Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended

"...There is nothing missing from Yando's Cohn. In a performance that surely is the zenith of this actor's distinguished Chicago career, he takes the audience on a riveting and vicarious journey as a man who despises weakness and impotence but succumbs to an invader in his body that turns him into his own negation. How does Yando do this? First, he leans his whole self into Roy's full-throated sense of humor, making him a most lovable devil. But most of all, Yando has some uncommon insights into what happens to men staring death in the face. Maybe it's all those years he played Scrooge. In some ways, the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg (Resnik) is not so different from an undigested, Dickensian bit of beef."
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Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended

"... Two decades after it came crashing into our theatrical consciousness, Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes” — his monumental two-part, seven-hour, compulsively cerebral and wildly hallucinatory meditation on the 20th century’s final dance of death — has arrived on the stage of Court Theatre in an electrifying production directed by Charles Newell."
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Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended

"...Shakespeare's plays went into eclipse for a time before their power was rediscovered, and time may need to pass before Angels is freed from its historical moment, too. The evidence of this ambitious but unsatisfying production notwithstanding, it's a brilliant piece of work—if only because, like the Greek tragedies, it carries human suffering so defiantly into the realm of the divine."
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NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended

"... Tony Kushner’s “Angels” arrived just as a dim glimmer of hope appeared: the drugs that would convert HIV from a death sentence to mere life without parole were in development and deployment. And the Reagan era seemed to be waning. As the characters in the play grappled with issues of religion, politics and morality at the same time they were prematurely facing death, either of themselves or their friends or lovers, “Angels” cast our time, which coincidentally fell at the end of a millennium with all the drama inherent within, as an epic moment—perhaps even, as Francis Fukuyama suggested, at the “end of history.”"
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Chicago Stage Review - Highly Recommended

"...Angels In America asks, “Are we doomed? Will the past release us? Can we change?” These questions have challenged every millennium and they are more vital and tenuous now than ever. In being “unafraid to look deep into the miasma of the world,” Angels In America withstands the test of time and Court Theatre’s incomparable production withstands its test of endurance. This grotesque and glorious masterpiece remains a prescient polemic and a beloved requiem full of grace."
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Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...Still, Court’s production mostly does justice to Kushner’s intelligent vision. The central image of John Culbert’s set is a slab that often serves as a bed, whether conjugal or hospital, but also brings to mind a mausoleum—a range of disparate duties that seems right. This revival marks Kushner’s accomplishment as a monument, but by no means a museum piece."
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Chicago On the Aisle - Highly Recommended

"...Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America,” a seven-hour epic theater piece as structurally complex as it is culturally resonant and emotionally fraught, requires just two things to succeed on the stage: a perfectly tuned cast of eight actors playing multiple roles and a visionary director to tune them. Behold: I give you Court Theatre’s inspiring achievement directed by Charles Newell."
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Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended

"... The Angel in America storyline may meander and Kushner’s more spiritual ideas are a long way from clear, but the shows still form some kind of masterpiece, for their ambition, their invention, and their vibrant writing. It is must-see viewing."
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ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended

"... Part time capsule and part eternal fable, Angels is so grand in scope it’s hard to take in all at once. Kushner has painted both a sympatheticand polemical portraitofan America at odds with itself at a critical juncture in its history. Full of insight of heartbreaking poeticism, Angels is a wondrous journey that may leave you permanently alteredas itslessons on love, humanity and forgiveness continue to immigrate into that vast continent of the self. Taken at separate times or together, this is a complex work thatis quite simply a mustsee."
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Chicago Stage Standard - Highly Recommended

"...Charles Newell has created an ensemble that can easily rival any major theater company in Chicago, if not the nation as a whole. Every actor made distinct choices, giving the production a strong sense of realism and continually sending chills down my spine with their enchanting delivery. “Angels in America” can easily be described as flawless with the help of two legendary words: Larry Yando. The distinguished Chicago actor gave an astonishing performance. I feel labeling his performance as “astonishing” still doesn’t give full credit to his proud accomplishment. In many ways Yando played the human form of the villain, and yet we as an audience involuntarily fell in love with his character, deeply yearning for his character to progress but quivering every time he stepped on stage."

Chicago Now - Highly Recommended

"...Two exceptional standouts among the engaging ensemble are Larry Yando (Roy) and Rob Lindley (Prior). Yando is wickedly cruel as the closeted, conservative lawyer. Yando, a Chicago musical theatre staple, is almost unrecognizable in this role. I’m use to seeing his lighter-happier-song-and-dance self. In this show, he’s an outstandingly horrific SOB. Lindley, on the other hand, is endearing at the center of the disease mayhem. Lindley amazingly showcases a range of roles: bitchy queen, spurned lover, hallucinating patient, startled ‘chosen one.‘ An animated Lindley conceals his vulnerability behind a humorous facade of toughness. ‘Greetings, Prophet! The great work begins! The Messenger has arrived!’"
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Huffington Post - Recommended

"... While the timeliness of the play may have faded over time, it's no less relevant nor powerful. It remains a boldly composed masterwork filled with universal themes that's required viewing. True, the second half does tend to get a little preachy and Newell's sober staging overlooks the magic and humor of the piece at times, but the payoff is well worth it."
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