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[[caption-width-right:350:Creator/EmmaThompson as the Angel]]Angels in America is a TV miniseries directed by Creator/MikeNichols, based on a UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize- and Tony Award-winning play written by Tony Kushner. It is set in 6 roughly hour long episodes, which, like the original play is presented in two parts, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', each of which is three episodes long. It was originally released by Creator/{{HBO}} in December 7 –December 14, 2003.
The play is set in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity from the fall of 1985 into spring of 1986, during the rise of AIDS awareness, and focuses on an enormous variety of topics, from politics to religion to dysfunctional families. The main story line follows a young gay man named Prior Walter, who has just discovered he is HIV-positive. After subsequently being abandoned by his lover Louis, he receives a vision from Heaven, in which an Angel visits him. She tells him that Heaven once was a paradise, but that human progress creates "earthquakes" in Heaven and after a particularly severe one, God abandoned them. She compels him to go out into the world and tell his fellow humans to stop moving forward, so that God may return.
The play is set in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity from the fall of 1985 into spring of 1986, during the rise of AIDS awareness, and focuses on an enormous variety of topics, from politics to religion to dysfunctional families. The main story line follows a young gay man named Prior Walter, who has just discovered he is HIV-positive. After subsequently being abandoned by his lover Louis, he receives a vision from Heaven, in which an Angel visits him. She tells him that Heaven once was a paradise, but that human progress creates "earthquakes" in Heaven and after a particularly severe one, God abandoned them. She compels him to go out into the world and tell his fellow humans to stop moving forward, so that God may return.
to:
[[caption-width-right:350:Creator/EmmaThompson as the Angel]]Angels in America is a TV miniseries directed by Creator/MikeNichols, based on a UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize- and Tony Award-winning play written by Tony Kushner. It is set in 6 roughly hour long hour-long episodes, which, like the original play play, is presented in two parts, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', each of which is three episodes long. It was originally released by Creator/{{HBO}} in on December 7 –December 14, 2003.
The play is set in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity from the fall of 1985 into the spring of 1986, during the rise of AIDS awareness, and focuses on an enormous variety of topics, from politics to religion to dysfunctional families. The mainstory line storyline follows a young gay man named Prior Walter, who has just discovered he is HIV-positive. After subsequently being abandoned by his lover Louis, he receives a vision from Heaven, in which an Angel visits him. She tells him that Heaven once was a paradise, paradise but that human progress creates "earthquakes" in Heaven Heaven, and after a particularly severe one, God abandoned them. She compels him to go out into the world and tell his fellow humans to stop moving forward, forward so that God may return.
The play is set in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity from the fall of 1985 into the spring of 1986, during the rise of AIDS awareness, and focuses on an enormous variety of topics, from politics to religion to dysfunctional families. The main
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* AmicableExes: Prior and Belize dated for some time before the beginning of the play, but are still very good friends. [[spoiler: Also Prior and Louis, by the end of the play.]]
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* AmicableExes: Prior and Belize dated for some time before the beginning of the play, play but are still very good friends. [[spoiler: Also Prior and Louis, Louis by the end of the play.]]
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* TheBigDamnKiss: [[spoiler:Hannah and The Angel]], complete with fireworks.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Joe is a closeted political conservative, sure, but he's also a bit of a woobie. [[spoiler:Then he abandons his wife hallucinating around New York only for her to be bailed out and taken in by his timely-arriving mother, and eventually, Louis after some legal library work reveals him not just to be closeted and nominally socially conservative, but to be an evil RulesLawyer.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Joe is a closeted political conservative, sure, but he's also a bit of a woobie. [[spoiler:Then he abandons his wife hallucinating around New York only for her to be bailed out and taken in by his timely-arriving mother, and eventually, Louis after some legal library work reveals him not just to be closeted and nominally socially conservative, but to be an evil RulesLawyer.]]
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* TheBigDamnKiss: [[spoiler:Hannah [[spoiler: Hannah and The Angel]], complete with fireworks.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Joe is a closeted political conservative, sure, but he's also a bit of a woobie.[[spoiler:Then [[spoiler: Then he abandons his wife hallucinating around New York York, only for her to be bailed out and taken in by his timely-arriving mother, and eventually, Louis Louis, after some legal library work work, reveals him not just to be closeted and nominally socially conservative, conservative but to be an evil RulesLawyer.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Joe is a closeted political conservative, sure, but he's also a bit of a woobie.
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** In his first scene opposite Belize, Roy tells him to get lost, [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain saying that he wants a white nurse, and later calls him a "dim black motherfucker".]] After that, Roy tries to claim that he's not a prejudiced man, which is further shown to be bullshit when he starts dropping not only racial, but homophobic slurs against Belize.
** After telling Joe he has cancer, when Joe brings this up later on, Roy denies this and declares that he's in perfect health. Roy actually manages to combine this trope with the truth, as he's correct in saying that he doesn't have cancer, but is lying in saying that he never told Joe he had it. In fact, no moment in the show better represents Roy's penchant for falsities than the interaction below.
** After telling Joe he has cancer, when Joe brings this up later on, Roy denies this and declares that he's in perfect health. Roy actually manages to combine this trope with the truth, as he's correct in saying that he doesn't have cancer, but is lying in saying that he never told Joe he had it. In fact, no moment in the show better represents Roy's penchant for falsities than the interaction below.
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** In his first scene opposite Belize, Roy tells him to get lost, [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain saying that he wants a white nurse, and later calls him a "dim black motherfucker".]] After that, Roy tries to claim that he's not a prejudiced man, which is further shown to be bullshit when he starts dropping not only racial, racial but homophobic slurs against Belize.
** After telling Joe he has cancer, when Joe brings this up later on, Roy denies this and declares that he's in perfect health. Roy actually manages to combine this trope with the truth, as he's correct in saying that he doesn't have cancer, but he is lying in saying that he never told Joe he had it. In fact, no moment in the show better represents Roy's penchant for falsities than the interaction below.
** After telling Joe he has cancer, when Joe brings this up later on, Roy denies this and declares that he's in perfect health. Roy actually manages to combine this trope with the truth, as he's correct in saying that he doesn't have cancer, but he is lying in saying that he never told Joe he had it. In fact, no moment in the show better represents Roy's penchant for falsities than the interaction below.
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-->'''Roy''': No I didn't. I said what?
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-->'''Roy''': No No, I didn't. I said what?
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* ClosetKey: [[spoiler:The Angel]], if you agree with the interpretation that Hannah is gay.
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* ClosetKey: [[spoiler:The [[spoiler: The Angel]], if you agree with the interpretation that Hannah is gay.
