Millennium Approaches 1.2
Summary
Joseph Pitt sits waiting in Roy Cohn's office while Roy conducts business with several people through his phone system. Roy is loud and obscene until Joe asks him to "please not use the Lord's name in vain" (20). When Roy asks what religion he is, Joe tells him that he is Mormon. Roy then suddenly offers Joe a job in the Justice Department in Washington, DC. Joe says that "it's incredibly exciting" but that he must talk to his wife before accepting the job (22).
Notes
- Cats (18) - a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1978 and based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot.
- 42nd Street (18) - a Broadway musical. It premiered in New York City in 1980 and is considered one of the most successful productions in the history of Broadway theater.
- La Cage (18) - La Cage aux Folles is a French play that became Broadway's first "homosexual" musical in 1983.
- Schtupping (20)- an offensive or indecent slang term for sexual intercourse.
- Baptist (21)- The largest protestant religious denomination based on Christian Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John in the United States that are particularly insistent on the separation of church and state.
- Catholic (21)- A universal religion comprehensive of all mankind that is liberal.
- Mormon (21) - the name given to members of the Latter Day Saint movement.
- Ed Meese (21) - the seventy-fifth Attorney General of the United States from 1985 to 1988.
Commentary
Angels in America's Roy Cohn is based on the real-life American lawyer of the same name; however, Kushner's play is not as much "about" Cohn as it is about what "Cohn represents socially and historically" (Borreca). Still, the play's character follows the nonfictional Cohn's life almost flawlessly.
Cohn became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communism in the government and especially during the Army-McCarthy Hearings. Cohn was widely unpopular during his lifetime, yet he still gained tremendous political power. He was most famous for his role in the 1951 trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. His cross examination of Ethel's brother produced the testimony that was mainly responsible for the defendents' conviction and execution. Cohn took great pride in the case, claiming to have played an even greater role than was realized. In his autobiography, he wrote that his influence had led to the appointment of Judge Irving Kaufman to the case, and that Kaufman, who was a family friend, had imposed the death penalty on Cohn's personal advice.
It was because of the Rosenberg trial that Cohn, at the age of twenty-four, had been recommended and appointed as McCarthy's chief counsel. In 1954, when McCarthy was censured, Cohn resigned and went into private practice, beginning a thirty-year career as a high-powered attorney in New York City. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was charged three times with professional misconduct but never convicted. However, eventually the New York Bar association brought disbarment proceedings against him for unethical and unprofessional conduct, which caused him to lose his license in the last month of his life.
Although he was extremely conservative in politics, Cohn was rumored to be a homosexual, and it was widely believed that he and G. David Schine, whom he appointed chief consultant, had a sexual relationship. However, Cohn continued to deny he was gay and he even lent his support to anti-gay political campaigns. In 1984, he was diagnosed with AIDs, but he attemped to keep it secret by saying he had liver cancer. Despite aggressive drug treatment, he died on August 2, 1986 (six months after the Cohn in Kushner's play) at the age of 54.
Roy Cohn was also portrayed by actor James Woods in the 1992 biographical television movie Citizen Cohn.
Study Questions
- What is Roy Cohn's profession?
- What is Roy's favorite Broadway musical? What does this suggest about the character?
- While he is conducting business, what does Roy keep insisting Joe do?
- What job does Roy offer to Joe and what would it require Joe to do?
- Why does Joe tell Roy that he has to "think about" his job offer?
- Who is the Attorney General at the time of the play?
- What is the meaning of “only in America”? - Does a persons life change for better or worse by living in the United States? Does living in the U.S. mark a turning point for religious and political history?
External Resources
- [HBO Conversations with the Actors
- The Chronicle Review: Only in America - By Eric Hobsbawm
Works Cited
- Kushner, Tony. Angels in America. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1995.
- Borreca, Art. "Angels in America, Part 1: Millennium Approaches." Theatre Journal 45.2 (May 1993): 235.