Here, we’ve compiled a list of the best Broadway Quotes from famous authors such as Dove Cameron, Julie Klausner, Lydia Leonard, Rob Marshall, John Cameron Mitchell. Let’s look at these pieces of wisdom. We definitely have something to learn from them!
1
Broadway was always sort of my trajectory before I found film and television – that would be really tremendous.
2
Frances McDormand is my favorite actor. I don’t know if that’s relevant. But she’s a person who plays people. In other words, not everything has to be an over-the-top Broadway musical to get my attention, but it certainly helps.
3
Broadway is the actor’s Mt. Everest – but with more flattering frocks.
4
What’s interesting was with all the shows I did on Broadway, I was either the dance captain or the assistant choreographer – I sort of worked my way up to that kind of thing – and I always was interested in more than just the dancers and the numbers. I would always sneak into the room and watch the scene work.
5
There’s nothing more Broadway than ‘Hedwig.’ It’s very family-friendly. There’s innuendo and stuff, but not more than you’d see on TV.
6
A lot of people now don’t know I’ve been on Broadway.
7
Performance art is going to be the future. Plays on Broadway are so restricted. But performance art is like haikus, just one line thing. And it’s more casual but more interesting.
8
The greatly anticipated 2009 Masters was like going to a Broadway hit and finding out that the star, Sir Tiger Woods, was off that night, and his replacement was the cab driver who dropped you off at the theater.
9
I used to build lofts in SoHo back when there was nothing there. I had a stoop on West Broadway between Prince and Spring. My partner and I would sit there, eat dinner, and watch the world go by.
10
One of my favorite movies is ‘Broadway Danny Rose.’
11
But to me, Broadway has always had more a ‘village’ feeling than London’s West End. The theaters here are clustered together, the staff and many people in the business know each other – it’s like a little village all to itself, whereas in London everything is more spread out.
12
When you rehearse a Broadway show, you get two months of rehearsal, while in TV, it’s a much shorter process.
13
I’ll never forget the first moment I stepped on a Broadway stage. It was in Grease, and I knew it was momentous. My parents were there, and I got into a cab with them afterward and started crying.
14
I did ‘Eubie!’ on Broadway with the Hines brothers, ‘Comin’ Uptown’ with Gregory Hines, and then ‘Hairspray.’
15
I did ‘Spring Awakening’ on Broadway for about three years, and I did over 500 performances.
16
My parents were really, really cool about supporting what I wanted to do at a really young age. I think I was about 10 when I caught the bug. They would drive me down to New York if there were auditions. When I was 12, I did this show on Broadway called ‘High Society,’ so we moved to New York for the run of that.
17
My grandmother took me to a lot of theater. I was exposed to performance quite a bit – everything from Broadway to off-Broadway and dance and music as well. I was very lucky that way. It was a very rich childhood.
18
I’ve dreamt lucidly about how my Broadway debut would go and what that would feel like, but I know that I can’t be prepared for that.
19
If you can get tickets, a show on Broadway is worth the effort and expense.
20
I had the greatest time on Broadway and made friends I never expected to make!
21
My story is so boring: Long Island Jewish parents take their daughters to Broadway.
22
I’ve always loved going to see Broadway shows. I’ve seen ’em all: Rent, Chorus Line, Cats, West Side Story, Guys & Dolls, Wicked, you name it!
23
Broadway musicals like ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’,’ ‘Eubie’ and ‘Bubblin’ Brown Sugar’ depict blacks having a light, wonderful time and that was just not so for blacks in the ’20s and ’30s.
24
The first Broadway show I saw was when I was 11. I saw ‘Hair.’
25
I’m as anxious as any viewer would be to see what Temple is going to do next. All I know is that in the second half of the season, he’s going to have more sexual tension developing. And it’s a great cast – they’re all Broadway actors except for me. I aspire to that.
26
I was, like, this token teen angst child of Broadway. It’s so funny. What is that? I don’t even know. But I loved it.
27
I’m very aware of the fact that Broadway musicals being brought to the screen are very few and far between, and it’s important to continue that relationship between Broadway and film. It’s a privilege and an honor for me to be instrumental in some way in keeping that alive.
28
I had already played a lead on Broadway before I ever did a film. I had had three, four seasons of stock with good, fat parts, good supporting and leading parts. And I had done, oh, God, over 400 live TV shows.
29
You bet I arrived overnight. Over a few hundred nights in the Catskills, in vaudeville, in clubs and on Broadway.
30
Film is much more of a brand business, whereas on Broadway, you can do complete unknowns and have hits.
31
I was shooting the third season of ‘The Big C’ and doing ‘The Normal Heart’ at the same time on Broadway, and I thought, ‘I’ll never do anything as difficult as this.’
32
Nothing’s hipper than leaving the set of ‘Girls’ in Brooklyn and having a teamster drop you off at your Broadway show.
33
Oh, I am such a nerd when it comes to music – I only listen to Broadway!
34
Yes, I am a failed playwright. I had three shows on Broadway by the time I was 30. They all flopped, and I fled.
35
More people saw the pilot of ‘Glee’ than saw me in my entire 10-year career on Broadway.
36
I think on a bucket list for a performer is definitely doing a stage show, whether it’s in Vegas or on Broadway or whatever.
37
I want to be on the big stage. Broadway. I was there before.
38
The hope is they would like to bring it to Broadway next year, so we’ll see that’s to come in the end of the finance year and everybody else and also real estate and what theaters are available at the time but I would like to come back with it.
39
‘Hairspray’ was a movie turned Broadway musical turned Hollywood remake, and that is the ‘Lion King’ circle of life as we know it in Times Square, the creative loop that swings for the stars and sometimes crashes into the upper deck.
40
I don’t go to that many Broadway shows, so I can’t really say anything.
41
American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal studios are at 890 Broadway, an old building where exposed pipes clank and hiss in uneven accompaniment to piano music. The high ceilings wear a toupee of dust. The wall paint peels like a newbie ballerina’s toes.
42
All I ever wanted to do was be on Broadway. I mean, remember, I grew up in a trailer.
43
By the time I started writing plays, Broadway was never an expectation, so it’s never been central.
44
It’s hard being a Broadway actor going into film where you have to tone everything down. In theater, everything you’re taught is to be big and broad and make everyone feel like they are right next to you, even in the last row of seats.
45
I am only satisfied insofar as I feel ‘Broadway Boogie Woogie’ is a definite progress, but even about this picture I am not quite satisfied. There is still too much of the old in it.
46
The dream is to originate a role in a show on Broadway. That’s the ultimate goal.
47
Because I’m an American woman, and I write straight plays, it’s always been sort of assumed I would never be done on Broadway. But that was never the goal.
48
These opportunities to go on Broadway are the most special thing, and although the idea of doing something for a year or more is daunting, I love it. It’s my church and raises my spirit. It’s good for my soul.
49
I’ve been dancing since I was seven, but I never really developed a regimen until I was on Broadway and responsible for a professional performance every night.
50
Broadway musicals, where you sing the whole time, I really don’t like; I like alternating dialogue and music.
51
I didn’t aspire to be on Broadway.
52
Being a kid and growing up in Cleveland, the Tonys were how you saw Broadway shows: you got to hear from each show, and that’s what inspired me to live my dream, so the fact that I am getting recognition from them, it’s mind-blowing.
53
I absolutely loved my stint on Broadway in ‘Hairspray.’
54
I grew up singing, and I played on Broadway to thousands of people, you know what I mean?
55
I think ‘Hand to God’ is going to change the landscape of Broadway. I think Broadway, truthfully, will never be the same.
56
‘The Little Mermaid’ is my favorite of the Disney animated features. And, I could not wait to see it on Broadway.
57
Going to Broadway – then to be invited to the Tonys – I really tap into what that feels like now to fulfill lifetime goals.
58
When we were bringing ‘Raisin’ onto Broadway, our first stop was at Arena in D.C. Several things struck me about being in D.C.: One was the enormous poverty around the capital at that time – it was 1973, ’74 – and I was stunned by people literally living in poverty, with holes in their houses and other things.
59
I thought it was all a flash in the pan. It wasn’t until Broadway came along that I felt I had really made it.
