Seattle theater preview: Angels from 2 angles, plus some quick hits

Angels appear in the firmament, new theater pieces are forged in mere hours and visiting artists from Peru collaborate with student actors in Rainier Valley in shows coming up pronto on area stages.

"Angels in America"

The two halves of this epic, Pulitzer Prize-honored play by Tony Kushner (subtitled "A Gay Fantasia on National Themes") initially premiered at two different theaters, in two separate productions, in two different years (1991 and 1992, respectively).

So perhaps it isn't so strange that two Seattle fringe companies are each staging one of the parts, which are playing concurrently at different theaters — with different casts and directors.

"Millennium Approaches," Part 1 of "Angels in America," introduces the overlapping characters — gay and straight, Mormon and Jewish, conservative and liberal — who animate this brilliant, broad-ranging study of the American cultural response to the AIDS epidemic on several levels. It opens tonight, in a staging by Absurd Reality Theatre, directed by Maridee Slater at the Poncho Forum (at Seattle Repertory Theatre).

Part 2 of Kushner's sprawling work, "Perestroika," is being presented by Repertory Actors Theatre (ReACT). David Hsieh's staging holds forth at the Ethnic Cultural Theatre.

It is an act of boldness for any small company to tackle this big, chewy treatise of a play (which was also made into a cable TV film, with a starry cast including Meryl Streep and Al Pacino). And the present arrangement lets you see how different actors and directing choices can affect a respected script.

"Angels in America: Millennium Approaches" runs tonight through Aug. 9 at Poncho Forum, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Center (206-443-2222 or www.absurdreality.com). General admission tickets are $18.

"Angels in America: Perestroika" plays tonight through Aug. 10 at the Ethnic Cultural Center, 3940 Brooklyn Ave. N.E., Seattle (206-325-6500 or www.reacttheatre.org). Advance general admission tickets are $12, day-of-show general admission tickets are $15.

"interlace [falling star]"

Angels of a different sort appear in this sci-fi fantasy about a mysterious amnesiac who finds herself in a metaphysical wonderland.

Scott O. Moore wrote and directed the piece, the last show of Annex Theatre's current season. And Moore is no stranger to the fantasy genre: His spoofy Internet video series "Cherub — The Vampire with Bunny Slippers" has reportedly been downloaded more than a million (golly) times.

"interlace [falling star]" plays Aug. 1-30 at Annex Theatre, 1100 E. Pike St., Seattle (800-838-3006 or www.annextheatre.org). General admission tickets are $12, students $5, seniors and military $7, pay-what-you-can shows Aug. 8-9.

"14/48: the world's quickest theater festival"

Sounds like a joke, right? Blink your eyes, and you miss it? But this Seattle fest is an annual hit with a lot of adventuresome patrons and theater artists.

The latter include seven playwrights who sign on to each write a 10-minute play, based on a shared theme, in a single night. The next morning, a director is assigned to each script, then actors and musicians jump in to whip it all up into a production audiences will see that night.

Over two weekends (this is the second one), it adds up to 14 mini-plays, created by a cluster of some of our most talented — and fearless — local stage folk.

Runs tonight through Sunday at Center House Theater, Seattle Center (800-838-3006 or www.1448fest.com). Tickets are $15.

"Callejon (The Alley)"

Members of the Afro-Peruvian ensemble Teatro del Milenio have been in Seattle, helping adolescents create this original bilingual musical with the Rainier Valley Youth Theatre.

Created in conjunction with North-South ConeXions, a dynamic, ongoing cultural-exchange program led by Rose Cano, the show features original music by Paul Thomas and award-winning guitarist Roberto Arguedas and concerns an Afro-Peruvian man's challenging return to his homeland after a long stay in New York.

Tonight through Aug. 2 at Rainier Valley Cultural Center, 3515 S. Alaska St., Seattle (206-725-7517 or www.seedseattle.org/seedarts/rvyt.html). Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for children, students and seniors.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com