Twenty-five years ago, an epic six-hour, two-part play about the AIDS crisis and the issues facing the gay community, premiered to acclaim. Tony Kushner's "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes" would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama, as well as rack up seven Tony awards out of a total 15 nominations over two Broadway seasons.
Twenty years ago Allentown's Civic Theater became the first community theater nationwide to perform both parts of the play in repertory in an equally well-received production.
And now on Friday, Civic will once again stage the groundbreaking, but infrequently-done work, even bringing back several cast members to reprise their roles from two decades ago.
The production which will show both parts - "Part One: Millennium Approaches" and "Part Two: Perestroika" - in repertory over three weeks, including two Saturdays when the entire play can be seen in one day.
"It's still pretty ambitious," says Civic artistic director Williams Sanders, who directed it in 1997 and directs the new production. "Arguably, it's the best play of our time. Very few theaters do it like we are doing it, and the play needs to be seen."
Although some things have changed in the ensuing years, others have not. AIDS remains a health issue, but it is no longer the death sentence it was in 1986 the year in which the play is set. However prejudice against the gay community continues.
Sanders says that he feels the play is more relevant today because of politics that target the LGBT community and he sees an important shift in emphasis.
"Twenty years ago the illness was at the forefront," he says. "But now the politics are at the forefront. That's why the play is so resonant. Personal crises of conscience are always relevant."
Sanders says when he was planning for the 2016-2017 season, when he spotted the poster on Civic's wall from the 1997 production and realized 20 years had past since "Angels in America" had been produced.
He immediately thought of Will Morris, the theater's associate artistic director and production manager, whom he would be perfect in the main role of Prior Walter, a gay man whose lover has left him after he has been diagnosed with AIDS.
"I thought Will would be really great in that part," he says.
The timing seemed right. There currently is an acclaimed production of the play with Nathan Lane and Andrew Garfield on stage at London's National Theatre.
But from the beginning, the production, which was cast in November, faced challenges.
The role of Belize, a former drag queen and nurse, had to be recast twice when actors had to leave because of other jobs. But Sanders says he was pleased ultimately to get actor Adam Newborn for the role.
"He's a marvelous actor who has played the role before," he says.
Sanders said he also lost his original sound designer and stage manager to conflicts.
"It's been like a revolving door," he says.
But now everything is in place, and Sanders couldn't be more thrilled.
He says he hasn't changed much of the show including the pared-down set, but acknowledges he has grown as a director.
"In terms of design and look, I was very happy with the original production," Sanders says. "A lot of it is same. We're using same musical score."
He also brought back three actors from the "extraordinary" original cast, and says the characters are not bound by age.Gretchen K. Furst returns to portray Harper, the Valium-addicted wife of closeted Mormon Joe Pitt. Furst was very young when she played the role in 1997, but now she is about same age as Marcia Gay Harden who played the role on Broadway.
"Her age is helping her," Sanders says.
Barry Glassman, who reprises his role as closeted McCarthyist lawyer Roy Cohn, now is closer to the actual age of Cohn, Sanders says.
Joann Wilcheck Basist also returns to the iconic role of the angel.
"If anyone is age indeterminate, it's Joann Wilcheck Basist," says Sanders.
He says the angel is the one thing that has changed. Originally the angel was all in white but now "looks completely different," he says.
Sanders says he asked original costume designer Margaret Wisehart Anderson, who hadn't done costume design in 16 years, to come back for the production. He says her design is based on the angel at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park and features a palette of greens and copper.
"I'm really pleased with it," he says.
The angel will fly courtesy of Flying by Foy.
The story follows Louis Ironson (Troy Brokenshire) and Prior Walter. When the play opens, they are together, but Louis leaves Prior after he is diagnosed with AIDS. Prior encounters ghosts and angels and isn't sure if they are real or in his mind. Other characters include gay Mormon Joe Pitt (Jason Roth), Joe's wife Harper and her mother Hannah (Susan Sneeringer) and Cohn, Sen. Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the investigations into Communist activity in the United States. Eight actors portray 27 characters
"Part One: Millennium Approaches" and "Part Two: Perestroika" are both presented in three acts, with two intermissions.
"Angels in America," "Part One, "Millennium Approaches"will be presented 7:30 p.m. May 5, 6 and 18; 2 p.m. May 13 and 20; "Part Two, "Perestroika" will be presented 7:30 p.m. May 11, 12, 13, 19 and 20. Both parts can be seen on May 13 and 20. Civic Theatre, 527 N. 19th St., Allentown. Ticktes: $25; $23, students and seniors on May 5, 6 and 11. $28; $26, student and seniors, other days. civictheatre.com, 610-432-8943