60
I did Broadway shows. And I started realizing that this is actually how I’m going to make my living. So maybe I should try to do television and film and make a better living and get an occasional residual check so I can pay a mortgage someday.
61
I don’t think just funny is enough on Broadway.
62
All I ever wanted to do when I was a kid was be in a Broadway musical and to be in ‘Star Trek,’ and I can finally say I’ve done that.
63
The Songwriters Hall of fame, that’s the one all the big-time writers get into, the really great stuff, the Broadway stuff and all that. That would be something, to get your name in there.
64
I was one of the ones in my generation who actually did connect with ‘The Wiz,’ even though it was not on Broadway or the movie wasn’t big anymore by the time I was of age to notice. But I was into it in middle school.
65
My dream of dreams is to write Broadway musicals. All of this Twitter and TV writing is just a day job.
66
My first Broadway show was with Elizabeth Taylor and Maureen Stapleton. Maureen Stapleton, a legend in the theatre; Elizabeth Taylor, a legend, period.
67
I couldn’t be more excited about doing ‘Kinky Boots’ on Broadway; it’s going to be a delicious challenge!
68
When I was at Lakeridge High School, in my junior and senior years, my choir and theater department raised money so we could go to New York and see Broadway shows. It really changed my life.
69
My first Broadway show wasn’t until I was a freshman in high school. It was my first trip to New York. I came with a group of theatre kids, and we saw four shows. The very first one was ‘Contact.’
70
I’ve been blessed by doing classic plays on Broadway, which was one of my great dreams forever.
71
I want to be back on Broadway one day. That’s a dream of mine. There’s nothing like live theater, and I think it’s so important for me to be able to be on stage with an audience that responds.
72
‘Story of My Life’ was essentially a two-man musical play. In hindsight, I don’t know if there was room for a two-man musical on Broadway.
73
I was modeling since I was four and acting in commercials since I was five – this was when I was in New York. I then moved to LA when I was 16… but before that I had done a play on Broadway.
74
So if I keep making mistakes on Broadway or tape or film, producing, directing or acting, I can go along and do it – so long as I’m not investing too much capital in these things.
75
I can’t tell you the thrill and joy of when I was cast in my first Broadway show. Granted, it was ‘Starlight Express’ and it was exhausting, but it was my first time on Broadway, and there was nothing like it.
76
I worked out the keyboard parts on the progressive rock classic ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’ and somehow managed to play it all on acoustic guitar.
77
In a Broadway musical, a scene sometimes breaks into a song and vice versa.
78
I’d love to do something on Broadway. I’d love to spend some time in New York.
79
I never wanted to be a wrestler, I wanted to get into musical theater. I always wanted to be on Broadway.
80
On Broadway, you are working with some incredible people, and they have great reasons for doing things the way they do.
81
If you’d ever told me that my Broadway debut would be playing Spider-Man, I would have laughed in your face.
82
When I saw my first Broadway show, ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ I was like, ‘Okay, I’m definitely gonna do this.’ After that, I did little shows and started auditioning.
83
Some filmmakers set out to re-create the theater experience they got on Broadway. They kept everything the same. They shot the original casts. We reinvent the whole thing, look at it solely as a movie. We pretend that nobody saw ‘Chicago’ or ‘Hairspray.’
84
I always loved and secretly wanted to do ‘Company.’ It was produced on Broadway in 1970, and it’s about a successful 35-year-old guy who’s starting to think he should get married.
85
In 1954 I was on Broadway for five months in ‘The Matchmaker’ and went once a week to the classes of Uta Hagen, a theatrical guru whose teaching in retrospect illuminated the whole of my training at the Old Vic.
86
Many actors in films are willing to go to Broadway, and screenwriters are writing plays. It’s almost commonplace.
87
The first big lead that I had on Broadway was in a show called La Strada.
88
My middle daughter is with the Royal Shakespeare Company and was on Broadway several years ago.
89
For me, there’s nothing more valuable as an actor, or better way to learn, than getting to perform in front of a live audience, no matter where you are. Whether it’s on Broadway, in Florida, or doing a tour.
90
People wear shorts to the Broadway theater. There should be a law against that.
91
I had toured around England endlessly throughout my teens, but when I came to the U.S. to perform on Broadway, that was a huge step.
92
The Broadway community means the world. That goes for the actors, that goes for the crew, the producers, the writers, and most importantly, that goes for the fans. The Broadway community is one that I will always hold very near and very dear to me.
93
The Greatest Showman’ would be an amazing Broadway hit.
94
I was in California, and I was going to UCLA, and I knew I certainly didn’t have movie star looks. I remember seeing pictures and photos of Ethel Merman and Mary Martin, who were kind of average looking. I said, ‘Well, that’s for me, then, to go back to New York and try to be in musical comedy on Broadway.’
95
I love going to see the theatre whether it’s a Broadway play or a Russian ballet company.
96
During the winter of 2013, we were running ‘Comet’ up in midtown – as opposed to downtown – and across the street in the Standard, and that was, like, our third time going at it, from Ars Nova to downtown to near Broadway. We weren’t on Broadway. We were near Broadway, as we said.
97
I’ve seen Hugh Jackman in a thousand Broadway shows.
98
I would absolutely be interested in doing a Broadway production if it was the right project. But my dream is to be writing pieces of theater for my best friends and putting on plays in New York City and seeing our vision come alive. I just hope to always be creating.
99
I really would like to be on Broadway someday.
100
Great as my dad was – I would never have gotten my first job announcing if I didn’t have the last name Buck – it’s my mom, Carole, who has made the biggest difference. She was on Broadway back in the 1960s. She understands entertainment, has incredible instincts.
101
The stuff that is done on Broadway is hardly theatre. It is part magic show, part rock concert, and part conjuring things.
102
When I got to Broadway, I conducted five Broadway shows.
103
It’s glamorous when a movie is released, but then you feel disconnected from it. Someone asked if it wouldn’t be more glamorous for me being on Broadway rather than Off Broadway, but I thought, ‘What’s the difference?’ The Orpheum is a smaller house, that’s all. And there are no mikes, so you just talk louder.
104
I’m always going back to New York for Broadway workshops or reading. So I always keep my foot in the door: I’m always on the lookout for the next Broadway show.
105
I’ve been looking for a Broadway opportunity ever since I stopped doing theater.
106
I miss Broadway, what little there is on Broadway now.
107
I had a hard-scrabble childhood with my parents. I have a lot of baggage. To come down to the footlights and accept the audience’s affection inside a Broadway theater – that didn’t come easily to me.
108
I’ve been in leadership roles on Broadway, and it’s one thing to lead a Broadway company – you’re with those people for a year straight, and you’re doing that same show, eight shows a week. It’s quite another when you carry on the story… You go beyond that, and you ride the wave of a character.
109
It wasn’t until I saw ‘The Color Purple’ on Broadway when I was 15 that I really solidified acting is what I want to do professionally.
110
I would love to do a talk show. Naturally, I would love to do more films. I’d love to be able to see casting directors more willing to put in a character who happens to be deaf. I’m not talking about doing deaf storylines, but putting in deaf characters. I’d love to be able to do Broadway.
111
Broadway, in my opinion, is a microcosm of America. Those challenges that we have in our country, I think we still have those challenges on the Broadway stage. I think there are far too few African-American directors working on Broadway.
112
There is definitely that thing here a little where people are like ‘Oh that Broadway girl has come to Nashville’ and I’m like ‘Listen you guys, I was singing country before I even got a Broadway show. And I’m from Kentucky.’
113
Madeline Kahn is one of my favourite people in the entire world and one of the funniest. She was a talented Broadway star and also sang opera.
114
I’ve been reading scripts where they’ve been doing a lot of singing now, but within the dark, realistic story line. I would love, love, love, love to do that. But not a musical on Broadway, I don’t have that kind of energy or stamina.
115
You hear about Broadway your whole life, and I learned what it meant to work on Broadway in ‘The Phantom of the Opera.’
116
When I look around at Broadway and the West End, theatre is becoming an exclusive club.
117
Essentially I’m a melody person in a rhythm age, and that’s what Broadway is really about, the songs.
