“Da! Da!” as the Russians Would Shout for Rec Room’s Perestroika

I hate when critics remember a past show and compare it to a current revival. When I saw Merman, or Channing, or Gielgud. But…When I saw the premiere of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Parts I and II on Broadway in late 1991 or early 1992, I thought that Part II: Perestroika was the weakest link. How wrong I was. The wizards on and offstage at Rec Room have set my head straight. What a magnificent production this is – magical, transformational, immensely emotional, witty, charming, rated R. This is not what I remember from years past, and thank goodness.

Yes, the play’s too long (3½ hours with two intermissions), overblown and precious at times, and always beating you over the head with its “profound” message of “Keep Changing,” “Don’t Stop,” Move On.” If Thornton Wilder hadn’t been so ensconced in his closet, this is what he might have written in the ‘40s.

Yet, for its structural flaws – scenes repeat or end abruptly with no noticeable payoff – Perestroika packs a mighty wallop. And, yes, you must first see Part I or there is no ultimate payoff, for the characters develop, morph, and deepen in Part II. We’re invested in them from Millennium Approaches, but now Kushner delves into their interior with a scalpel.

Sure, the “Angels in Paradise” scene is extraneous, as is the apotheosis, which is like Mozart’s ending to Don Giovanni with its moral of “Be a Better Person or This is What is Going to Happen to You.” We got it twice the first time. Now, even the Angel has better wings, stretching from her perch above the stage and flowing onto and around the scaffolding of Stefän Azizi’s metallic tinkertoy set. Everything works better in Part II, not that Rec Room’s Part I was lacking; but even the acting is pitched higher, compact, more shaded and nuanced. Why does everything seem sharper and more focused?

And what a cast for Kushner! They astound anew. With his fervor and feverish Prior, the remarkable Wesley Whitson goes for broke and hits the bullseye (as he always does). Greg Dean, as insufferable bully Roy Cohn, the “polestar of evil” as he’s described, gives a truly malignant performance while he suffers mightily under the ravages of AIDS, his frail body convulsing in spasms of pain. He’s still got plenty of bile to spew over his nurse Belize, the wonderful and catty Avery Vonn Kenyatta, our no-nonsense Everyman, the play’s conscience.

Nathan Wilson comes into his own (and into our praise) for his deeply convincing portrait of Joe Pitt, the married man who craves sex with men. His hypocritical contortions will doom his marriage and maybe himself down the road. Lewis (Matthew Jamison), Prior’s lover who abandons him in his most dire hours, beds Prior to assuage his guilt, but later seeks repentance for his actions, but is finally rebuffed by Prior in an act of angelic mercy. Both Lewis and Joe don’t change, they just repeat. No salvation for them. And let’s not forget Susan Zoozin in multiple roles that are limned to perfection, either as the oldest Bolshevik alive in the play’s opening monologue, or as the fussy head nurse, or as the sympathetic Mrs. Pitt, Joe’s mother, who shows the humanity in even the most devout. Kushner can be kind when he wants to. And Elizabeth Black endows the Angel with scads of righteous fury. Her wrestling match with Prior was comedy gold.

And then there’s the incredible Meg Rodgers, as poor delusional Harper, driven to hallucinations by Joe’s betrayal. She doesn’t forget either. Her scenes are electric with inner tension, conflict, and raw emotional depth. She acts “true” and gives one of the finest performances this season. Other actors are going to work triple-time to catch her. She’s on fire.

Perestroika has flaws, no doubt about it: length, repetition, its grand theme spelled out ad infinitum. But Rec Room’s superlative production, under Matt Hune and Sophia Watt’s knife-edge and perpetual-mobile direction, the sumptuous sound design from Robert Leslie Meeks, Paige Seber’s crisp lighting, and Leah Smith’s utilitarian, but spot-on, costumes, is one of Houston’s grandest shows. For the full impact, see both parts, you will Move On. You’ll have to, the Angels demand it!

Angels in America, Part II: Perestroika. Playing in rep with Part I: Millennium Approaches. Through December 20. 7:30 p.m. Fridays November 28 and December 5; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday December 10; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, December 18; Friday, December 12; and 7:30 p.m. Friday December19; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, November 22, December 6, and December 20. Rec Room Arts, 100 Jackson Street. For more information call, 713-588-9403 or visit recroomarts.org. $30-$45.

This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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