Chicago Med’s S. Epatha Merkerson joins Angels in America cast

S. Epatha Merkerson features in a new Angels of America production.

Chicago Med actress S. Epatha Merkerson is one of several stars participating in a new version of Angels in America to benefit COVID-19 relief.

amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, is raising money for its COVID-19 fund by streaming a selection of scenes from Tony Kushner’s acclaimed play on Oct. 8 at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT.

While the production will be free to watch on the Broadway.com YouTube channel, people are enouraged to donate to support research to help the fight against COVID-19.

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There will be a post-play discussion that’s likewise open to everyone, but viewers who donate at least $100 will have extra access to a separate exclusive that, according to amFAR’s press release, will enable them to “hear directly from the cast and creative directors.”

According to a Deadline report, different actors will play the same character in different scenes, as the cast rotates. S. Epatha Merkerson will portray the character of Belize in select scenes, while Jeremy O. Harris and Larry Owens will play Belize in others.

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Merkerson is a two-time Tony Award nominee. She earned her first nomination in 1990 for starring in the August Wilson play The Piano Lesson and her second in 2008 for Come Back, Little Sheba by William Inge.

She joins an all-star Angels in America cast that also will include Glenn Close, stage legend Patti LuPone, Laura Linney, and Andrew Rannells (Black Monday, Girls, The Book of Mormon).

Whoopi Goldberg, Alan Cumming and Jake Gyllenhaal are also involved, but not playing any roles; instead amFAR says they’ll participate in “interstitial moments,” or moments between scenes. You can see a teaser trailer for the upcoming production below.

Angels in America made its Broadway debut in 1993 and won the Tony Award for Best Play as well as a Pulitzer Prize. The two-play examines the AIDS epidemic and homosexuality in the 1980’s, utilizing a spiritual angle as certain characters are either angels or ghosts.

TV viewers may also be aware of it from the TV adaptation produced by HBO in 2003, which up until this year was the only production in Emmy history to sweep all the major categories.

More information about amFAR’s benefit version of Angels in America can be found here. It will stream at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT on Oct. 8, roughly a month before the One Chicago franchise returns for its new season.

For the latest Chicago Med season 6 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Med category at One Chicago Center.