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* DecoyProtagonist: The first few scenes can give the impression that Louis is the protagonist, and the play is all about him coping with his boyfriend's AIDS diagnosis. Then his boyfriend--Prior--begins {{hearing voices}}...
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* DecoyProtagonist: The first few scenes can give the impression that Louis is the protagonist, and the play is all about him coping with his boyfriend's AIDS diagnosis. Then his boyfriend--Prior--begins {{hearing voices}}...
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* DueToTheDead: Belize insists that Louis say the Kaddish for [[spoiler:Roy]]. Louis agrees, but follows it up with "Yousonofabitch."
* EnsembleCast: It's clear by the end of the show that Prior is the main character, but the show still gives all eight main characters plenty of screen time and their own respective arcs both with and without Prior. The fact that [[ActingForTwo many actors doubles as at another character]] emphasizes this.
* EnsembleCast: It's clear by the end of the show that Prior is the main character, but the show still gives all eight main characters plenty of screen time and their own respective arcs both with and without Prior. The fact that [[ActingForTwo many actors doubles as at another character]] emphasizes this.
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* DueToTheDead: Belize insists that Louis say the Kaddish for [[spoiler:Roy]]. [[spoiler: Roy]]. Louis agrees, agrees but follows it up with "Yousonofabitch."
* EnsembleCast: It's clear by the end of the show that Prior is the main character, but the show still gives all eight main characters plenty of screen time and their own respective arcs both with and without Prior. The fact that [[ActingForTwo many actors doubles asat another character]] emphasizes this.
* EnsembleCast: It's clear by the end of the show that Prior is the main character, but the show still gives all eight main characters plenty of screen time and their own respective arcs both with and without Prior. The fact that [[ActingForTwo many actors doubles as
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* FakingTheDead: Roy pulls this trick on the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg, who pushes the nurse's call button and starts rejoicing--only to have Roy spring back to life and gloat at it having worked. Subverted when [[spoiler: the monitors he's hooked up to then flatline, and he dies for real, in a very violent fashion.]]
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* FakingTheDead: Roy pulls this trick on the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg, who pushes the nurse's call button and starts rejoicing--only to have Roy spring back to life and gloat at it having worked. Subverted when [[spoiler: the monitors he's hooked up to then flatline, and he dies for real, real in a very violent fashion.]]
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* FauxAffablyEvil: Roy Cohn can turn on the charm when he wants to, and talks about loyalty and family often. But isn't beyond being an aggressive, manipulative political fixer who flouts both ethics and legality, he's also a racist, anti-Semitic homophobe despite being a gay Jewish man himself. He's wildly petty and vindictive, somewhat paranoid, and very willing to use intimidation, threats, bribery and any leverage other leverage he has to get what he wants from people.
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* FauxAffablyEvil: Roy Cohn can turn on the charm when he wants to, and he talks about loyalty and family often. But he isn't beyond being an aggressive, manipulative political fixer who flouts both ethics and legality, he's also a racist, anti-Semitic homophobe despite being a gay Jewish man himself. He's wildly petty and vindictive, somewhat paranoid, and very willing to use intimidation, threats, bribery bribery, and any leverage other leverage he has to get what he wants from people.
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* HearingVoices: Before the Angel finally makes her appearance, she speaks to Prior in the hospital as a ghostly disembodied voice.
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* HearingVoices: Before the Angel finally makes her appearance, she speaks to Prior in the hospital as in a ghostly disembodied voice.
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* {{Jerkass}}: Not only is Roy Cohn a highly corrupt official who abuses his power like it's nothing, but he's also, quite frankly, a dick. Roy's got his sympathetic moments and he's not just some one note brute, but he's undeniably an abusive bully, bigot, and criminal.
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* {{Jerkass}}: Not only is Roy Cohn a highly corrupt official who abuses his power like it's nothing, but he's also, quite frankly, a dick. Roy's got his sympathetic moments moments, and he's not just some one note one-note brute, but he's undeniably an abusive bully, bigot, and criminal.
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** Roy Cohn, especially Al Pacino's portrayal in the HBO version. The stage script explicitly describes Cohn thusly: "Roy conducts business with great energy, impatience and sensual abandon: gesticulating, shouting, cajoling, crooning, playing the phone, receiver and hold button with virtuosity and love."
** Prior also applies. While he doesn't have the same screaming, larger than life persona of Cohn, the role is written to be highly theatrical, and must be played that way. Justin Kirk's portrayal in the HBO version is more down to earth though, thanks to the close camera making it so that grand gestures won't translate as well.
* MistakenForGay: Subverted. When Joe walks in on Louis crying in the courthouse bathroom, Louis, after some dialogue between the two, comes to the conclusion that Joe is gay. Subverted in that he's right, but Joe is a member of the LDS Church, and is thus deeply closeted.
** Prior also applies. While he doesn't have the same screaming, larger than life persona of Cohn, the role is written to be highly theatrical, and must be played that way. Justin Kirk's portrayal in the HBO version is more down to earth though, thanks to the close camera making it so that grand gestures won't translate as well.
* MistakenForGay: Subverted. When Joe walks in on Louis crying in the courthouse bathroom, Louis, after some dialogue between the two, comes to the conclusion that Joe is gay. Subverted in that he's right, but Joe is a member of the LDS Church, and is thus deeply closeted.
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** Roy Cohn, especially Al Pacino's portrayal in the HBO version. The stage script explicitly describes Cohn thusly: "Roy conducts business with great energy, impatience impatience, and sensual abandon: gesticulating, shouting, cajoling, crooning, playing the phone, receiver and hold button with virtuosity and love."
** Prior also applies. While he doesn't have the same screaming,larger than life larger-than-life persona of Cohn, the role is written to be highly theatrical, theatrical and must be played that way. Justin Kirk's portrayal in the HBO version is more down to earth though, thanks to the close camera making it so that grand gestures won't translate as well.
* MistakenForGay: Subverted. When Joe walks in on Louis crying in the courthouse bathroom, Louis, after some dialogue between the two, comes to the conclusion that Joe is gay. Subverted in that he's right, but Joe is a member of the LDSChurch, Church and is thus deeply closeted.
** Prior also applies. While he doesn't have the same screaming,
* MistakenForGay: Subverted. When Joe walks in on Louis crying in the courthouse bathroom, Louis, after some dialogue between the two, comes to the conclusion that Joe is gay. Subverted in that he's right, but Joe is a member of the LDS
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* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Roy. Despite spending his life trying to deny his sexuality, he died of a disease widely linked to it, with Cohn effectively being outed, and despite his declaration that he'll remain a lawyer till he dies, his license is taken away shortly before his demise]].