118
When I came out with ‘Posse on Broadway,’ I decided, enough with trying to imitate New York, enough with trying to imitate L.A., let’s just be Seattle. And rock, grunge, followed right after ‘Posse on Broadway’ and Seattle just exploded.
119
In ’92, I got my first Broadway show as a performer – ‘Crazy for You.’ I was in the ensemble. In fact, I was in eight Broadway shows as a dancer. Seven of them were original shows. That’s how I learned to create something from the ground up.
120
To watch Lin Manuel Miranda… you could not make a better spokesperson for Broadway in a laboratory.
121
I did six Broadway shows, and I noticed there weren’t many female comedians. When I went to a dancing audition, there were 1,000 girls. And there were three jobs. So I said I’ll just try comedy. And I loved it.
122
I learned from master teachers at the University of Evansville, at Juilliard, at Shakespeare festivals all over the country, eventually landing at Shakespeare in the Park in N.Y.C. That show transferred, so I got to make my Broadway debut doing ‘The Tempest’ with Patrick Stewart.
123
My passion was to be on Broadway and to be part of this community because I saw what it was like from the outside as the young kid in and around New York, and I would see things like the ‘Easter Bonnet’ or ‘Broadway Bares,’ things I would sneak into.
124
I really did sneak into Broadway shows, starting when I was 12.
125
It doesn’t matter how late you get home or how wired you are, you still wake up early with your kids. That’s the most important thing you do in a day, whether or not you’re in a hit Broadway show.
126
When I did ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie,’ it was almost every ‘first’ I could have imagined: I dreamt someday being on Broadway, and then dreamt someday playing a lead on Broadway, and then dreamt someday of getting to originate a role, and then getting a Tony nomination. It all happened at once. I was just terrified.
127
I’ve done a bunch of Broadway, so I’m a theater nerd when I come to New York.
128
I’d like to have one of my plays on Broadway.
129
If I were to talk to my younger self, I would say, ‘Girl, you’re gonna be on Broadway one day.’ I sometimes think about my younger self knowing that and how ridiculously she’s sobbing somewhere, so I would love to tell her that it’s all going to happen.
130
I’ve done a lot of Broadway plays, and I’m fortunate they’ve all been so successful.
131
‘Grease’ was my Broadway debut. That was eye-opening. At the same time, it was very familiar. It was a Broadway show, but it’s kind of the same as doing a show in Minnesota. It’s the same type of rehearsal process. You are doing 8 shows a week, but I worked at a theatre in Minnesota that did 11 shows a week.
132
When I’m writing Broadway, it’s for a character, a man, a woman, an old guy, a kid. In the band, you’re talking in your own voice in the lyrics, saying what you think or feel. On Broadway, you’re expressing that through a character.
133
If you try to do a genuine rock musical, rock people will think you’re flaccid and Broadway audiences will think you’re too loud.
134
Broadway has been very good to me. But then, I’ve been very good to broadway.
135
I’ve taken so many kids out of Pittsburgh and onto the great white way in New York City right into a Broadway show.
136
I love ‘Annie Hall,’ but then I adore ‘Hannah and Her Sisters.’ Dianne Wiest is amazing in ‘Bullets Over Broadway,’ but her in ‘Hannah and Her Sisters,’ I absolutely loved it.
137
There was a perception that reality-show people are just mere personalities, that they don’t have real talent, and I worked real hard to change peoples’ minds, one show at a time, and proved a lot of people wrong. I’m proud I was the first to do that for ‘Idol’ on Broadway!
138
There have been several television movies, ‘Carrie 2,’ two musicals! I remember thinking, the first time there was a musical on Broadway, ‘Oh my gosh! The people who ordinarily go to the theaters, that’s not really the audience.’
139
Many years ago, when I was working on Broadway, I used to go to a drug rehabilitation centre on Sundays. I didn’t lecture them against the perils of drug-taking; I gave them drama therapy.
140
I’d love to go back to Broadway if there was a place for me there. I would absolutely go back; it’s just a part of me.
141
Have you seen the Broadway version of ‘The Lion King?’ Go and see it. That’s where the future of musical is.
142
I always, always meant to be on stage. I only ended up even auditioning for television and movies because I was understudying a Turgenev play on Broadway and was so broke that, when I got a mini-series, I had to take it and was so ashamed because I was such a snob.
143
I’m very optimistic about the future, because… Okay, with Audra McDonald, even just on Broadway, they cast her in shows that are usually not played by African-American women, so she’s very inspiring to me just because of that, you know what I mean?
144
If Broadway shows charge preview prices while the cast is in dress rehearsal, why should restaurants charge full price when their dining room and kitchen staffs are still practicing?
145
When I was growing up in the Isle of Man with ambitions of being a performer, I really wanted to go to see a Broadway show.
146
I’ve been to London twice. I saw the Broadway show ‘Billy Elliot’ there – phenomenal. I was crying through the entire thing.
147
The emergence of social media in the Broadway fan’s life – it’s sort of a serendipitous thing for us and for a lot of shows. I always wonder what ‘Rent’ would’ve felt like through that lens.
148
After I saw ‘Annie’ on Broadway, I came out of the show crying, because I wanted to be on that stage.
149
The fact that I even get in Broadway shows is, to me, still amazing, but then to win a Tony was just incredible.
150
When I auditioned for ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ on Broadway, Gower Champion said, ‘You’ve got the job!’ I said, ‘Mr. Champion, I can’t dance.’ He said, ‘We’ll teach you what you need to know.’
151
I didn’t know I’d ever write a Broadway musical.
152
I’d like to do Broadway if the right project came along, but my mission in life is that I want to help change people’s lives.
153
I was lucky enough to make my Broadway debut in ‘Big River.’
154
What I particularly like about Broadway is the camaraderie and the friendship of other people in other shows. Everybody knows you’re opening and cares about you. There’s a real village atmosphere.
155
I found an agent midway through my year-long run at ‘Grease’ and just started to audition. I fortunately booked ‘South Pacific’ six months after ‘Grease’ was over, and I feel like that was a huge turning point in legitimizing myself in the Broadway community, and getting to do that was absolutely amazing.
156
I wasn’t straining at the bit to become a movie star any more than I had plotted to get out of vaudeville and into Broadway musicals.
157
A lot of Broadway has that immigrant narrative of America as a place where you can become something else against all odds.
158
That’s always – that’s been another dream of mine, to do a Broadway play. An award winning Broadway play.
159
I’m the journeyman actor that you saw in one scene here, two scenes there. I’ve been eking out a living doing theater – Broadway, Off Broadway – film supporting roles, that I’m just excited to be a part of the conversation.
160
My daughter just graduated college and she’s a dance major. She’s done a couple of dance videos already and won Miss Massachusetts a couple of weeks ago. She’s going out for Miss United States the second week of July, out in Las Vegas. She will probably wind up going to New York and trying the Broadway thing.
161
I want to do a big Broadway musical, at some point. I would love to do that. To do something there would be super-cool.
162
I want a TV series, I’m gonna do some acting jobs, I’m gonna do some Broadway jobs, everything!
163
I like singing as much as I like acting, and all through high school I thought I might be a Broadway singer.
164
A young Brit girl with no theatre experience decided to take on an iconic American role on Broadway. Maybe I should have thought that through?
165
I think the fact that I grew up in show business had a real effect on my personality. If you were born in New York during the golden age of television, and you grew up on Broadway, that marks you.
166
I always felt like Broadway was not for me – in terms of ticket price, in terms of what was on there. I never saw myself reflected in the mirror of the Great White Way.
167
I miss Broadway! I’m still a theatre kid, don’t worry!
168
I love Broadway. I love live performing. It’s really spiritual when you can get to interact with people, and they actually affect how your show goes.
169
I so miss musical theater. Secretly, I’m in awe of Broadway performers.
170
It’s tourists in New York. Everything is geared towards that. It’s so hard on Broadway now for them to get people in there. They have to compete with so many other entertainments, so they have to bring a star in which puts people there out of work.
171
The thing about Broadway, they always welcome you with open arms.
172
On the screen were some flashback shots of Daniel, Emma and Rupert from ten years ago. They were 12. I have also recently returned from New York, and while I was there, I saw Daniel singing and dancing (brilliantly) on Broadway. A lifetime seems to have passed in minutes.
