Line #148 Characters/AngelsInAmerica


1	This character sheet is for ''Theatre/AngelsInAmerica''.
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7	[[folder:Main Characters]]
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9	!!Roy Cohn
10	A successful New York lawyer and unofficial power broker, based on the [[RealLife real man]] of the same name. Like the real Cohn, Roy was UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy's right-hand man during the RedScare and a paragon of corrupt conservatism. At the end of act one, it is revealed that due to on-the-sly sexual encounters with numerous men (his own rampant homophobia aside), Roy has contracted HIV. Later on in the play, as the disease takes hold, Roy is haunted by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg, a Soviet spy who received the death sentence thanks to Roy's determination, and illegal maneuvers.
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12	Creator/RonLeibman originated the role of Roy et al on Broadway. Creator/AlPacino played the role in the {{Creator/HBO}} MiniSeries. Frank Wood played the role in the 2010 Off-Broadway revival. Creator/NathanLane played the role in the 2018 Broadway revival.
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16	!!Joseph Porter Pitt
17	Chief clerk for Justice Theodore Wilson of the Federal Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. He is a devout Mormon who moved out to UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity with his wife Harper several years back. Roy has taken it upon himself to be a sort of mentor to Joe. An encounter with a crying Louis in the men's room leads him to consciously realize that he is homosexual.
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19	David Marshall Grant originated the role of Joe et al on Broadway. Creator/PatrickWilson played the role in the {{Creator/HBO}} MiniSeries. Bill Heck played the role in the 2010 Off-Broadway revival. Creator/LeePace played the part in the 2018 Broadway revival.
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23	!!Harper Amaty Pitt
24	Joe's wife, an agoraphobic with a mild Valium addiction, which results in her random delusions and imaginary friends. She is very distant from her husband and leaves him once she realizes he's gay.
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26	Creator/MarciaGayHarden originated the role of Harper et al on Broadway. Creator/MaryLouiseParker played the role in the {{Creator/HBO}} MiniSeries. Creator/ZoeKazan played the role in the 2010 Off-Broadway revival. Creator/DeniseGough played the role in the 2018 Broadway revival.
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30	!!Louis Ironson
31	A word processor working for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He is very politically-minded and very guilt-ridden. When his lover Prior is revealed to have HIV, Louis is unable to cope and leaves him.
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33	Joe Mantello originated the role of Louis et al on Broadway. Ben Shenkman played the role in the {{Creator/HBO}} MiniSeries. Creator/ZacharyQuinto played the role in the 2010 Off-Broadway revival. James [=McArdile=] played the role in the 2018 Broadway revival.
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37	!!Prior Walter
38	Louis's boyfriend of four years. Occasionally works as a club designer or caterer, otherwise lives very modestly but with great style off a small trust fund. The most recent member of his family to bear the name "Prior Walter", a name which goes back centuries, as long as the family line itself. As the play opens, he discovers he is HIV-positive and has developed a lesion on his chest. When his condition worsens, he is visited by The Angel.
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40	Creator/StephenSpinella originated the role of Prior et al on Broadway. Justin Kirk played the role in the {{Creator/HBO}} MiniSeries. Creator/ChristianBorle played the role in the 2010 Off-Broadway revival. Creator/AndrewGarfield played the role in the 2018 Broadway revival.
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44	!!Hannah Porter Pitt
45	Joe's mother, currently residing in Salt Lake City and living off her deceased husband's army pension. She comes to UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity after Joe calls her in the middle of the night to tell her he's gay.
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47	Kathleen Chalfant originated the role Hannah et al on Broadway. Creator/MerylStreep played the role in the {{Creator/HBO}} MiniSeries. Robin Bartlett played the role in the 2010 Off-Broadway revival. Susan Brown played the role in the 2018 Broadway revival.
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51	!!Belize
52	A former drag queen and former lover of Prior's. A registered nurse. Belize's name was originally Norman Arriaga; Belize is a drag name that stuck. When Roy Cohn is admitted to the hospital at the beginning of ''Perestroika'', Belize becomes his nurse.
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54	Creator/JeffreyWright originated the role of Belize et al on Broadway, and reprised the role in the {{Creator/HBO}} MiniSeries, winning a whole bunch of awards along the way. Billy Porter played the role in the 2010 Off-Broadway revival. Nathan Stewart-Jarrett played the role in the 2018 Broadway revival.