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* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Roy.[[spoiler: Roy. Despite spending his life trying to deny his sexuality, he died of a disease widely linked to it, with Cohn effectively being outed, and despite his declaration that he'll remain a lawyer till he dies, his license is taken away shortly before his demise]].
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* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Slightly subverted in that the Angel of America is pure stereotypical angel--flowing white gown, white wings, radiantly beautiful--but once you get ''past'' that...
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* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Slightly subverted in that the Angel of America is a pure stereotypical angel--flowing white gown, white wings, radiantly beautiful--but once you get ''past'' that...
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* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He tries to deny it, but Roy Cohn is this in spades. Not only is he racist and misogynistic, but he's also [[BoomerangBigot homophobic and anti-Semetic.]] The visibility of these prejudices vary, but they're all present in his dialogue.
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* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He tries to deny it, but Roy Cohn is this in spades. Not only is he racist and misogynistic, but he's also [[BoomerangBigot homophobic and anti-Semetic.]] The visibility of these prejudices vary, varies, but they're all present in his dialogue.
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* RefusalOfTheCall: Prior Walter's immediate reaction to a visitation from an angel and being summoned to be "the Prophet"? "I. WANT. You to go away! I'm tired to death of being done to, walked out on, infected, fucked over and now tortured by some mixed-up reactionary angel—"
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* RefusalOfTheCall: Prior Walter's immediate reaction to a visitation from an angel and being summoned to be "the Prophet"? "I. WANT. You to go away! I'm tired to death of being done to, walked out on, infected, fucked over over, and now tortured by some mixed-up reactionary angel—"
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* RulesLawyer: Joe is the evil sort - "It's law not justice, it's power not the merits of its exercise..."
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* RulesLawyer: Joe is the evil sort - "It's law law, not justice, it's power justice. It's power, not the merits of its exercise..."
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** The MiniSeries has a huge shout out to Jean Cocteau's ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast1946'' in the beginning of Prior's dream scene with Hannah. The arms holding candelabras and the the silent moving statue of Prior by the fireplace is copied almost shot-for-shot from Belle's first entry to the Beast's castle.
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** The MiniSeries has a huge shout out shout-out to Jean Cocteau's ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast1946'' in at the beginning of Prior's dream scene with Hannah. The arms holding candelabras and the the silent moving statue of Prior by the fireplace is are copied almost shot-for-shot from Belle's first entry to the Beast's castle.
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* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections:[[spoiler: Upon learning he has AIDS, Roy Cohn uses his connections to be forced into the experimental trials of AZT. When he finds out that it's a double blind study (and that he might be getting placebos), he uses his connections to secure himself a massive private stash of the drug.]]
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* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections:[[spoiler: Upon learning he has AIDS, Roy Cohn uses his connections to be forced into the experimental trials of AZT. When he finds out that it's a double blind double-blind study (and that he might be getting placebos), he uses his connections to secure himself a massive private stash of the drug.]]
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* WaifProphet: Prior is a RareMaleExample, being afflicted with AIDS and notably underweight, though the precise level of waify-ness depends on the actor portraying him.
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* WaifProphet: Prior is a RareMaleExample, being afflicted with AIDS and notably underweight, though the precise level of waify-ness waif-ness depends on the actor portraying him.
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* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Joe is the only main character left out of the epilogue [[spoiler: (except Roy since he was dead)]]. However, this probably has to due with the fact that he wasn't meant to be as sympathetic as he was portrayed in the miniseries, although since Kushner wrote both of them, he may have tried to fix that a little with Joe's extra scene near the end in the miniseries.
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* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Joe is the only main character left out of the epilogue [[spoiler: (except Roy since he was dead)]]. However, this probably has to due do with the fact that he wasn't meant to be as sympathetic as he was portrayed in the miniseries, although since Kushner wrote both of them, he may have tried to fix that a little with Joe's extra scene near the end in the miniseries.
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* RidiculouslyLonglivedFamilyName: the full name (not just the surname) "Prior Walter" has been passed down as a family name for centuries, including one in the Bayeux Tapestry (11th or 12th century).
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fridge logic doesn't go on the main page
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* EvilMentor: Roy Cohn.
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* FridgeLogic: In Roy's first scene, he's trying to get Broadway tickets for the wife of a colleague. He asks her what she wants to see, then tells her she wouldn't like ''[[Theatre/LaCageAuxFolles La Cage Aux Folles]]''. The musical has a gay romantic lead couple, but even the homophobic Roy calls the show, "Fabulous. The best thing on Broadway, maybe ever." Maybe he likes the show because it has something he wants deep down.
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merged with Acting For Two
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* AndYouWereThere: The line is recited word for word by Prior, though it's done more to lampshade the {{Loads And Loads Of Roles}} than anything else.
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* AndYouWereThere: The line is recited word for word by Prior, though it's done more to lampshade the {{Loads And Loads Of Roles}} ActingForTwo than anything else.
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Now defunct
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* BitchInSheepsClothing: Joe is [[AcceptablePoliticalTargets closeted political conservative]], sure, but he's also a bit of a woobie. [[spoiler:Then he abandons his wife hallucinating around New York only for her to be bailed out and taken in by his timely-arriving mother, and eventually, Louis after some legal library work reveals him not just to be closeted and nominally socially conservative, but to be an evil RulesLawyer.]]
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* BitchInSheepsClothing: Joe is [[AcceptablePoliticalTargets a closeted political conservative]], conservative, sure, but he's also a bit of a woobie. [[spoiler:Then he abandons his wife hallucinating around New York only for her to be bailed out and taken in by his timely-arriving mother, and eventually, Louis after some legal library work reveals him not just to be closeted and nominally socially conservative, but to be an evil RulesLawyer.]]
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The MiniSeries stars Creator/JustinKirk, Creator/BenShenkman, Creator/EmmaThompson, Creator/AlPacino, Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/MaryLouiseParker, Creator/PatrickWilson, and original cast member Creator/JeffreyWright. It went on to surpass ''Roots'' for most Emmys won by a program in a single year.
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The MiniSeries stars Creator/JustinKirk, Creator/BenShenkman, Creator/EmmaThompson, Creator/AlPacino, Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/MaryLouiseParker, Creator/PatrickWilson, and original cast member Creator/JeffreyWright. It went on to surpass ''Roots'' ''Series/{{Roots|1977}}'' for most Emmys won by a program in a single year.
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* FanDisservice: Harper presents herself naked to Joe, in an effort to make him want to have sex with her, but since he's gay and isn't attracted to her, it doesn't work. For all that Mary-Louise Parker is very attractive, the effect of the scene is just sad.