173
I like the fact that some of your favorite Broadway musicals are not made into movies.
174
Maybe when my kids are grown up, I can go back to Broadway. It would be great someday, I suppose.
175
It’s interesting that the wondrous ‘Hamilton,’ which I could not be more ecstatic about, has taken a long time to perfect to bring it to Broadway. And it wouldn’t have been possible if it was developed in the commercial theatre from the get-go.
176
Being on Broadway is the modern equivalent of being a monk. I sleep a lot, eat a lot, and rest a lot.
177
I dropped the ‘Bundy’ with my country music because I wanted it to be two separate things: There’s me as a songwriter and a country singer, and there’s me as a Broadway performer.
178
I would love to do a Broadway play. I would love to do big screen also, motion picture.
179
I’ve been really, really fortunate to get some fantastic opportunities on Broadway, and I cherish all of them.
180
I learned how to get rid of the Southern accent when I was, like, 11 years old and living in New York for the summer doing modeling and commercials and auditioning for Broadway. The mother I lived with for the summer taught me how to drop my Southern accent.
181
Sidney Poitier was directing a film called ‘Hanky Panky.’ And he said, ‘Do you want to come with me to New York to see Gilda Radner in ‘Lunch Hour’ on Broadway? I said, ‘I don’t need to see her, I love her. I’ve wanted to write something for her for a long time. So it’s OK by me.’
182
I’d like to think of myself as an ambassador for Broadway.
183
I had never auditioned for Broadway – any play – and I was not familiar with what you’re supposed to do.
184
My first job was on Broadway. Then I went into the Navy. When I came out of the Navy, I went back to Broadway and a friend of mine, Lauren Bacall, was in Hollywood filming with Humphrey Bogart. She told one of her producers I was great in my play, and he saw it and cast me in ‘The Strange Love of Martha Ivers’.
185
All I ever wanted to do was bit parts on Broadway. I have more than achieved any goal that I aspired to.
186
I was pretty new to the Broadway world once I began working in it. I hadn’t really grown up being too aware of that many shows or that many actors in shows. I was always obsessed with Judy Garland, though.
187
I was successfully hiding from the world on Broadway for about 25 years.
188
The Depression was remarkable because you had nothing, and the salaries, when you got a job, were very small. But you could do anything. You see, a donut was ten cents. A cup of coffee was a nickel. That was lunch, with an apple. And I would be playing a lead on a Broadway show on that kind of diet.
189
If I had maintained my athletic fantasy, I probably would have ended up as a fat football coach somewhere in central Pennsylvania. I’m really glad I’m starring in a Broadway musical instead.
190
I have to say, speaking from experience, just because an actor starts out in a role in the workshop, they won’t necessarily play it when it goes to Broadway.
191
Writing a play to get to Broadway and have a national tour is a sure way to write a terrible, terrible play.
192
If you had asked me when I was little, like, ‘Imagine you were on Broadway,’ I’d be like, ‘Yeah, right.’
193
Broadway! Broad-way! I don’t aspire to the middle. I aspire to the tip-tip-top of it all.
194
It was a different planet in 1967, the Broadway theatre. It had a little ashtray clamped to the back of every seat and the author got 10% of the gross.
195
I wanted to be on Broadway, but in musical comedy.
196
I never dreamed that I would be part of a Broadway show.
197
I know about lots of things that have nothing to do with being Asian, that you would never guess from looking at me. I know all about musical theater. I could go on ‘Jeopardy!’ and knock off the whole Broadway show tunes category. Also the whole Bible stories category.
198
The chance to work on Broadway choreography as opposed to having to deliver Broadway choreography can be two distinct things.
199
I’m very proud of my New York debut. I played Oscar Wilde in ‘Gross Indecency’ off Broadway in about 1997. And I was very proud of my Broadway debut in ‘The Iceman Cometh.’
200
Making my Broadway debut was, in and of itself, just a dream come true. I’ve wanted to be on Broadway forever.
201
I’ve worked with a lot of gay and lesbian organizations. I sit on the board of the Empire State Pride Agenda. I’ve also done a lot of work for Broadway Care/Equity Fights AIDS. I think it’s important because, when we can be of service to others, it only enhances our lives. I’ve been helped a lot in my life.
202
People see a lot of huge stuff on Broadway, but there’s always Off-Broadway energy and also shows that you can work in.
203
As a woman of color, slowly and with some coercing, the not-for-profit theaters around the country are beginning to recognize and embrace the power of our stories, but with regards to Broadway and other commercial venues, we remain very much marginalized and excluded from that larger creative conversation.
204
‘Bonnie and Clyde’ was the first show and the first role that I got to originate. Being part of that from the ground up and investing three years of my life into seeing that show come to Broadway was really rigorous but also so exciting.
205
I did do Broadway for a little less than a year and realized quickly I don’t have a passion for it and, more importantly, I don’t have a talent in it.
206
Broadway is a definite symbol of New York. It’s classic New York.
207
So somehow we’ve got to get back to making stuff for people that are not necessarily interested in seeing the common Broadway fare.
208
My one ambition was to go to Broadway, and I never gave up on that dream.
209
Broadway is a closed ecosystem.
210
But as far as dream roles – I know this is so expected of me, but I would to play Elphaba in ‘Wicked’ on Broadway. I have a lot of dream roles, but that’s like my main one because of the vocal track. I love belting high things!
211
There’s a mythical status to the Tony Awards. When you’re growing up as an actor, you hear about Broadway and the Tonys, but it’s not something you ever expect to experience.
212
I’m so tired of stories starting, ‘Maud Jones was walking her dog down Broadway.’ You’ve got to go over to the back page somewhere to finally find out the damn dog was run over by a truck. Get the thing told, for heaven’s sake. Everybody doesn’t have to be an O. Henry.
213
I went to a really small school, and it had a really small theater department. They didn’t talk about Broadway. I learned about it through watching the Tony Awards.
214
I used to watch the Broadway ‘Les Miz’ and study it.
215
There’s nothing more romantic after not seeing your husband for four months than to have our first night back together, on a Broadway stage, with 12 million people watching.
216
I never intended to go to Broadway. I was very happy being in an Off Broadway theater and having an Off Broadway life. What it did to me is try to fit a round peg – that’s me – into a whole bunch of square buildings. I just didn’t fit.
217
I relished the opportunity to be on Broadway… It’s the holy grail for people like me.
218
The dumbing down of the country reflects itself on Broadway. The shows get dumber, and the public gets used to them.
219
For two consecutive Broadway seasons, I had probably the best juvenile roles there were for an actor. Then I moved to California to recreate my role in the film version of ‘Tribute.’ I started working in film and television after that, and 38 years blew by!
220
All those days of waiting on tables until I could get a role on Broadway, all that time going to school taking lessons, and all those years of being a nobody following a dream-and now here it is.
221
To be an English person in my 20s, doing a Broadway show – it’s one of the mountains I wanted to climb.
222
I’ve been blessed to have acting opportunities in movies, television, as well as Broadway, and definitely want to continue to do so.
223
Ever since I was little, Broadway had always been my passion.
224
I was a big Broadway fan for a while.
225
It’s one thing to experience your Broadway debut alone, but to share it with an entire company was like summer camp or a college experience, where you were really growing up together.
226
In Broadway, we do love jazz hands.
227
I would love to be in musical theater and be on Broadway. If someone were to offer me a position to do something like that, I wouldnt pass it down. Im a huge fan of musicals and I really want to do that.
228
It was the first time that I was on Broadway, and I got to run as fast as I could to keep up. And I loved it!
229
Every actor tries to come to Broadway be it Richard Burton, Marlon Brando or Liz Taylor or Shirley McClain.
230
I’d like to one day be able to say, ‘I was in more than one play on Broadway.’
231
I was really into dancing, taking six classes a week, and my real dream was to be in a Broadway show.
232
I would really have liked to have gone to Broadway with ‘A Streetcar Named Desire.’ I was proud of that.
233
I did a reality TV show in London called ‘I’d Do Anything,’ and when I got put in the program, they said, ‘What is your ultimate dream?’ and I said, ‘Broadway.’