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58	!!The Angel of America
59	Four divine emanations: Fluor, Phosphor, Lumen, and Candle, manifest in One; the Continental Principality of America. She has magnificent steel-grey wings. Well, that's how Kushner describes her anyway. Laconic version: she's an angel who appears to Prior in a [[BuffySpeak vision dream thing]] and tells him that he is the Prophet and that he must tell humankind to stop progressing as a species so that God will come back to Heaven. ItsALongStory. The Angel is also TheVoice until the end of the first part ''Millenium Approaches'', and fills the role of announcer throughout the play.
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61	Ellen [=McLaughlin=] originated the role of The Angel et al on Broadway. Creator/EmmaThompson played the role in the {{Creator/HBO}} MiniSeries. Robin Weigart (who played the Mormon mother in the miniseries) played the role in the 2010 Off-Broadway revival. Amanda Lawrence played the role in the 2018 Broadway revival.
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66	[[folder: Secondary Characters]]
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68	!!Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz
69	An orthodox Jewish rabbi but a very unorthodox one as well. The play opens with him performing the funeral service for Louis's grandmother Sarah Ironson, during which he goes off on a semi-related tangent about the turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants and their struggle. Played by the actor playing Hannah.
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73	!!Mr. Lies
74	Harper's imaginary friend, a travel agent whose style of dress and speech suggests a jazz musician; he always wears a large lapel badge emblazoned "IOTA" (International Order of Travel Agents). Played by the actor playing Belize.
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78	!!The Man in the Park
79	A leather-clad gay man in Central Park who Louis has awkward sex with. Played by the actor playing Prior.
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83	!!Henry
84	Roy's doctor, who informs him that he is HIV-positive. Played by the actor playing Hannah in the play and by Creator/JamesCromwell in the miniseries.
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88	!!Emily
89	A nurse who attends to Prior. Played by the actor playing The Angel.
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93	!!Martin Heller
94	A Reagan Administration Justice Department flackman and toady to Roy. Played by the actor playing Harper.
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98	!!Sister Ella Chapter
99	A Salt Lake City real-estate saleswoman and friend to Hannah. Played by the actor playing The Angel.
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103	!!Prior Walter's First Ancestor
104	The ghost of a dead Prior Walter from the 13th century. He is a blunt, gloomy medieval farmer with a guttural Yorkshire accent. He visits Prior to herald The Angel's arrival. Played by the actor playing Joe.
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108	!!Prior Walter's Second Ancestor
109	The ghost of a dead Prior Walter from the 17th century. He is a Londoner, sophisticated, with a High British accent. He visits Prior to herald the Angel's arrival. Played by the actor playing Roy.
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113	!!The Woman in the South Bronx
114	A crazed homeless woman who Hannah foolishly tries to ask about how to get to the Mormon Visitor's Center. Played by the actor playing The Angel.
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118	!!Ethel Rosenberg
119	A middle-aged Jewish woman from UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity who, along with her husband Julius, was charged with -- and found guilty of -- passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. Roy Cohn fought with all his connections to ensure that they did not get life in prison but the death penalty. Based on the RealLife woman of the same name and same story. She appears to haunt Roy once his condition worsens.
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123	!!Aleksii Antedilluvianovich Prelapsarianov
124	The World's Oldest Living Bolshevik, whose speech in the Kremlin opens part two ''Perestroika''. Apart from his speech being thematically relevant to the overall piece, his scene is pretty much a mild BigLippedAlligatorMoment. He is never mentioned again, and his scene has no relevance to the plot. Played by the actor playing Hannah.
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128	!!The Mormon Family
129	A "family" of mannequins in the Diorama Room of the Mormon's Visitor Center where Hannah volunteers. They are: \
130	''Mormon Father'', who looks just like Joe, and (in Harper's delusions) turns out to be him. \
131	''Caleb'', a son, voiced from offstage by the actor playing Belize. \
132	''Orr'', another son, voice from offstage by the actor playing The Angel. \
133	''Mormon Mother'', who comes to life and talks to Harper. Played by the actor playing The Angel.
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137	!!The Continental Principalities
138	The CouncilOfAngels running Heaven since God's desertion. Apart from The Angel of America, who visits Prior, they are the Angels Europa (played by the actor playing Joe), Africanii (played by the actor playing Harper), Oceania (played by the actor playing Belize), Asiatica (played by the actor playing Hannah), Australia (played by the actor playing Louis), and Antarctica (played by the actor playing Roy). They share the American angel's {{Verbal Tic}}s.
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142	!!Sarah Ironson
143	Louis's deceased grandmother whose funeral opens the show. Her ghost appears in one of the final scenes of the show--one often cut from productions and not in the MiniSeries--alongside the Rabbi and speaks only in Yiddish. [[IdenticalGrandson Played by the actor playing Louis]].
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Context Characters / AngelsInAmerica