Stephen Spinella

Soon after graduating from high school in Glendale, Ariz., Stephen Spinella took flying lessons at the Phoenix airport. He wanted to travel, and he figured that's what airline pilots did. He got his license, but he never piloted another airplane. "I hated every second of it," he says. "Pulling a Cessna 150 out of a stall was not my idea of a good time."

Soon after graduating from high school in Glendale, Ariz., Stephen Spinella took flying lessons at the Phoenix airport. He wanted to travel, and he figured that's what airline pilots did. He got his license, but he never piloted another airplane. "I hated every second of it," he says. "Pulling a Cessna 150 out of a stall was not my idea of a good time."

For most actors, it's the sound of applause and laughter rippling through the audience that is the most gratifying. But for Stephen Spinella, it's the sound of gasps. The 37-year-old actor certainly incites his share of them as Prior Walter, the addled and flamboyant scion and reluctant prophet who is at the heart of "Angels in America," Tony Kushner's two-part epic about gays, AIDS and Reaganism.

Stephen SPINELLA won back-to-back Tony Awards for his heartbreaking performance as the AIDS-ravaged Prior Walter in Tony Kushner's landmark "Angels in America" plays: "Millennium Approaches" and "Perestroika." But truth be told, he's really a musical comedy performer at heart. And he literally gets to kick up his heels -- and in this case, his high heels -- as a drag performer in the comedy "Connie and Carla," Nia Vardalos' follow-up to "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

Stephen SPINELLA won back-to-back Tony Awards for his heartbreaking performance as the AIDS-ravaged Prior Walter in Tony Kushner's landmark "Angels in America" plays: "Millennium Approaches" and "Perestroika." But truth be told, he's really a musical comedy performer at heart. And he literally gets to kick up his heels -- and in this case, his high heels -- as a drag performer in the comedy "Connie and Carla," Nia Vardalos' follow-up to "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

Keith Carradine, whose previous portrayals of historical figures include Will Rogers ("The Will Rogers Follies") and Wild Bill Hickok ("Deadwood"), will play George W. Bush in "Stuff Happens" at the Mark Taper Forum, opening June 5. Among the other actors in David Hare's play about the decisions that produced the U.S.

Here is a complete list of winners of Broadway's 1993 Tony Awards announced Sunday: *Play: "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches." *Musical: "Kiss of the Spider Woman." *Revival: Roundabout Theatre Company's "Anna Christie" *Book of a musical: Terrence McNally, "Kiss of the Spider Woman." *Original score: (tie) John Kander and Fred Ebb, "Kiss of the Spider Woman"; Pete Townshend, "The Who's Tommy." *Director/musical: Des McAnuff, "The Who's Tommy." *Director/play: George C.

Both the New York Times and the Hartford Courant have reported within the last few weeks that playwright Tony Kushner's next play will be for actor Stephen Spinella, who leaped to stardom and won two Tony Awards for his performances in the two parts of Kushner's stage drama "Angels in America" ("Angels in America: Millennium Approaches" and "Angels in America: Perestroika").

Paul Newman will return to the Great White Way in December to appear in Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," his first foray onto a Broadway stage since the 1964 comedy "Baby Wants a Kiss." Earlier this year, Newman played the role of the stage manager during a run at Connecticut's Westport Country Playhouse, where his wife, actress Joanne Woodward, is artistic director. "I'd given up hope that he'd ever go back to the stage," says director James Naughton.

For most actors, it's the sound of applause and laughter rippling through the audience that is the most gratifying. But for Stephen Spinella, it's the sound of gasps. The 37-year-old actor certainly incites his share of them as Prior Walter, the addled and flamboyant scion and reluctant prophet who is at the heart of "Angels in America," Tony Kushner's two-part epic about gays, AIDS and Reaganism.

When you know going in that Terrence McNally's Tony-winning "Love! Valour! Compassion!" was a hit on the New York stage, one thing becomes stunningly clear: Stage dialogue has a hard time making the trip to a big screen. It's paradoxical, really. In the theater, there's an implicit understanding that distances, both spatial and emotional, must be breached; in the cinema, the intimacy is so immediate that passions must be tempered. And there's nothing temperate about "Love! Valour! Compassion!

For the second year in a row, "Angels in America," the epic play about AIDS, gay life and Roy Cohn, won the Tony for best play in the annual ceremony honoring Broadway's best, held Sunday at the Gershwin Theatre in New York. This year's award went to part two, "Perestroika," of the Tony Kushner play, while last year's went to part one, "Millennium Approaches."