234
I think that much of the success of the Broadway mounting of ‘Newsies’ was due in no small part to the infectious camaraderie on stage between the boys.
235
The only stuff I don’t like are Broadway musicals. I hate them. I don’t even like to talk about it. I can’t bear musicals.
236
No one told me that if you can’t sing, you probably won’t be on Broadway. No one told me that!
237
When you’re a kid, you think ‘Oh, it’s so great. I’m going to go to Hollywood. I’m going to go to Broadway.’ For a long time, it was such a novelty.
238
I always wanted to work on Broadway. That’s something I always wanted to do.
239
If you look back throughout the history of Broadway, there’s always been periods where writers and producers have delivered the kind of things that people want to see, while at the same time pushing the form along.
240
My studio was on 9th Street between University and Broadway.
241
I surround myself with people I admire and respect. I have never tried to make anything happen. I don’t know how long ‘Urinetown’ will run on Broadway, and I find myself strangely unconcerned about it.
242
Producers on Broadway approached us with an original script after relaunching ourselves as ‘A Great Big World,’ and wanted us to write the music. They asked us to make the music we would sing if we could, and so we can go a little crazier. We refer to it as ‘our music on steroids.’
243
I worked with Ismail Merchant on ‘The Mystic Masseur,’ I did ‘Sakina’s Restaurant,’ I’ve done plays, I’ve been on Broadway, I’ve done movies, I’ve done TV… but nothing has had the pop culture penetrative impact as ‘The Daily Show’ has. It’s the nature of the beast.
244
I really wanted to be a Broadway kid.
245
We may have limped onto Broadway as the underdogs, but underdogs bite back occasionally.
246
If I thought about it before I went on, I would have never went on. So, therefore, you don’t think about it; you have to talk yourself then into, ‘Listen, this is it. This is the gig. Broadway or no Broadway, you’ve got to do your job.’
247
I’d studied dance in Chicago every summer end taught it all winter, and I was well-rounded. I wasn’t worried about getting a job on Broadway. In fact, I got one the first week.
248
I go down the street thinking, ‘Oh my God, I live in New York.’ But then I think, ‘Oh my God, I’m on Broadway!’
249
When I hit New York in 1972, I thought I was a sprinter. I thought that I would star in a Broadway show and do a movie and win an Oscar by the time I was 25. It turned out that I’m a long distance runner.
250
I’m not really a ‘puppet’ person in particular; I think they are very theatrical, and I’ve found different uses for them in shows, but my true interest is in writing Broadway musicals.
251
I worked with Harold Pinter once as my first Broadway show. It was one of the most exciting things that ever happened to me.
252
I didn’t see any Broadway till I was in my late twenties.
253
From 1985 to 1994, I lived in Manhattan in a big old loft right off Times Square. I could walk to work, which was in a couple of Broadway theaters, to Howard Stern’s studio, and to 30 Rock for ‘Letterman’ and ‘SNL.’ Even in New York, walking to work is homey and folksy, like living in a small town.
254
I love Broadway musicals, but there’s a lot that I want to do.
255
Being on Broadway and getting a Tony nomination – this has been an incredible ride, from rather humble beginnings.
256
So did my time on Broadway after the Xscape tour doing ‘Chicago’. Performing eight times a week put in the mindset of being onstage again.
257
At a very early age I knew I wanted to be an actor and then more specifically that I wanted to be on Broadway and be in musicals.
258
I thought about doing ’36 Chambers’ on Broadway.
259
I love dancing; I adore salsa dancing and wish I could be in a Broadway chorus.
260
In Glendale, where I live, there’s a street called Broadway. The bottoms of the light posts have swastikas on them.
261
I love country songs. I love Broadway.
262
Though I acted in hundreds of productions, appeared at the Guthrie Theatre and on Broadway in Amadeus, I discovered in my thirties that I didn’t really like stage acting. The presence of the audience, the eight shows a week and the possibility of a long run were all unnatural to me.
263
I’ve always felt embraced by the Broadway community even before I felt like I earned it.
264
I spent a lot of time in the trenches in New York doing a lot of off-off-off Broadway theater.
265
I went to the Paradise Restaurant on 49th Street and Broadway which was where they were playing, and I sat in.
266
I’m a Broadway baby, through and through. It’s my first love, and it’s what brought me to New York in the first place.
267
I came to Broadway through Indiana University.
268
My aim is to bridge Broadway and the R&B world; and to bring all my Broadway experience to the R&B world; and one day, when I go back to Broadway, to bring some R&B to that.
269
I am always in much better shape when I am doing a Broadway show because you have the eight shows a week to kind of keep the body clean and perfect in a sense, you know? For instance, I always eat much better when I am in a show because you can’t have dairy – for your voice.
270
I can go out raw with nothing, and my fans would still be happy, but I feel that I owe it to them to give them almost like a Broadway musical at this point in my life. I have to give them something more, so I do have to think of different ways to do it.
271
There are a lot of other work forces that don’t do things the way the Broadway community does.
272
Guy asked me, ‘Scat, what is there left for you to do?’ And I said, ‘A Broadway play, man!’ Can you dig it? That’s the only thing I never done. I’d like to say I had.
273
I moved to New York City in the ’80s to be an actress and to be on Broadway. That was always my dream.
274
I think the thing’s that perhaps sad really is that younger people haven’t come in and I think it must have been absolutely fantastic to have worked in the 50’s when you had all of the great Broadway composers and when West Side Story didn’t win the Tony Award.
275
In high school, I was doing my magazine ‘Rookie’ and a lot of writing, and I became a little less interested in the fashion world. I was approached by an agent for writing, and I said I wanted to act as well. They sent me scripts, and then I got my first Broadway play, ‘This Is Our Youth’.
276
My parents were in ‘Brigadoon’ on Broadway when I was a couple of years old.
277
I spent 15 years of not being able to get a job creating a role on Broadway.
278
After I graduated, I tried Broadway, which was difficult for me. It was tough to get a part on Broadway, so I just started talking to audiences at different social gatherings, and little by little I became Don Rickles – whatever that is.
279
My new play ‘Chinglish,’ which will go to Broadway, is about a white American businessman who goes to a provincial capital in China, hoping to make a deal there. It’s bilingual. And it’s about trying to communicate across language and cultural barriers.
280
I’d love to be on scripted TV shows and movies, but not just one – I want to be in a lot of them! I’d also love to sing and possibly be on Broadway. I want to do it all.
281
In New York, I get people coming up to me because ‘The History Boys’ was such a hit on Broadway, and they show the film all the time on cable over there, so people recognise you.
282
I wanted to write for Broadway.
283
I think I am the first person of color to direct a major white play on Broadway. In 1993? That’s astounding to me. And horrifying to me.
284
I did a lot of musical theater when I was younger, and I really hope to get back there someday. I miss singing a lot. I listen to Broadway show tunes in my car and sing along to them.
285
Because even at the age of fifteen, I used to go see all the Broadway shows and feel that they were sentimental, that they were pandering to the audience and trying to manipulate the audience. I had no use for practically any of the shows that were hits.
286
I was dancing on Broadway for many years. Then everyone was either getting injured or retiring, and I was dancing with younger dancers.
287
I started auditioning, and the first job I ever got was understudying Amy Ryan in ‘The Sisters Rosensweig’ on Broadway, directed by Daniel Sullivan. I was 18 years old.
288
Somewhere during the ‘Next to Normal’ Broadway run, I found myself learning more about myself onstage than in real life, and I truly realized the beautiful, tremendous, extraordinary gift that is performing.
289
On Broadway, there is no censoring, just self-censorship and doing what makes sense.
290
I’d love to do Broadway or the West End. I’m sure doing eight shows a week is gruelling, but I did a lot of stage shows in Sydney and I love performing live.
291
I don’t really know exactly what the plan is… I’m not a person that’s just pursuing acting or just pursuing singing or just pursuing dancing. You know, I would love to do reality television, I would like to go back to Broadway.
292
We are living in the excesses of freedom. Just take a look at 42nd Street and Broadway.
293
Nobody knows I sing. Even though I’ve done Broadway musicals. I would only pick it over acting because it’s such a pure form of emotional expression.