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* FanDisservice: Harper presents herself naked to Joe, in an effort trying to make him want to have sex with her, but since figure out if he's gay and isn't actually attracted to her or if, when they have sex, he's imagining men. She asks him what he sees when he looks at her, it doesn't work. and he answers "Nothing." For all that Mary-Louise Parker is very attractive, the effect of the scene is just sad.
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* FanDisservice: Harper presents herself naked to Joe, in an effort to make him want to have sex with her, but since he's gay and isn't attracted to her, it doesn't work. For all that Mary-Louise Parker is very attractive, the effect of the scene is just sad.
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* FridgeLogic: In Roy's first scene, he's trying to get Broadway tickets for the wife of a colleague. He asks her what she wants to see, then tells her she wouldn't like ''[[Theatre/LaCageAuxFolles La Cage Aux Folles]]''. The musical has a gay romantic lead couple, but even the homophobic Roy calls the show, "Fabulous. The best thing on Broadway, maybe ever." Maybe he likes the show because it has something he wants deep down.
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Dewicked trope
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* AdultFear: Dying of an incurable illness. The effects of the AIDS virus are shown in all their stomach-churning detail.
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The MiniSeries stars Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, Creator/EmmaThompson, Creator/AlPacino, Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/MaryLouiseParker, Creator/PatrickWilson, and original cast member Creator/JeffreyWright. It went on to surpass ''Roots'' for most Emmys won by a program in a single year.
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The MiniSeries stars Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, Creator/JustinKirk, Creator/BenShenkman, Creator/EmmaThompson, Creator/AlPacino, Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/MaryLouiseParker, Creator/PatrickWilson, and original cast member Creator/JeffreyWright. It went on to surpass ''Roots'' for most Emmys won by a program in a single year.
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[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]Angels in America is a TV miniseries directed by Creator/MikeNichols, based on a UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize- and Tony Award-winning play written by Tony Kushner. It is set in 6 roughly hour long episodes, which, like the original play is presented in two parts, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', each of which is three episodes long. It was originally released by Creator/{{HBO}} in December 7 –December 14, 2003.
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Angels in America is a TV miniseries directed by Creator/MikeNichols, based on a UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize- and Tony Award-winning play written by Tony Kushner. It is set in 6 roughly hour long episodes, which, like the original play is presented in two parts, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', each of which is three episodes long. It was originally released by Creator/{{HBO}} in December 7 –December 14, 2003.
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[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]Angels in America is a TV miniseries directed by Creator/MikeNichols, based on a UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize- and Tony Award-winning play written by Tony Kushner. It is set in 6 roughly hour long episodes, which, like the original play is presented in two parts, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', each of which is three episodes long. It was originally released by Creator/{{HBO}} in December 7 –December 14, 2003.
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This play also has a [[Characters/AngelsInAmerica character sheet]].
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This play also has a [[Characters/AngelsInAmerica character sheet]].sheet]].
!!Trope examples include:
* AbusiveParents: Harper had at least one of these, according to Joe, which is perhaps where her problems with addiction began.
* AdaptationDistillation: Kushner himself, as writer of the MiniSeries, cut a good deal of material from the ''Perestroika'' segments, most of it unnecessary, and most of it Kushner recommends to be cut on stage as well (if time is an issue) in the published script.
* AdultFear: Dying of an incurable illness. The effects of the AIDS virus are shown in all their stomach-churning detail.
* AllJustADream[=/=]OrWasItADream: Played with using Harper's Valium-induced hallucinations and Prior's visions. The work as a whole, however, is not.
* AmicableExes: Prior and Belize dated for some time before the beginning of the play, but are still very good friends. [[spoiler: Also Prior and Louis, by the end of the play.]]
* AmoralAttorney: Roy Cohn.
* AndYouWereThere: The line is recited word for word by Prior, though it's done more to lampshade the {{Loads And Loads Of Roles}} than anything else.
* AngelicBeauty: The Angel, naturally.
* AntagonistInMourning: Belize naturally despises Roy Cohn, but after seeing the hard death he suffers, says that he can sympathize with a fallen enemy.
* TheAtoner: Louis and Joe.
* AudienceMonologue: Harper's final speech, and Prior's.
* TheBigDamnKiss: [[spoiler:Hannah and The Angel]], complete with fireworks.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Joe is [[AcceptablePoliticalTargets closeted political conservative]], sure, but he's also a bit of a woobie. [[spoiler:Then he abandons his wife hallucinating around New York only for her to be bailed out and taken in by his timely-arriving mother, and eventually, Louis after some legal library work reveals him not just to be closeted and nominally socially conservative, but to be an evil RulesLawyer.]]
* BeAllMySinsRemembered: Louis.
* BlatantLies:
** In his first scene opposite Belize, Roy tells him to get lost, [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain saying that he wants a white nurse, and later calls him a "dim black motherfucker".]] After that, Roy tries to claim that he's not a prejudiced man, which is further shown to be bullshit when he starts dropping not only racial, but homophobic slurs against Belize.
** After telling Joe he has cancer, when Joe brings this up later on, Roy denies this and declares that he's in perfect health. Roy actually manages to combine this trope with the truth, as he's correct in saying that he doesn't have cancer, but is lying in saying that he never told Joe he had it. In fact, no moment in the show better represents Roy's penchant for falsities than the interaction below.
-->'''Joe''': You're not well is all.
-->'''Roy''': What do you mean, not well? Who's not well?
-->'''Joe''': You said...
-->'''Roy''': No I didn't. I said what?
* BoomerangBigot: Roy Cohn is such a raging homophobe that he refuses to identify as a homosexual even though he's had sex with many men over his life. It's implied that Roy's hatred of his sexuality comes from the perception of gays lacking power and being ostracized by his own peers, thus making him feel the need to justify himself as being a heterosexual through twisted logic.
** Additionally, while it's nowhere near as explicit, Roy also comes across as anti-Semitic, which is also implied to come from a similar thought process. It's likely that he's downplayed these feelings more so since Jews, while still persecuted, are not as helpless as the gay community.
* ButtMonkey: Louis. Every time Louis starts to get emotional, Belize or Prior will unfailingly tell him that he isn't capable of real feelings.
* CastFullOfGay: All five men have/have had sex with men.
** It's also implied that Joe's mother may be a lesbian.
* CatchPhrase: Prior Walter 1's "He/She's counting the bastards!"
* ClosetKey: [[spoiler:The Angel]], if you agree with the interpretation that Hannah is gay.
* {{Council Of Angels}}: The Principalities.
* CrosscastRole: While the miniseries doesn't do all the multiple roles thing that Kushner specifies in the text it still has Meryle Streep playing both Hannah and Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz.
