I am watching the London revival of Angels in America with Andrew Garfield

He won the Tony for this role on Broadway.

I saw it on Bway. He was fine

[quote]He won the Tony for this role on Broadway.

Yeah, and it was shitty screeching drag. Your point?

Winning the Tony is not exactly excoriation, is it?

Any full frontal nudity?

Yes, but not by him. Lee Pace showed dick.

[quote]Winning the Tony is not exactly excoriation, is it?

It was an award-winning performance for the tourists from Boise. "Oh look honey, it's that Spiderman fellow! He's so BRAVE to be playing a homosexual with the AIDS!"

Steven Spinella was infinitely more interesting to watch.

*Stephen* Spinella. My bad.

I saw the original. Meh.

Does Russell Tovey get naked in this production? (or did they edit it for the streaming?)

I did not like the National Theatre production. It wasn't bad, but some parts miscast. Nathan Lane? Ugh. No.

I saw it on Broadway and thought he did a great job.

Prior is supposed to be a campy queen. I mean, he did an impression of Shirley Booth in Come Back, Little Sheba at one point ffs.

[quote] It was an award-winning performance for the tourists from Boise. "Oh look honey, it's that Spiderman fellow! He's so BRAVE to be playing a homosexual with the AIDS!"....Steven Spinella was infinitely more interesting to watch.

Always funny when a Theater Queen purist is miffed when a movie star takes to the stage or vice versa. Stephen Spinella hasn't been seen since. Streep?! Why couldn't Beth Level do the movie!

I thought Andrew did a great job. He was also nominated for a Tony for Death of a Salesman.

I saw both parts in New York, a week apart. It was brilliant, breathtaking theater. Andrew, as was the entire cast, was at the top of their game.

[quote] Stephen Spinella hasn't been seen since.

Stephen Spinella went on to receive a 2nd Tony for AIA, another nomination for The Dead several years later, and has worked steadily in film, television and theater since he first hit Broadway in 1993.

And yes, Garfield was beyond terrible.

[quote]Stephen Spinella went on to receive a 2nd Tony for AIA, another nomination for The Dead several years later, and has worked steadily in film, television and theater since he first hit Broadway in 1993.

He was also in the Paul Newman "Our Town". He played the town drunk. And recently, he was a replacement in the Harry Potter play on Broadway.

If you can't understand the difference between a gay character indulging in camp and a "straight" film star broadly playing Prior Water as a shrieking drag queen I can't help you.

Prior Walter is feminine, not effeminate. Garfield didn't understand the difference.

Mind you, I had issues with the rest of the cast. Nathan Lane was miscast as Roy Cohn. The poor Scottish actor playing Louis seemed to be to engrossed in getting his Brooklyn accent right to address the character. On the other hand, the Scottish actress who played Harper was fucking brilliant. The director was much more committed to setting up pretty pictures than exploring those characters.

R18, I hated the actress playing Harper.

[quote][R18], I hated the actress playing Harper.

I liked her. YMMV. The one that gets my dander up as you may notice is watching people worship Garfield's "brave" performance.

I hated Denise Gough, also. I pretty much felt the entire cast was useless except for the two women who played multiple roles. I thought they were both very good. I thought Marianne Elliott had not a fucking clue what she was doing in Part 1. She managed to keep the entire thing from drowning in Part 2, but just barely.

Yes, Garfield was OTT effeminate and totally putting on what he thought a feminine gay man would be like, but what really drove me crazy about his performance was that HE SCREAMED EVERYTHING. He entered at such a fever pitch, there was nowhere for his character to go. Prior is pretty much the lead of this ensemble, so like it or not, you're stuck with him for nearly seven hours. By hour two, the only thing Garfield hadn't done was shit in his hand and smear it on the set.

I saw Angeles in America on Broadway, both parts. One of the best plays I've ever seen. Andrew Garfield was excellent. He very much deserved the Tony for best actor. The protagonist character was supposed to be effeminate, so I don't understand you point.

I saw the London iteration of this production in a movie theater, and also found Garfield very artificial and affected in his queeny moments - very actorish. Perhaps he improved by the time this came to Broadway. Though even he was better than the woeful Justin Kirk in the mini series.

Both Spinella and Michael Urie (who did the Off-Broadway revival) were much better. I've never seen a better Prior than Spinella.

I also found Denise Gough annoying, but I've yet to see a performance of that character that really worked.

Lane got better as the show progressed, I thought.

[quote] I also found Denise Gough annoying, but I've yet to see a performance of that character that really worked.

I thought Mary Louise Parker totally got the character. It was the only time I've ever really enjoyed the scenes with Harper. I didn't care for Marcia Gay Harden on Bway. Didn't see Zoe Kazan, but she's a shit actress so I can just imagine how twee and irritating her Harper would have been.

[quote] What a ghastly performance.

Perfectly [bold]GHASTLY![/bold]

I thought Justin Kirk was fantastic in the HBO version, he played the role like a normal bitchy gay man like you would find on here, like someone you would want to know. Garfield plays the role like someone who thinks he's the Grand Duchess Anastasia.

Too bad he didn't present dong here. And that's the worst criticism of them all!!!

He was TERRIBLE on Broadway. It’s an awful performance.

They need to stop casting Prior with straight actors. There’s a reason it was originally cast with a gay man, who gave a truly great performance and won the Tony for it. Straight men, even great actors, will never understand how to embody a feminine gay man, no matter how much they try. Casting directors and producers really need to stop with this shit, and Kushner should have stepped in and he needs to stop being starstruck as well.