294
‘Hairspray’ was my first Broadway show. In the meantime, after the show was over, I would go down and do gigs at these clubs that I wasn’t even old enough to get into. That continued on, and I think what ended up happening was that I just got these incredible opportunities on Broadway.
295
I am a collector of many things, but I particularly love the sterling silver mint julep cups, each engraved with the titles of the Broadway shows in which I appeared.
296
The streets of New York are diverse, but when you go into a Broadway show, unless Denzel Washington is in it, or Fantasia’s in it, it’s a lot of old white people and gay men.
297
I was the teenage kid growing up in New Jersey watching the Tony Awards and thinking, ‘Oh, maybe if I’m lucky I’ll make it to Broadway by the time I’m 40!’
298
I went from off-off Broadway. I would direct plays in Baldwin Hills. Almost Tyler Perry-like, really trying to express myself in that and not really knowing how to, knowing acting in story, but not really knowing how to technically hold a camera.
299
For a while, people couldn’t understand why I’d find them so fascinating, but I’d rather go to a trial than to a Broadway play. Now that we have Court TV, they see what I mean.
300
My plays aren’t stylistically the same. Just being an African-American woman playwright on Broadway is experimental.
301
Broadway performers are the best-trained people on the planet.
302
I want to make ‘Broadway’ a word that doesn’t have pejorative connotation. I don’t want ‘musical theater’ to be a dismissive term. I want it to be something that people can be proud of, that people can say, ‘Look at the possibilities.’
303
I’m in a play on Broadway, I have an animated TV show coming up, I have a few movies that just came out.
304
There’s a lot of pressure on Broadway. There’s this feeling that the show has to be a commercial success and the producers have to make their money back and Tonys and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
305
I had opera training for three years, and I have three albums out. I also did a Broadway show. I’m an actor that sings, so it is in my blood. It is in my system.
306
Broadway is a main artery of New York life – the hardened artery.
307
So in case there was any doubt, I am here to report that having a play on Broadway does not suck.
308
That experience with ‘Rent’ went by so fast. I was younger. I didn’t even really know what opening night was. And now I’m thinking back on the times I went to Broadway as a kid and the excitement I felt… And I’m realizing that I’m actually a part of that, so I’m learning to take it in, ’cause so often I shrug it away.
309
What are the symbols of American strength, wealth, power and modernity? Certainly not jazz and rock and roll, not chewing-gum or hamburgers, Broadway or Hollywood. It’s their skyscrapers. Their Pentagon. Their science. Their technology.
310
I’ve done some TV and I’ve done a lot of theater, obviously, and the last character I played on Broadway was a very fast-talking broad. I’m used to learning material and words.
311
I sing; I started my career at 9 years old in ‘Les Miserables’ on Broadway.
312
I was raised on Broadway because of my dad, but I never thought I had what it took to make it there, although I always wanted to.
313
I was so happy to be able to be a part of Broadway Bares and had the best time ever!
314
I’d love to do Broadway. It’s funny. I love it, but I’ve never actually seen an actual Broadway show, not even ‘Hairspray.’
315
I thought I would move to New York and be on Broadway; that was my goal. I was very work-focused.
316
I’m doing a new musical on Broadway, which opens in October called ‘The Boy from Oz,’ where I play Peter Allen. For those of you who don’t know, he became first famous in America for marrying Liza Minelli.
317
I began modeling in N.Y. and doing commercials. That led to regional theatre and then Broadway and then movies.
318
Secretly, I’m in awe of Broadway performers. I would love to perform at that level. I love the exchange with the audience. I love being able to sing and dance to express your emotions and the community and friendships that are formed when working on a theater piece.
319
I don’t think a solo album is me. I don’t consider my voice to be that kind of a voice. Not that I don’t love singing, but Broadway was my original dream. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do.
320
Broadway’s a lot of work, don’t get me wrong. It’s eight shows a week. You hardly ever see the sunset. I remember when I left, I was like, ‘Oh! The sun’s setting! I haven’t seen that in a year!’ Singing eight shows a week is hard.
321
I would like a shot at Broadway.
322
I did green screen for the first time! I wouldn’t like to do a whole movie of green screen, though. You kind of forget the plot a little – like being in a Broadway play and doing it over and over and forgetting your line halfway through.
323
You went to your first Broadway play or musical at some point, right? Come to opera.
324
I’d actually love to play Sonny in ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ now that it’s being adapted for Broadway. People don’t talk about that movie that much, but it’s really a beautiful gay love story.
325
I did find it particularly difficult to do Broadway. It was not my favourite way to perform. When I do theatre, I like it to be smaller. I like the audience to be closer; I like it to be less presentational.
326
I got into a Broadway show before I ever sang and danced. I learned how after I got in the show.
327
When I was 12, I did this show on Broadway called ‘High Society,’ so we moved to New York for the run of that.
328
Broadway is such a diverse community. Everybody knows how I believe, and everyone believes, and it’s not a big deal. But in Hollywood, if you talk about politics – especially if you’re a Republican – or spirituality, it’s just not something people want to hear about.
329
I’m a weird dichotomy of nerd, sports fan, and musical theater, so I’d love to do a superhero musical on Broadway. But all the good superheroes are claimed.
330
I’ve been able to go on and have a successful career on Broadway and certainly the last five years in Las Vegas have been amazing.
331
I’d love to do ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ again – especially on Broadway.
332
I coach young people. I have a group called BTP – Broadway Theatre Project.
333
I’m really excited about the revolution that is young people actually playing young people on Broadway.
334
I am not a sex symbol of the Broadway community. I know guys who are, and I say, ‘Rock it out.’ But I’m more comfortable in a different land. I don’t know what land it is, but not that one.
335
Acting is a different beast on screen. I’m excited to explore that. But, of course, it’s an honor to be part of the Broadway community. It’s a dream just to be here.
336
I think that I always thought that if my uncle was on Broadway, then I must inherently have a good voice. I don’t think that for a while I did. Eventually, out of sheer will of never wanting to get a job or go to college, I found my way into doing music full-time.
337
I did I Love My Wife on Broadway in 1978, and then went into television land. Now things are starting to come together in the way I thought they might when I was a kid.
338
I always admired Hugh Jackman as an actor in movies but also in theatre because I’m a big fan of Broadway musicals.
339
It’s every actor’s dream to work in a hit show on Broadway and also shoot a television show.
340
Being a New Yorker, I used to dance to Latin music. There was a place called the Palladium on Broadway. And Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez used to play. So I still have that in my blood.
341
My last show that I did on Broadway was – I hate to say this, but – ‘Cats.’ There you go. So I was doing ‘Cats’ on Broadway, and I injured my back. It was a really tough show.
342
I already have a Tony for my Broadway concert in ’73. It’s one of the most precious things I’ve won.
343
My childhood dream was always to be on Broadway. I wanted to end up in TV and film. It’s kind of flipped, and I’m not mad about it, but my childhood dream is Broadway and I want to end up there.
344
You thought the stage, you thought Broadway: that was the pot at the end of the rainbow. The idea of being in Hollywood was like going to the Moon or Mars.
345
There are many Broadway songs that apply to moments on ‘Mad Men,’ and I sing them on set all the time.
346
You know, things kind of happen organically and, you know, Broadway sort of happened out of a career in performing and – which happened out of practicing piano when I was a kid.
347
The good thing about Broadway is that you don’t have to worry about an airdate. It gets done when it gets done.
348
There’s been a time where I was like, I wanna be a folk singer; no, I wanna sing soul. I want to sing classical music. I want to sing R&B. I want to be on Broadway. I just wanna sing. Whatever comes out of my mouth, that’s what I want to do.
349
I had originally planned to do musical theatre and be on Broadway, but then my love for poetry also set in. Once that happened, I became torn between a career as an English teacher or a music teacher.
350
I was in 27 Broadway plays, and three of them got the Pulitzer Prize.
351
Trey Parker did ‘Book of Mormon.’ It’s the best Broadway show I’ve ever seen. He does ‘South Park.’ It’s wonderful.
352
There is one thing I should say, and it’s important: Young Broadway singers and anybody who is an orator of any kind – lawyers who have to speak in court or pastors or anyone who has a lot of stress on their vocal cords: You should do the maintenance. You should do whatever it takes to feel fresh and good.