* DeadPersonConversation: Roy and Ethel Rosenberg.
* DecoyProtagonist: The first few scenes can give the impression that Louis is the protagonist, and the play is all about him coping with his boyfriend's AIDS diagnosis. Then his boyfriend--Prior--begins {{hearing voices}}...
* {{Determinator}}: Prior becomes this, both in his fight with AIDS and with [[spoiler: the Angel of America, who gives up more out of annoyance than defeat.]]
* DueToTheDead: Belize insists that Louis say the Kaddish for [[spoiler:Roy]]. Louis agrees, but follows it up with "Yousonofabitch."
* EnsembleCast: It's clear by the end of the show that Prior is the main character, but the show still gives all eight main characters plenty of screen time and their own respective arcs both with and without Prior. The fact that [[ActingForTwo many actors doubles as at another character]] emphasizes this.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Joe pulls this card when Roy Cohn casually confesses to him about how he broke every single rule that a lawyer is supposed to abide by in ensuring that Ethel Rosenberg was executed.
** Roy tries to claim he's not racist and looks down on such people as simpletons, [[BelievingTheirOwnLies and while he may actually believe that]], he's still quite clearly a bigot.
* EvilMentor: Roy Cohn.
* FakingTheDead: Roy pulls this trick on the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg, who pushes the nurse's call button and starts rejoicing--only to have Roy spring back to life and gloat at it having worked. Subverted when [[spoiler: the monitors he's hooked up to then flatline, and he dies for real, in a very violent fashion.]]
* FlamboyantGay: Belize; Prior, to a lesser extent.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Roy Cohn can turn on the charm when he wants to, and talks about loyalty and family often. But isn't beyond being an aggressive, manipulative political fixer who flouts both ethics and legality, he's also a racist, anti-Semitic homophobe despite being a gay Jewish man himself. He's wildly petty and vindictive, somewhat paranoid, and very willing to use intimidation, threats, bribery and any leverage other leverage he has to get what he wants from people.
* GayConservative: Roy and Joe. Both are shown as having deep amounts of {{Gayngst}}, but Joe at least lets himself fall in love.
* GenerationXerox: Like his two ghostly ancestors of the same name, Prior suffers from a terrible disease, and he's afraid he might die from it, alone, like them.
** Justified by statistic probability; he's the ''34th'' Prior Walter!
-->'''Prior Walter 2''': In a family as long-descended as the Walters there are bound to be a few carried off by the plague.
* GratuitousFrench: Both Prior and Belize frequently lapse into this, particularly when together.
* HappyPlace: Harper's hallucinations.
* HaveAGayOldTime: This conversation between Prior and his 13th-century namesake ancestor:
-->'''Prior 1:''' You have no wife, no children.
-->'''Prior:''' I'm gay.
-->'''Prior 1:''' So? Be gay, dance in your altogether for all I care, what's that to do with not having children?
-->'''Prior:''' Gay homosexual, not bonny, blithe and... Nevermind.
* {{Have You Seen My God}}: [[spoiler: After he is chosen as a prophet by the Angel of America, Prior learns that God abandoned Heaven on the day of the 1906 San Fransisco earthquake. The Angels, who believe it was because humanity was more interesting, want Prior to tell humanity to stop moving, in the hopes that God will then become bored and return home.]]
* HearingVoices: Before the Angel finally makes her appearance, she speaks to Prior in the hospital as a ghostly disembodied voice.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Roy. Except for the ghostly visions, the portrayal of the last year of Roy Cohn's life is pretty accurate.
** Tony Kushner puts in a note at the beginning of both parts, saying that Cohn "was all too real".
* TheImmodestOrgasm: In the miniseries, the angel's hair ''catches on fire'' during "plasma orgasmada".
* {{Jerkass}}: Not only is Roy Cohn a highly corrupt official who abuses his power like it's nothing, but he's also, quite frankly, a dick. Roy's got his sympathetic moments and he's not just some one note brute, but he's undeniably an abusive bully, bigot, and criminal.
* LargeHam:
** Roy Cohn, especially Al Pacino's portrayal in the HBO version. The stage script explicitly describes Cohn thusly: "Roy conducts business with great energy, impatience and sensual abandon: gesticulating, shouting, cajoling, crooning, playing the phone, receiver and hold button with virtuosity and love."
** Prior also applies. While he doesn't have the same screaming, larger than life persona of Cohn, the role is written to be highly theatrical, and must be played that way. Justin Kirk's portrayal in the HBO version is more down to earth though, thanks to the close camera making it so that grand gestures won't translate as well.
* MistakenForGay: Subverted. When Joe walks in on Louis crying in the courthouse bathroom, Louis, after some dialogue between the two, comes to the conclusion that Joe is gay. Subverted in that he's right, but Joe is a member of the LDS Church, and is thus deeply closeted.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The Sky Atlantic trailer does this, but only a little bit, by suggesting that the Angel is coming for everyone rather than just Prior.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Roy. Despite spending his life trying to deny his sexuality, he died of a disease widely linked to it, with Cohn effectively being outed, and despite his declaration that he'll remain a lawyer till he dies, his license is taken away shortly before his demise]].
* NiceGuy: Belize's devotion to Prior, even though they're no longer together, and willingness to help Roy, despite loathing him, makes him this trope.
* NoTrueScotsman: Roy's rationalization for why he's not gay: Homosexuals have no clout, and he does.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Belize's pre-drag name was Norman Arriaga; Kushner notes it in the character list, but it is only said onstage once.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Slightly subverted in that the Angel of America is pure stereotypical angel--flowing white gown, white wings, radiantly beautiful--but once you get ''past'' that...
** The recent West End/Broadway revival [[AdaptationalUgliness changed the Angel's appearance to a much more nightmarish one]], effectively making this trope a pure example.
* ParentalNeglect: Hannah describes herself as lacking pity, and Joe clearly has some issues with her emotional harshness, which he akins to the desert.
** While both Prior and Louis are adults, they both have something between this and ParentalAbandonment.
---> "And my mother ... well let's leave my mother out of it. Which is where my mother usually is, out of it." Prior, "Millennium Approaches"
---> "My New Deal Pinko Parents in Schenectady would never forgive me, they're already so disappointed, 'he's a fag, he's an office temp, and now look, he's saying the Kaddish for Roy Cohn." Louis, "Perestroika"
* ParentalSubstitute: Roy for Joe. At first Roy really pushes it on Joe, but Joe comes to think of Roy as a true substitute father.
* PolarBearsAndPenguins: Harper visits Antarctica in one of her hallucinations and sees an Eskimo.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He tries to deny it, but Roy Cohn is this in spades. Not only is he racist and misogynistic, but he's also [[BoomerangBigot homophobic and anti-Semetic.]] The visibility of these prejudices vary, but they're all present in his dialogue.
