James Fenton Quotes

And what could be a hotter ticket than the improbable triumph of 'The Book of Mormon,' the musical-comedy moon shot of the season? Its creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, of Comedy Central's 'South Park,' are the most unlikely Rodgers and Hammerstein team ever to bowl a thundering strike.

It's funny because 'The Book of Mormon' is 'The Book of Mormon' now. When I was doing it at the very beginning, and I was a part of it for four years and always believed in it, I never really knew if it was going to be more than a convention for 'South Park' fans.

One of my top 10 favorite movies of all time was 'South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.' 'Team America' is a work of genius to me.

Trey Parker did 'Book of Mormon.' It's the best Broadway show I've ever seen. He does 'South Park.' It's wonderful.

I'm a huge 'South Park' fan, loved 'Avenue Q,' and can not wait to work with Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Bobby Lopez, and Casey Nicholaw.

How do I put this? 'Glee' is like 'High School Musical' if 'High School Musical' had its stomach punched and its lunch money stolen.

I think the 'South Park' guys are brilliant.

Obviously I'm a big fan of 'South Park', but it gets tiring at times when there's so much of it.

I love the South Park guys, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. They're geniuses. I throw that word around a lot, but I really do mean it.

After 'Urinetown,' 'Avenue Q' and now 'Mormon,' is there an envelope remaining to be pushed?

There's been so many different types of musicals, and it's a funny genre because there's a fine line between clever and stupid. It really takes a genius to know how to do it.

I think my favorite movie is 'Joe Versus the Volcano' - or maybe 'Multiple Maniacs' by John Waters.

When 'American Pie' happened, I was so lucky to get that opportunity and I just tried to do a good job in that genre. But the films that inspired me as a kid were, like, Malcolm McDowall in 'A Clockwork Orange.' He was my hero.

With Ricky Gervais, it's all shades of wrong, it's my kind of humor.

I like a person who knows how to say something dark at a very dark moment. The darker the moment and the darker the comic, the better. Something that is so wrong on all levels.

I love 'Glee' so much. It just works - it's on the edge of ridiculous.

'Natural Born Killers' is really a misunderstood romantic comedy.

To me, the musical is best when it's a musical comedy. So if you have a very, very funny show, and very good, funny songs, that's what the musical does best.

I was in something called 'Garth Marenghi's Darkplace' which was a real cult comedy; it's sort of a spoof horror sort of thing, and it only ever had one series, but I liked the fact that it only had one series because it's kind of got this little gemlike quality to it that there were only ever six episodes.

When you're doing a show like 'The Book of Mormon,' you're completely spent by the time the show is over.

You know, I've never seen South Park, just by coincidence.

An operetta is simply a small and gay opera.

I had seen 'Avenue Q' off-Broadway back in 2003 and fell in love with it. I just thought it was the smartest, funniest thing I'd seen in a long time.

A lot of people don't realize this, but probably the one person that gets made fun of in 'South Park' more than anybody is my dad. Stan's father, Randy - my dad's name is Randy - that's my drawing of my dad; that's me doing my dad's voice. That is just my dad. Even Stan's last name, Marsh, was my dad's stepfather's name.

I love 'Glee.'