353
My early days in Broadway were all comedies. I never did a straight play on Broadway.
354
I know, it’s weird that I’ve never done a musical. I turned down two of them. ‘The Lion King’ and ‘The Producers.’ I turned two of the biggest Broadway musicals down, am I a mess?
355
I’ve got all these great broads in me, all these character women. I was playing a torn-down stripper at twenty-five on Broadway, and now I fit the shoes.
356
All forms are complex once you get to a really high level, and jazz and hip-hop are so connected. In hip-hop, you sample, while in jazz, you take Broadway tunes and turn them into something different. They’re both forms that repurpose other forms of music.
357
The whole cast and creative team were definitely aware of the ‘This is the death of Broadway!’ kind of thing about ‘SpongeBob,’ but we’ve been really ready to change people’s minds. I’m really proud of being part of something that took the most creative route to a commercial entity.
358
I’m unable to do the thing that Broadway actors do in plays, sometimes for years. The same exact blocking, the same exact lines. I’m a little bit uncomfortable with that. Every night I’m looking for ways to try something else.
359
I’m an actor first and foremost. But I’ve also started an organization, Broadway Impact, that advocates for marriage equality. I’m an actorvist.
360
We didn’t have a lot of live theater in Oklahoma. I didn’t visit New York when I was growing up. I watched movie musicals, and I believed in an idealistic, idyllic version of Broadway.
361
I came from somewhat of a musical family. I had an uncle on Broadway. My dad kind of knows how to play instruments. Although, I always find it annoying when he does play an instrument.
362
Some people get a Broadway show, and that’s their end game, and they want to sit there for as long as possible. And some people have other things they want to do with their life.
363
In ’75, the year both A Chorus Line and Chicago hit Broadway, my head spun around and I became the ultimate theater queen for life.
364
I mean these people who work on Broadway, in my opinion, are the most gifted of everyone. I mean they really know how to dance. They really know how to act. They really know how to sing. They know how to perform.
365
One of the things I did when I was in New York, which has a wonderful deaf community, is I have worked on making Broadway more accessible to deaf people.
366
‘Blackbird’ is the only one I’ve ever wanted to redo. It just haunted me, this play. There was a sense of unfinished business because at the time we did it at Manhattan Theatre Club, there was real momentum to move it to Broadway.
367
I like pop, rock n’ roll, big band, Broadway – I like all those elements.
368
I received the most fantastic welcome to the Broadway Theatre community. I walked on stage to tremendous applause and a long standing ovation, wondering when I was ever going to be able to say my first line!
369
I started when I was in ‘The King and I’ when I was on Broadway when I was nine.
370
I was always drawn to Broadway musicals, and obviously composers like Gershwin, Rodgers, Berlin and Porter were writing music that I found wildly impressive.
371
There’s no better feeling than being on a Broadway stage for me.
372
I started traveling by myself as early as 5 to see my dad. I’d go to Toronto or Los Angeles, depending on what show he was doing, but most often New York, and we would hang out, and he’d take me to museums and Broadway plays. The ones that had the biggest impact on me were the George C. Wolfe productions.
373
When I did ‘Grease,’ I took good care of myself. I treated it like a job. I approached it very professionally because I wanted to make a good reputation and hopefully continue on in the Broadway community and continue to do shows.
374
I want to be a recording artist for my whole entire life. But Broadway is something I would come back to at any given moment. I love, love, love doing theater.
375
In the seventies when I was struggling, I ate the same thing every day at Big Nick’s Burger Joint on Broadway and 77th Street. A cottage-cheese omelette with tomatoes, French fries, rye toast, orange juice, and coffee. It was consistently the most satisfying meal I could possibly imagine.
376
I’m not denying that it’s exciting to have a play on Broadway.
377
I never thought of myself as a Broadway actress. I’m not really a singer or a dancer.
378
My dream job would be starring in a lead role on a Broadway musical.
379
Going to America is the best prize, so fingers crossed it will work out on Broadway.
380
I’ve just been more interested in doing film right now and I don’t want to go away from my family for six months, which was what I would have had to have done if I did the play on Broadway.
381
I started taking ballet lessons when I was 4, and I was performing in ballet companies when I was 10, and I did summer stock in Miami Beach when I was 12, and finally I said, ‘I gotta go to Broadway.’
382
As soon as I saw ‘Chinglish’ on Broadway, I began to envision this smart and insightful cross-cultural comedy as a film.
383
I really cut my teeth on off-off-off Broadway shows.
384
The only thing I haven’t done as an actor, other than Thai puppet theater somewhere, is act on a Broadway stage.
385
I got to Broadway a year after I came to New York. I starred in ‘Butterflies Are Free’ and got a Tony for it. Right out of the gate. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t very gracious about it. I wasn’t driven. And right after ‘Butterflies Are Free’, I got married and then started a family. I always wanted that.
386
We’re actually thinking about distributing ‘Moon Over Broadway’ on-line. It’s tempting, because when you go to a major studio, it’s sort of like a farm, you know? They make all the money, since it’s kind of a buyer’s market.
387
Broadway is really my life.
388
I wore out the Broadway ‘Tommy’ recording. I just loved it.
389
There was a week where I was depressed with the rain, and people were telling me to get a light box. But I live on the 14th floor of an apartment complex, and I see the Broadway Bridge and Mount Hood, and it keeps me such company. And like true Oregonians, I don’t carry an umbrella anymore.
390
As a kid growing up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, all I wanted to do was be on Broadway in a musical. ‘Spring Awakening’ kind of answered all of my questions and fulfilled all of my dreams – beyond my wildest dreams.
391
I like film, and I like Broadway; I just love performing, so whatever God has for me, I’ll be happy to just try it and see what happens because no matter what, if I’m performing, I’ll be happy.
392
I did my first Broadway play, ‘The Vertical Hour,’ in 2006, with Julianne Moore, who’s always been one of my favorite actresses. My scene was with her, so it was nerve-racking.
393
My plan has always been to return to Broadway every 50 years.
394
My first dream was Broadway.
395
I love going to Broadway shows.
396
When I was little, I saw the play ‘Les Miserables’ on Broadway, I thought it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen.
397
Usually, on Broadway or in Hollywood, you come up with a project, and you have to convince the producers that it’s safe.
398
There are values on Broadway that are dangerous: it’s got to be Best Musical, it’s got to make money, it’s got to run a certain amount of time. Nowhere in this, of course, is there any mention of quality.
399
My father is a South African actor who danced in broadway musicals for ‘Lion King.’
400
I got nominated for a Tony in my Broadway debut, which was fascinating and thrilling and sort of unbelievable all at the same time.
401
I just wanted to go to New York and be on Broadway, but then I was accepted by Juilliard, where they trained me in classical voice. It was great in the end, but at the time, I thought, ‘What am I doing here? This is not my path.’ But it was absolutely my path and where I was meant to be.
402
When I was on Broadway, people would really just recognize me around the theater. When you’re showing up on commercials and posters, the scope of people recognizing you gets a little wider.
403
My sister is my biggest Broadway hero.
404
What better way is there to raise money for such an important organization like Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS than by celebrating all types of bodies, all types of relationships, and just acceptance overall?
405
I think as a writer you never have to flee from fame because you’re not that visible in the first place, but, after the Broadway success of ‘Beauty Queen,’ people were coming up to me all the time, and I wasn’t really prepared for that level of attention.
406
Broadway was life-changing because it pushes you mentally, physically, emotionally – every way that you can be pushed. It makes you feel like there’s nothing you can’t do. It’s like doing your own stunts.
407
We need to diversify the people who are backstage and producing and marketing these shows. It’s the limitations of these people that are holding Broadway back.
408
My first big show in Denver was ‘Ruthless! The Musical.’ I played Tina Denmark at the Theatre on Broadway. It was my big break!
409
I’m lucky to have worked in theater all over the world, but there’s something magical about Broadway. The audiences are smart, they’re educated. They go in ready and they’re up for it, they’re up for the party. It’s a whole different atmosphere.
410
I didn’t have an agent until I got ‘Hairspray.’ I had to get a Broadway show without an agent to get an agent.