* PreserveYourGays: Though funerals are shown (or alluded to) for Prior, Louis, and Belize's friends who've [[TragicAIDSStory died of AIDS]], the only one of the main gay cast to die is [[spoiler: the morally reprehensible (and deeply closeted) Roy Cohn.]]
* RagingStiffie: The Angel's approach makes men...turgid.
* RefusalOfTheCall: Prior Walter's immediate reaction to a visitation from an angel and being summoned to be "the Prophet"? "I. WANT. You to go away! I'm tired to death of being done to, walked out on, infected, fucked over and now tortured by some mixed-up reactionary angel—"
* RulesLawyer: Joe is the evil sort - "It's law not justice, it's power not the merits of its exercise..."
* ShoutOut: The play makes several references to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''. In addition to "AndYouWereThere" (see above), Prior and the Angel say "If you cannot find your desire in your own backyard, you never lost it to begin with" in Act 2 of ''Perestroika''. Belize and Prior also both quote ''Film/AStreetcarNamedDesire'': in ''Millennium Approaches'', Belize says "Stella for star," while in ''Perestroika'', Prior quotes Blanche [=DuBois=]' famous line "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." In his dream in Act One, after Harper vanishes, Prior says, "People come and go so strangely here," a reference to ''Literature/AliceInWonderland''.
** The MiniSeries has a huge shout out to Jean Cocteau's ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast1946'' in the beginning of Prior's dream scene with Hannah. The arms holding candelabras and the the silent moving statue of Prior by the fireplace is copied almost shot-for-shot from Belle's first entry to the Beast's castle.
* SpiritAdvisor: A few. Prior has his ancestors (two of the previous Prior Walters) [[spoiler: as the Heralds of the Angel of America]]; Ethel Rosenberg subverts this somewhat with Roy Cohn, [[spoiler: then plays it straight with Louis.]]
** [[spoiler: Really, she seems to just possess Louis for a few seconds to say a prayer for the dead. Louis is afterwards surprised.]]
* StraightGay: Joe.
* StrawmanPolitical: Conservatives do not come off well. They are almost universally shown to be selfish, cruel, hypocritical, power-hungry bastards. Roy Cohn, the [[spoiler:GayConservative]] stands out.
** However, it is also worth noting that while Louis is, in the end, a sympathetic character, one of his most annoying qualities is his self-righteous liberal philosophizing.
* StairwayToHeaven: Prior [[spoiler: ascends a burning ladder into heaven in the last act of ''Perestroika'']]
* ScrewDestiny: Prior.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections:[[spoiler: Upon learning he has AIDS, Roy Cohn uses his connections to be forced into the experimental trials of AZT. When he finds out that it's a double blind study (and that he might be getting placebos), he uses his connections to secure himself a massive private stash of the drug.]]
* TellMeAboutMyFather: Joe to Hannah, a bit.
* TheSocialDarwinist: Roy
* UnfazedEveryman: Prior Walter: just your average (albeit dying) young gay man in America, who just happens to be chosen to be The Prophet by the CouncilOfAngels.
* WaifProphet: Prior is a RareMaleExample, being afflicted with AIDS and notably underweight, though the precise level of waify-ness depends on the actor portraying him.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Roy Cohn, for Joe
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Joe is the only main character left out of the epilogue [[spoiler: (except Roy since he was dead)]]. However, this probably has to due with the fact that he wasn't meant to be as sympathetic as he was portrayed in the miniseries, although since Kushner wrote both of them, he may have tried to fix that a little with Joe's extra scene near the end in the miniseries.
----
!!Trope examples include:
* AbusiveParents: Harper had at least one of these, according to Joe, which is perhaps where her problems with addiction began.
* AdaptationDistillation: Kushner himself, as writer of the MiniSeries, cut a good deal of material from the ''Perestroika'' segments, most of it unnecessary, and most of it Kushner recommends to be cut on stage as well (if time is an issue) in the published script.
* AdultFear: Dying of an incurable illness. The effects of the AIDS virus are shown in all their stomach-churning detail.
* AllJustADream[=/=]OrWasItADream: Played with using Harper's Valium-induced hallucinations and Prior's visions. The work as a whole, however, is not.
* AmicableExes: Prior and Belize dated for some time before the beginning of the play, but are still very good friends. [[spoiler: Also Prior and Louis, by the end of the play.]]
* AmoralAttorney: Roy Cohn.
* AndYouWereThere: The line is recited word for word by Prior, though it's done more to lampshade the {{Loads And Loads Of Roles}} than anything else.
* AngelicBeauty: The Angel, naturally.
* AntagonistInMourning: Belize naturally despises Roy Cohn, but after seeing the hard death he suffers, says that he can sympathize with a fallen enemy.
* TheAtoner: Louis and Joe.
* AudienceMonologue: Harper's final speech, and Prior's.
* TheBigDamnKiss: [[spoiler:Hannah and The Angel]], complete with fireworks.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Joe is [[AcceptablePoliticalTargets closeted political conservative]], sure, but he's also a bit of a woobie. [[spoiler:Then he abandons his wife hallucinating around New York only for her to be bailed out and taken in by his timely-arriving mother, and eventually, Louis after some legal library work reveals him not just to be closeted and nominally socially conservative, but to be an evil RulesLawyer.]]
* BeAllMySinsRemembered: Louis.
* BlatantLies:
** In his first scene opposite Belize, Roy tells him to get lost, [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain saying that he wants a white nurse, and later calls him a "dim black motherfucker".]] After that, Roy tries to claim that he's not a prejudiced man, which is further shown to be bullshit when he starts dropping not only racial, but homophobic slurs against Belize.
** After telling Joe he has cancer, when Joe brings this up later on, Roy denies this and declares that he's in perfect health. Roy actually manages to combine this trope with the truth, as he's correct in saying that he doesn't have cancer, but is lying in saying that he never told Joe he had it. In fact, no moment in the show better represents Roy's penchant for falsities than the interaction below.
-->'''Joe''': You're not well is all.
-->'''Roy''': What do you mean, not well? Who's not well?
-->'''Joe''': You said...
-->'''Roy''': No I didn't. I said what?
* BoomerangBigot: Roy Cohn is such a raging homophobe that he refuses to identify as a homosexual even though he's had sex with many men over his life. It's implied that Roy's hatred of his sexuality comes from the perception of gays lacking power and being ostracized by his own peers, thus making him feel the need to justify himself as being a heterosexual through twisted logic.
