“Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches” is a deeply impactful American play about the AIDS epidemic during the Reagan era. The show, written by Tony Kushner, has gone on to see a star-studded HBO adaptation, equally star-studded, large-scale productions and world-renowned fame. With the renowned show — directed by the highly accomplished John DeMita — closing off the School of Dramatic Arts’ Spring 2025 mainstage season, there was a lot for audience members to look forward to, but it was hard to leave fully satisfied.

Before audience members go through the doors of the Wolf Drama Center, they are greeted with beautifully engraved angels — a permanent fixture in the building but all the better for this production. 

Upon entering the Sanctuary Theatre, audiences are presented with an odd seating arrangement: just a few front-facing seats and the remainder on the side of the stage. Since only a small number of viewers get to see the show from the front, not all seats get an equitable theatrical experience and equal access to the show’s holistic list of elements.

Despite a lack of access to the show for some, performances persist. Caleb Kocsis takes the leading role of Prior Walter, giving a performance that continues to improve, especially into the second and third acts of the show. Kocsis clearly portrays Walter’s continuous journey as his physical and mental state both rapidly change.

Kocsis plays alongside Riley Skinner, who appears as Louis Ironson, another performance that has more chances to shine come Act Two as Ironson grapples with identity and relationships.

While the show is deeply rooted in historical events and a significant political landscape, there is no performance quite as real as Adrian Quinonez’s portrayal of real-life lawyer Roy Cohn. 

Quinonez truly lives in Cohn’s sadistic and immoral lifestyle while portraying the role. From his first frantic moment to his final haunting scene, Quinonez gives a performance to remember that challenges all other portrayals of Cohn’s persona.

The entire show takes place against the mostly same, German Expressionist-esque set. Scenic designer Maya Channer — who served simultaneously as costume designer — excellently constructed a unique set, though it does beg the directorial question as to why the entire show is set against this singular backdrop. 

For certain moments, a German Expressionist look is nothing short of genius, with the genre’s parallel themes, but those moments aren’t enough to justify the backdrop as the sole centerpiece. 

With so much of the show rooted in the grounded reality of New York City, the phantasmagorical archway detracts from the text at hand. This show does not require a traditional set and frankly excels in the untraditional, but to maintain this liminal space for the three-hour-and-twenty-minute runtime of the show is nearly as harmful to the viewing experience. Had Channer been given an opportunity, it’s clear she has the potential to amaze.

In this unique stage-to-audience arrangement of the Sanctuary Theatre, it feels like an attempt to escape the space the show is in, turning the stage into a much larger and, again, less accessible space. The Sanctuary Theatre feels misused compared to past productions such as “Marat/Sade” and “Deep Blue Sound.” To hold this monumental show in such a special space had so much creative potential, but it is ultimately underutilized.

It is these difficult barriers of entry to the world of the play that stop the show from gaining the praise that past productions of the same text have earned. It becomes difficult to focus on the actors or other brilliant talent of the SDA students when the seating arrangement feels so out of place and difficult to engulf oneself in, even for those people with more traditional seats.

Effort has been put into making certain charming moments, such as Maya Sta. Ana’s arctic journey as Harper Pitt and the culminating angelic moment featuring Jacquelyn Fajarillo’s The Angel, that feel out of place. While Sta. Ana and Fajarillo have great performances, it is a strange space for those performances to live in. So much of what surrounds the show detracts from its presentation.

Despite other struggles for the show, Charlotte Baklarz’s lighting design and Billie Oleyar’s projection design do a very good job at trying to establish the world of “Angels in America.” The window projection on the back wall brilliantly determines reality versus scrambled illusion. However, the use of lighting and projection feels like it could have had a significantly greater effect if they were given the room to do so.

The special, magical, small moments are what carry this show, from some talented performances, to Richie Nickel’s sound design or a perfectly falling feather. These glimmers of awe do not do enough to satisfy the out-of-place feeling gained from most of the show. 

For such a powerful text being performed as the culmination of such an impressive program, “Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches” ultimately relies too deeply on those moments. There are many great aspects and so much great potential that just don’t click into place with one another.

“Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches” runs at the Sanctuary Theatre through April 27.

Disclaimer: Auburn D’Artell, a costume assistant on “Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches,” formerly served as a podcast editor at the Daily Trojan in Fall 2024. D’Artell is no longer affiliated with this paper.