and familiarly known as "The Bethesda Fountain." It was installed in 1873 and sculpted by artist Emma Stebbins (1815-1882), who was the first woman to be commissioned to create a sculpture for the City of New York. Stebbins was also the sister of the president of the Central Park Board of Commissioners, and the longtime romantic partner of world-famous actress Charlotte Saunders Cushman.
  
  
• The prayer that Belize asks Louis to recite (and which Louis completes with Ethel's help) is the Mourner's Kaddish, one of the central prayers of Judaism. It is recited in memory of the recently deceased, at funerals, on the anniversary of a deceased loved one's death, and as a part of the standard Jewish religious service. The word "Kaddish" means "sanctification," and the prayer is entirely made up of praises for God; there is no mention of death anywhere in it. Parts of the prayer are inspired by passages from the books of Ezekiel and Daniel. Though most prayers in Jewish liturgy are in Hebrew, the Kaddish is actually in Aramaic.
  
  
• Ben Shenkman played the role of Roy Cohn during a workshop production of "Peristroka" when the play was still undergoing rewrites. Debra Messing played the role of Harper.
  
  
• During his first scene with Joe, Roy takes a call from the elderly wife of a Republican ("Nixon appointee") client who is coming to New York as a tourist and wants tickets to a Broadway musical. Roy tells her that she will not like "La Cage aux Folles", even though he parenthetically tells Joe that "La Cage" is the "best thing on Broadway, maybe ever." Roy suspects that his conservative client will likely not enjoy "La Cage" because its plot presents a positive portrayal of gay men in a devoted long-term relationship.
  
  
• Stephen Spinella won the 1994 Tony Award (New York City) for Actor in a Drama for "Angels in America: Perestroika" as Prior Walter.
  
  
• The miniseries script is based on two Broadway plays, "Angels in America: Perestroika" and "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches" and both won the Tony Award for the Best Plays of 1993 and 1994. "Angels in America: Perestroika" opened at the Walter Kerr Theater on May 4, 1993 and ran for 367 performances. "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches," opened at the Walter Kerr Theater on November 23, 1993 and ran for 217 performances. Both plays were written by by Tony Kushner who also wrote the scripts for the miniseries. Jeffrey Wright won the 1994 Tony Award (New York City) for Supporting or Features Actor in a Drama for "Angels in America: Perestroika" and recreated his roles in this TV production.
  
  
• The play "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches" on which the first three episodes are based won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1993.
  
  
• The original Broadway production of the play "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes (Part 1: Millennium Approaches)" opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre on May 4, 1993 and was directed by George C. Wolfe. The original Broadway cast was Ron Leibman (Roy Cohn); Joe Mantello (Louis Ironson); Marcia Gay Harden (Harper Pitt/Martin Heller); Kathleen Chalfant (Hannah Pitt/Ethel Rosenberg/others); David Marshall Grant (Joe Pitt/others); Stephen Spinella (Prior Walter/Man in the Park; Jeffrey Wright (Belize/Mr. Lies) and Ellen McLaughlin (The Angel of America/others).
  
  
• The original London production of the play "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes (Part 1: Millennium Approaches)" opened at the Royal National Theatre in January 1992 and was directed by Declan Donnellan. The London cast included: David Schofield (Roy Cohn); Jason Isaacs (Louis Ironson); Clare Holman (Harper Pitt); Susan Engel (Hannah Pitt/Ethel Rosenberg); Daniel Craig (Joe Pitt); Stephen Dillane (Prior Walter/Man in the Park); Joseph Mydell (Belize/Mr. Lies) and Nancy Crane (The Angel of America/others).
  
  
• The play's original subtitle ("A Gay Fantasia on National Themes") is based on the rarely used subtitle for George Bernard Shaw's play "Heartbreak House," which is "A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes."
  
  

• SPOILER: At the end of the film, when Prior talks about the Bethesda Fountain, he points across the Central Park Lake and mentions some trees that turn yellow in autumn. Those trees are part of a section of the park called "The Ramble," which is the setting for Louis' aborted sexual encounter with a stranger (also played by Justin Kirk) earlier in the film. The Ramble is also where Joe goes to watch other men before he knows Louis, and it is included in the list of popular 1970s and early '80s-era New York City-area locations for public gay sex that Louis recounts to Joe while they are walking on the beach.
  
  
• SPOILER: When Prior asks Hannah for advice on how to reject his calling to prophecy, she tells him that he should wrestle the angel and tell her, "l will not let thee go except thou bless me." Hannah is referring to Genesis 32:25-33, the story from the Torah in which an angel wrestled Jacob, who likewise refused to release the angel until he got a blessing from him. This is the same bible story to which Joe refers earlier in the film when he tells Harper about the picture of a beautiful man that he often looked at as a child, and about which he still dreams.
  
  

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