** Additionally, while it's nowhere near as explicit, Roy also comes across as anti-Semitic, which is also implied to come from a similar thought process. It's likely that he's downplayed these feelings more so since Jews, while still persecuted, are not as helpless as the gay community.
* ButtMonkey: Louis. Every time Louis starts to get emotional, Belize or Prior will unfailingly tell him that he isn't capable of real feelings.
* CastFullOfGay: All five men have/have had sex with men.
** It's also implied that Joe's mother may be a lesbian.
* CatchPhrase: Prior Walter 1's "He/She's counting the bastards!"
* ClosetKey: [[spoiler:The Angel]], if you agree with the interpretation that Hannah is gay.
* {{Council Of Angels}}: The Principalities.
* CrosscastRole: While the miniseries doesn't do all the multiple roles thing that Kushner specifies in the text it still has Meryle Streep playing both Hannah and Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz.
* DeadPersonConversation: Roy and Ethel Rosenberg.
* DecoyProtagonist: The first few scenes can give the impression that Louis is the protagonist, and the play is all about him coping with his boyfriend's AIDS diagnosis. Then his boyfriend--Prior--begins {{hearing voices}}...
* {{Determinator}}: Prior becomes this, both in his fight with AIDS and with [[spoiler: the Angel of America, who gives up more out of annoyance than defeat.]]
* DueToTheDead: Belize insists that Louis say the Kaddish for [[spoiler:Roy]]. Louis agrees, but follows it up with "Yousonofabitch."
* EnsembleCast: It's clear by the end of the show that Prior is the main character, but the show still gives all eight main characters plenty of screen time and their own respective arcs both with and without Prior. The fact that [[ActingForTwo many actors doubles as at another character]] emphasizes this.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Joe pulls this card when Roy Cohn casually confesses to him about how he broke every single rule that a lawyer is supposed to abide by in ensuring that Ethel Rosenberg was executed.
** Roy tries to claim he's not racist and looks down on such people as simpletons, [[BelievingTheirOwnLies and while he may actually believe that]], he's still quite clearly a bigot.
* EvilMentor: Roy Cohn.
* FakingTheDead: Roy pulls this trick on the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg, who pushes the nurse's call button and starts rejoicing--only to have Roy spring back to life and gloat at it having worked. Subverted when [[spoiler: the monitors he's hooked up to then flatline, and he dies for real, in a very violent fashion.]]
* FlamboyantGay: Belize; Prior, to a lesser extent.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Roy Cohn can turn on the charm when he wants to, and talks about loyalty and family often. But isn't beyond being an aggressive, manipulative political fixer who flouts both ethics and legality, he's also a racist, anti-Semitic homophobe despite being a gay Jewish man himself. He's wildly petty and vindictive, somewhat paranoid, and very willing to use intimidation, threats, bribery and any leverage other leverage he has to get what he wants from people.
* GayConservative: Roy and Joe. Both are shown as having deep amounts of {{Gayngst}}, but Joe at least lets himself fall in love.
* GenerationXerox: Like his two ghostly ancestors of the same name, Prior suffers from a terrible disease, and he's afraid he might die from it, alone, like them.
** Justified by statistic probability; he's the ''34th'' Prior Walter!
-->'''Prior Walter 2''': In a family as long-descended as the Walters there are bound to be a few carried off by the plague.
* GratuitousFrench: Both Prior and Belize frequently lapse into this, particularly when together.
* HappyPlace: Harper's hallucinations.
* HaveAGayOldTime: This conversation between Prior and his 13th-century namesake ancestor:
-->'''Prior 1:''' You have no wife, no children.
-->'''Prior:''' I'm gay.
-->'''Prior 1:''' So? Be gay, dance in your altogether for all I care, what's that to do with not having children?
-->'''Prior:''' Gay homosexual, not bonny, blithe and... Nevermind.
* {{Have You Seen My God}}: [[spoiler: After he is chosen as a prophet by the Angel of America, Prior learns that God abandoned Heaven on the day of the 1906 San Fransisco earthquake. The Angels, who believe it was because humanity was more interesting, want Prior to tell humanity to stop moving, in the hopes that God will then become bored and return home.]]
* HearingVoices: Before the Angel finally makes her appearance, she speaks to Prior in the hospital as a ghostly disembodied voice.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Roy. Except for the ghostly visions, the portrayal of the last year of Roy Cohn's life is pretty accurate.
** Tony Kushner puts in a note at the beginning of both parts, saying that Cohn "was all too real".
* TheImmodestOrgasm: In the miniseries, the angel's hair ''catches on fire'' during "plasma orgasmada".
* {{Jerkass}}: Not only is Roy Cohn a highly corrupt official who abuses his power like it's nothing, but he's also, quite frankly, a dick. Roy's got his sympathetic moments and he's not just some one note brute, but he's undeniably an abusive bully, bigot, and criminal.
* LargeHam:
** Roy Cohn, especially Al Pacino's portrayal in the HBO version. The stage script explicitly describes Cohn thusly: "Roy conducts business with great energy, impatience and sensual abandon: gesticulating, shouting, cajoling, crooning, playing the phone, receiver and hold button with virtuosity and love."
** Prior also applies. While he doesn't have the same screaming, larger than life persona of Cohn, the role is written to be highly theatrical, and must be played that way. Justin Kirk's portrayal in the HBO version is more down to earth though, thanks to the close camera making it so that grand gestures won't translate as well.
* MistakenForGay: Subverted. When Joe walks in on Louis crying in the courthouse bathroom, Louis, after some dialogue between the two, comes to the conclusion that Joe is gay. Subverted in that he's right, but Joe is a member of the LDS Church, and is thus deeply closeted.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The Sky Atlantic trailer does this, but only a little bit, by suggesting that the Angel is coming for everyone rather than just Prior.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Roy. Despite spending his life trying to deny his sexuality, he died of a disease widely linked to it, with Cohn effectively being outed, and despite his declaration that he'll remain a lawyer till he dies, his license is taken away shortly before his demise]].
* NiceGuy: Belize's devotion to Prior, even though they're no longer together, and willingness to help Roy, despite loathing him, makes him this trope.
* NoTrueScotsman: Roy's rationalization for why he's not gay: Homosexuals have no clout, and he does.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Belize's pre-drag name was Norman Arriaga; Kushner notes it in the character list, but it is only said onstage once.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Slightly subverted in that the Angel of America is pure stereotypical angel--flowing white gown, white wings, radiantly beautiful--but once you get ''past'' that...
** The recent West End/Broadway revival [[AdaptationalUgliness changed the Angel's appearance to a much more nightmarish one]], effectively making this trope a pure example.