411
When I’m in the audience of Broadway shows, I feel like I’m in the presence of something really special with artists working at the height of their craft and doing the best work that they possibly can.
412
I figured as I got older, the good roles for women would be in the theatre. So 15 years ago I started building a Broadway career to try and develop the chops to be accepted as a great theatrical actress.
413
What about Broadway? Yes, I’m involved with a new musical based on ‘The Adams Family.’
414
I went to Broadway and I’ve been doing some fun guest spots with ‘Entourage’ and ‘Glee’ and I’m ready to have my own show.
415
Broadway is at its best when it represents as many people as possible.
416
I would also like to act, once in a while, but not get up every morning at 5:30 or six o’clock and pound into the studio and get home at 7:30 or eight o’clock at night, or act over and over and over every night on Broadway, either.
417
I remember when I was in ‘Hairspray’ – my first Broadway show – I truly was in awe of the voices I got to hear on a nightly basis around me. I’m thinking, ‘Wow! Why aren’t these people selling millions of records?’ They’re the ones that are out there, you know, belting their faces off!
418
I was pre-med in college, and so since a lot of people take a year off before they go to med school, I decided to take the time to pursue theater – six months later, I was on Broadway.
419
Broadway is full of crazy people.
420
There was no doubt that there was a vast organization which was making fools of all the liberals in Hollywood and taking their money, that there was a police state among the Left element in Hollywood and Broadway.
421
‘Tommy’ was the first show I ever saw on Broadway. I was 14. It wasn’t ‘the show’ that started that flame in me or anything, but it did excite me in a way no other show had. I’d never seen a show so brilliantly cast and directed.
422
I really want to do Broadway.
423
Just as I was turning fifteen, in the spring of 1946, my parents took me to see ‘The Glass Menagerie,’ well into its year-long run. I had seen a number of shows on Broadway by then, but nothing like this – because there was nothing like this on Broadway.
424
Drag wasn’t really on Broadway. It was considered low-class.
425
Obviously I love working in film and television, but I started in theater and I’d love to be on Broadway.
426
I auditioned for Julliard because I wanted to live in New York, and I wanted to be on Broadway at the time. Julliard seemed like right way to get there.
427
I remember when I was doing ‘The Crucible’ on Broadway with Laura Linney, and Arthur Miller had been in rehearsal with us and was on stage on opening night. She turned to me during the curtain call and said, ‘Let’s make sure we remember this.’
428
After ‘Rent,’ I tried to make a record, and it didn’t work out, and it was the Broadway community that welcomed me back. It’s where I feel the most understood, most at home.
429
I’ve always wanted to do Broadway.
430
The fact that ticket prices are way too expensive, and there’s only one bunch of people going to see Broadway shows, is something I’ve never liked.
431
When we were shooting ‘Oz,’ my wife was doing ‘Beauty and the Beast’ on Broadway, singing and dancing. It was an interesting dichotomy in our house.
432
I’ve done a couple of Broadway shows and sang before I did any acting.
433
I saw ‘Hairspray’ at the Pantages in L.A. It came to the Pantages right before I did the movie, and just being in New York sometimes and seeing the marquees and everything like that, I’m like, ‘I really, really have to go experience a Broadway play.’
434
My long-term goal is to play a drag role or a female role in a Broadway production.
435
I really hope for more Broadway. I didn’t think I was going to love it this much. I would love to stay here.
436
I went to grad school in San Francisco, and then left for New York City with my eye on Broadway. I had saved $5000, which seemed like a lot of money in my mind… until I realized it was going to take $2500 to get to New York and then the first and last month’s rent.
437
I love Broadway shows.
438
I thought I was going to be on Broadway. I thought, ‘I’m going to do theater.’
439
I used to love Woody Allen but feel he’s become a hack as a director. ‘Bullets Over Broadway’ is the only film of his I’ve enjoyed in the last 10 years.
440
The magic of landing my first role on Broadway went ‘poof’ in a matter of a few weeks.
441
Broadway really inspired me to want to act.
442
All my roots are Broadway. I got my Equity Card doing a Broadway show, and my first love is theater.
443
If my 12-year-old self knew that there was going to be a Broadway adaptation of ‘Newsies,’ I would have freaked out.
444
I toured around the country and met all these Broadway producers who put me in all these Neil Simon plays like ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’ and ‘Biloxi Blues.’
445
You know, they wanted to do a Broadway album and every show was kind of a bomb. There was no music at all.
446
My mom was always so supportive; she enabled me to pursue my dreams. I danced on Broadway as a kid, and she would never miss a show.
447
Because Chicago was to radio what Hollywood was to films and Broadway was to the theatre: it was the hub of radio.
448
Every time somebody would ask me what I want to be when I grow up, I would always say, ‘I want to be on Broadway!’
449
I don’t have regrets. I’ve never sat here and thought, ‘Gee, if only I’d done ‘The Man Who Came to Dinner’ on Broadway, I would have been happier.’
450
I’ve never been an actor on Broadway, but it feels like you’re on a stage when you play at Yankee Stadium. And that’s the feeling I’ve always had.
451
I don’t think I’ve got the stuff that Broadway musicals are made of. But there are definitely many musicals that I enjoy. ‘Hair’ and ‘Rent’ might be my favorites.
452
I would love to be on a sitcom or on Broadway.
453
I’ve done three Broadway shows; once the curtain goes up, that’s it. I mean, you prepare and you rehearse like crazy, but after opening night, the director’s not there anymore, you know. He gives you notes during previews after each performance, but opening night, you’re on your own.
454
My skirt fell off on stage during a performance of Hairspray on Broadway, revealing my fat suit over my own natural fat suit. I turned to the audience and said, ‘Now you know why I spent six years in a square.’
455
I was asked if I’d audition for a part in a Broadway musical because the director just loved me.
456
I wanted to be a Broadway star.
457
I’m making my Broadway musical debut at the age of 73 – it’s a kind of interesting career arc.
458
Singing on Broadway terrified me more than anything I’ve done.
459
‘Broadway Bound’ is near and dear to my heart, as it was one of my happiest times on Broadway.
460
Broadway doesn’t pay that much.
461
I remember going on iTunes and ‘Hamilton’ was like the number one rap album, above like Fetty Wap, which is just impossible, like a Broadway cast album.
462
My parents had normal jobs, and I didn’t just want to work all day, and so I thought if I could break into music I wouldn’t have to work all day. And I had an uncle who was on Broadway, so I was like, ‘I have to be able to sing.’
463
I live in Derry, a little town in Ireland, and I don’t have the background of Hollywood or Broadway.
464
The great thing about doing a series about the Broadway community is that the possibilities are endless.
465
I really feel confident about my dancing now, so I hope there could be a place for me in the West End or on Broadway – maybe a musical, maybe my own show.
466
I always wanted to be on a great TV show and in a Broadway show and have a CD out, and the fact that they happened simultaneously is kind of an embarrassment of riches.
467
I always wanted to be a Broadway star. That’s actually what I wanted to be when I was a kid. I wanted to be the 19-year-old sensation on Broadway. It took a little bit longer than that.
468
That’s why I had to leave Hair on Broadway, because I did it for about a year, and one night I was doing the show, and I realized, well, this is not real. I told the director. He says, man, it was a killer show tonight.
469
I could see no position to say, ‘I’m going to make a living as a writer.’ But I went to classes for it; I read every play in ‘Theater’ magazine. I saw the second acts of everything on Broadway – I had a job as a CBS usher in New York City, and on my way home every night, I’d see what shows I could get into.
470
I thought my first few jobs would just be off, off, off, off, off broadway. And by chance and how the world works, I ended up on a TV show instead.
471
I love and respect theatre, so I am truly honored to have the opportunity to take my voice to the Broadway stage.
472
I wanted a Broadway credit, but ‘Crazy Ex’ came along, and it blessed me.
473
I’m excited to flex my Broadway muscles – it keeps you alive as an actor.
474
What a turnaround in sentiment ‘Glee’ exemplifies. It was only a few years ago that pursuing the dream of a Broadway career or cabaret stardom relegated some poor yearning dope to a lavender ghetto of losers, self-deluders, and social rejects.
475
The only reason anyone goes to Broadway is because they can’t get work in the movies.
