aids in the United States today 25 · 4 questions for the cast 27 · The program for Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes 33 THE BERKELEY REP MAGAZINE 2017–18 · ISSUES 5–6 AG_program.indd 1 4/4/18 3:54 PM Encore spread.indd 1 2/28/18 3:55 PM Encore spread.indd 1 2/28/18 3:55 PM AG_program.indd 4 4/4/18 3:54 PM IN THIS ISSUE 16 23 29 BERKELEY REP PRESENTS MEET THE CAST & CREW · 34 ANGELS IN AMERICA: A GAY FANTASIA ON NATIONAL THEMES · 33 PROLOGUE A letter from the artistic director · 7 Connect with us online! A letter from the managing director · 8 Visit our website berkeleyrep.org facebook.com/ @berkeleyrep You can buy tickets and plan your visit, berkeleyrep watch videos, sign up for classes, donate to vimeo.com/ @berkeleyrep REPORTS the Theatre, and explore Berkeley Rep. berkeleyrep The Messenger has arrived: berkeleyrep. berkeleyrep The art of theatrical flying ·13 We’re mobile! tumblr.com Crossing paths: Download our free iPhone or Google Play app —or visit our mobile site —to buy tickets, read An intergenerational conversation · 16 the buzz, watch videos, and plan your visit. June 2018, when 21 Ground Floor projects roam · 19 Considerations FEATURES Only beverages in cans, cartons, or cups with You are welcome to take a closer look, but The Origin Story · 20 lids are allowed in the house. Food is prohibited please don’t step onto the stage or touch in the house. the props. Tinkering and tinkering: An interview with Tony Kushner and Tony Taccone · 21 Smoking and the use of e-cigarettes is prohibited Any child who can quietly sit in their own by law on Berkeley Rep’s property. seat for a full performance is welcome at In free fall: A snapshot of aids in the mid-1980s · 23 Berkeley Rep. Please inquire if you have aids in the United States today · 25 Please keep perfume to a minimum. Many questions about content or language. All patrons are sensitive to the use of perfumes attendees must be ticketed: please, no No apologies: The life of Roy Cohn · 26 and other scents. babes in arms. 4 questions for the cast · 27 Please make sure your cell phone or watch alarm If you leave during the performance, we may What do Prior Walter and Roy Cohn have in will not beep. Use of recording equipment or taking not be able to reseat you until an appropriate common? Artist-in-residence Stephen Spinella · 29 of photographs of the show is strictly prohibited. break. You may watch the remainder of the act on a lobby or bar screen. Years prophetical! · 30 CONTRIBUTORS THE BERKELEY REP MAGAZINE Foundation, corporate, and in-kind sponsors · 45 2017–18 · ISSUES 5–6 Individual donors · 46 The Berkeley Rep Magazine Editor Writers Contact Berkeley Rep is published at least seven times Karen McKevitt James Dinneen Box Office: 510 647-2949 per season. Anthony Jackson Groups (10+): 510 647-2918 Michael Leibert Society · 48 Art Director Sarah Rose Leonard Admin: 510 647-2900 For local advertising inquiries, Nora Merecicky Madeleine Oldham School of Theatre: 510 647-2972 please contact Pamela Webster at Graphic Designer Arielle Rubin Click berkeleyrep.org 510 590-7091 or ABOUT BERKELEY REP Email [email protected] [email protected]. Kendall Markley Staff, board of trustees, and sustaining advisors ·50 2017–18 · ISSUES 5–6 · THE BERKELEY REP MAGAZINE · 5 AG_program.indd 5 4/4/18 3:54 PM April 2018 Volume 50, No. 5 & 6 Paul Heppner Publisher Susan Peterson Design & Production Director Ana Alvira, Robin Kessler, Stevie VanBronkhorst Production Artists and Graphic Design Mike Hathaway Sales Director Amelia Heppner, Marilyn Kallins, Terri Reed San Francisco/Bay Area Account Executives Brieanna Bright, Joey Chapman, Ann Manning Seattle Area Account Executives Carol Yip Sales Coordinator Paul Heppner President Mike Hathaway Vice President Genay Genereux Accounting & Office Manager Shaun Swick Senior Designer & Digital Lead Barry Johnson Digital Engagement Specialist Ciara Caya Customer Service Representative & Administrative Assistant Corporate Office 425 North 85th Street Seattle, WA 98103 p 206.443.0445 f 206.443.1246 [email protected] Reach Your Highest 800.308.2898 x105 Business Potential www.encoremediagroup.com • Make getting reviews a breeze • Show up higher in search results • Appear in “near me” searches Encore Arts Programs is published monthly by Encore Media Group to serve musical and theatrical events in the Puget Sound and San Francisco Bay Areas. All rights reserved. www.real.review ©2018 Encore Media Group. Reproduction without written permission is prohibited. 