* ParentalNeglect: Hannah describes herself as lacking pity, and Joe clearly has some issues with her emotional harshness, which he akins to the desert.
** While both Prior and Louis are adults, they both have something between this and ParentalAbandonment.
---> "And my mother ... well let's leave my mother out of it. Which is where my mother usually is, out of it." Prior, "Millennium Approaches"
---> "My New Deal Pinko Parents in Schenectady would never forgive me, they're already so disappointed, 'he's a fag, he's an office temp, and now look, he's saying the Kaddish for Roy Cohn." Louis, "Perestroika"
* ParentalSubstitute: Roy for Joe. At first Roy really pushes it on Joe, but Joe comes to think of Roy as a true substitute father.
* PolarBearsAndPenguins: Harper visits Antarctica in one of her hallucinations and sees an Eskimo.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He tries to deny it, but Roy Cohn is this in spades. Not only is he racist and misogynistic, but he's also [[BoomerangBigot homophobic and anti-Semetic.]] The visibility of these prejudices vary, but they're all present in his dialogue.
* PreserveYourGays: Though funerals are shown (or alluded to) for Prior, Louis, and Belize's friends who've [[TragicAIDSStory died of AIDS]], the only one of the main gay cast to die is [[spoiler: the morally reprehensible (and deeply closeted) Roy Cohn.]]
* RagingStiffie: The Angel's approach makes men...turgid.
* RefusalOfTheCall: Prior Walter's immediate reaction to a visitation from an angel and being summoned to be "the Prophet"? "I. WANT. You to go away! I'm tired to death of being done to, walked out on, infected, fucked over and now tortured by some mixed-up reactionary angel—"
* RulesLawyer: Joe is the evil sort - "It's law not justice, it's power not the merits of its exercise..."
* ShoutOut: The play makes several references to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''. In addition to "AndYouWereThere" (see above), Prior and the Angel say "If you cannot find your desire in your own backyard, you never lost it to begin with" in Act 2 of ''Perestroika''. Belize and Prior also both quote ''Film/AStreetcarNamedDesire'': in ''Millennium Approaches'', Belize says "Stella for star," while in ''Perestroika'', Prior quotes Blanche [=DuBois=]' famous line "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." In his dream in Act One, after Harper vanishes, Prior says, "People come and go so strangely here," a reference to ''Literature/AliceInWonderland''.
** The MiniSeries has a huge shout out to Jean Cocteau's ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast1946'' in the beginning of Prior's dream scene with Hannah. The arms holding candelabras and the the silent moving statue of Prior by the fireplace is copied almost shot-for-shot from Belle's first entry to the Beast's castle.
* SpiritAdvisor: A few. Prior has his ancestors (two of the previous Prior Walters) [[spoiler: as the Heralds of the Angel of America]]; Ethel Rosenberg subverts this somewhat with Roy Cohn, [[spoiler: then plays it straight with Louis.]]
** [[spoiler: Really, she seems to just possess Louis for a few seconds to say a prayer for the dead. Louis is afterwards surprised.]]
* StraightGay: Joe.
* StrawmanPolitical: Conservatives do not come off well. They are almost universally shown to be selfish, cruel, hypocritical, power-hungry bastards. Roy Cohn, the [[spoiler:GayConservative]] stands out.
** However, it is also worth noting that while Louis is, in the end, a sympathetic character, one of his most annoying qualities is his self-righteous liberal philosophizing.
* StairwayToHeaven: Prior [[spoiler: ascends a burning ladder into heaven in the last act of ''Perestroika'']]
* ScrewDestiny: Prior.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections:[[spoiler: Upon learning he has AIDS, Roy Cohn uses his connections to be forced into the experimental trials of AZT. When he finds out that it's a double blind study (and that he might be getting placebos), he uses his connections to secure himself a massive private stash of the drug.]]
* TellMeAboutMyFather: Joe to Hannah, a bit.
* TheSocialDarwinist: Roy
* UnfazedEveryman: Prior Walter: just your average (albeit dying) young gay man in America, who just happens to be chosen to be The Prophet by the CouncilOfAngels.
* WaifProphet: Prior is a RareMaleExample, being afflicted with AIDS and notably underweight, though the precise level of waify-ness depends on the actor portraying him.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Roy Cohn, for Joe
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Joe is the only main character left out of the epilogue [[spoiler: (except Roy since he was dead)]]. However, this probably has to due with the fact that he wasn't meant to be as sympathetic as he was portrayed in the miniseries, although since Kushner wrote both of them, he may have tried to fix that a little with Joe's extra scene near the end in the miniseries.
----
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Added DiffLines:
Angels in America is a TV miniseries directed by Creator/MikeNichols, based on a UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize- and Tony Award-winning play written by Tony Kushner. It is set in 6 roughly hour long episodes, which, like the original play is presented in two parts, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', each of which is three episodes long. It was originally released by Creator/{{HBO}} in December 7 –December 14, 2003.
The play is set in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity from the fall of 1985 into spring of 1986, during the rise of AIDS awareness, and focuses on an enormous variety of topics, from politics to religion to dysfunctional families. The main story line follows a young gay man named Prior Walter, who has just discovered he is HIV-positive. After subsequently being abandoned by his lover Louis, he receives a vision from Heaven, in which an Angel visits him. She tells him that Heaven once was a paradise, but that human progress creates "earthquakes" in Heaven and after a particularly severe one, God abandoned them. She compels him to go out into the world and tell his fellow humans to stop moving forward, so that God may return.
The MiniSeries stars Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, Creator/EmmaThompson, Creator/AlPacino, Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/MaryLouiseParker, Creator/PatrickWilson, and original cast member Creator/JeffreyWright. It went on to surpass ''Roots'' for most Emmys won by a program in a single year.
This play also has a [[Characters/AngelsInAmerica character sheet]].
The play is set in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity from the fall of 1985 into spring of 1986, during the rise of AIDS awareness, and focuses on an enormous variety of topics, from politics to religion to dysfunctional families. The main story line follows a young gay man named Prior Walter, who has just discovered he is HIV-positive. After subsequently being abandoned by his lover Louis, he receives a vision from Heaven, in which an Angel visits him. She tells him that Heaven once was a paradise, but that human progress creates "earthquakes" in Heaven and after a particularly severe one, God abandoned them. She compels him to go out into the world and tell his fellow humans to stop moving forward, so that God may return.
The MiniSeries stars Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, Creator/EmmaThompson, Creator/AlPacino, Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/MaryLouiseParker, Creator/PatrickWilson, and original cast member Creator/JeffreyWright. It went on to surpass ''Roots'' for most Emmys won by a program in a single year.
This play also has a [[Characters/AngelsInAmerica character sheet]].