6 · THE BERKELEY REP MAGAZINE · 2017–18 · ISSUES 5–6 AG_program.indd 6 4/4/18 3:54 PM PROLOGUE from the Artistic Director The state of our Union has always been pre- carious. American history is the history of constant struggle, between those trying to foment change and those trying to maintain some version of the status quo. The very nature of our democracy, straddling the line between giving voice to every opinion while maintaining civility and respect for the law, is always exposed to discord and upheaval. It is a precarious balance at best, and when that balance is undone, when the Marginalized are ignored or oppressed to the point of despair, polarization sets in, unleashing waves of hatred and violence. Never more so than now. Led by our President, who seems hell-bent on destroy- ing that balance, expressions of generosity towards our political opponents seem to have all but evaporated. Every new tweet from the White House brings a new outpouring of bile, accusing anyone who disagrees with the administration of being a liar, a cheat, or a traitor. Fueled by this behavior, a seismic political and cultural shift is underway, an attempt by ultra-conservative forces to assert their worldview over the entire country. Not only are the progressive ideals and legislative gains of the last 80 years under attack, but truth itself. “Fake news” has become part of our lexicon. There is no objective truth, these people tell us, save for what serves the individual. Every transaction—political, economic, sexual—is fueled primarily by the ruthless code of self-interest and the correctness of their old world order. Amidst the chaotic, day-to-day fights over various issues, another, larger struggle has emerged…a strug- gle over the definition of human nature: whether we see ourselves through the prism of our basest animal instincts or the “angels of our better nature.” Which brings me to Angels in America. My favorite play by my favorite writer. One Tony Kushner: True Great Vocalist, Knowing Mind, Tongue-of-the-Land, Seer-Head! With its fierce dissection of America’s political power, its championing of democ- racy, and its embracing of all things human, Kushner’s play is a spectacular, visionary portrait of our country. Its vast assortment of themes all emanate from the central, animating question: Can we change? In time. Before it’s too late. Do we have the vision necessary to re-imagine our democracy, the will to sustain a society built on equality and inclusion, the courage to look at our prejudices, to look beyond our personal experience and commit to the greater good? These questions are more pressing than ever. We can only hope that our answers approach the tran- scendent optimism of the play. It is a great gift to present Angels to you. We have tapped the full measure of our resources and skills to realize its astonishing, imaginative reach. Thank you for sup- porting our efforts, for actively participating in the conversation, and for being open. We love you for that…. Sincerely, Tony Taccone 2017–18 · ISSUES 5–6 · THE BERKELEY REP MAGAZINE · 7 AG_program.indd 7 4/4/18 3:54 PM PROLOGUE from the Managing Director As Tony Taccone has been looking toward the end of his long and successful tenure as artistic director of Berkeley Rep, there have been projects he has wanted, maybe even needed, to be able to mark as “done” and artists whom he has wanted to recognize. Angels in America is one of those undertakings that Tony absolutely needed to revisit before he left. We have talked about this remarkable American masterpiece for many years, and it is altogether fitting that in this, his penultimate season, we should finally undertake this theatrical equivalent of Mt. Everest. However, it is next season, Tony’s last, that represents so much of the thoughtfulness that has shaped our programming for 20 years. It includes the return of director Les Waters, who will helm A Doll’s House, Part 2, a wildly funny riff on Ibsen’s classic of early feminism. And we are proud to introduce you to Jackie Sibblies Drury, whose play Fairview—a fearless and fascinating exploration of race in America—was incubated in our Ground Floor Summer Residency Lab. Associate Director Lisa Peterson and her collaborator Denis O’Hare return for the first time since An Iliad with The Good Book, a timely exploration of our relationship to the Bible. And, we re-introduce you to Geoff Sobelle (who was last at Berkeley Rep with All Wear Bowlers in 2006), a terrifically exciting artist whose Home plays with form and structure in a way that we think you will love. In the tradition of our varied and always surprising adventures in music theatre, we are so proud to offer you a new musical, Paradise Square, that brings together director Moisés Kaufman (The Laramie Project), local playwright Marcus Gardley (The House that will not Stand) along with Craig Lucas (Amélie), choreographer Bill T. Jones (Spring Awakening), and lyricist Nathan Tyson (Amélie) for an epic story set during the Civil War when race and draft riots threatened to tear New York’s Five Points neighborhood apart.