London Theatre Quotes

'Sister Act' was my first audition out of school. I was 21 and cast as the understudy. It was non-Equity, so I lived in L.A. on $300 a week. I did that for a month and then came to New York to do a couple of gigs, including 'Hair' in the park, before going to London with 'Sister Act,' where I played the lead.

'The Taming Of The Shrew' is probably the first time I've worked in this country for about ten years, apart from theatre, and it's not for want of trying. It was so fantastic to work in London - it felt really glamorous.

Ever since I was little it was programmed into me that London is where great theatre occurs and all the big shows you love start there.

When I was about ten years old, I was brought to London to watch a production of 'The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.' I think it was at Sadler's Wells in maybe 2000. I watched it because my school was putting on a production of it, and it was the first school play that I was able to audition for a speaking part.

As a kid who wasn't into sports, at school I felt almost alienated at times, whereas in the theatre community there was this amazing sense of camaraderie. Early on, we would go to rehearsals with my dad and I was like the mascot for the backstage crew. That was a big part of my childhood, so I dreamed of one day doing a play in London.

Performing King Charles in Mike Bartlett's astonishing play in London and New York has been one of the high points of my career.

I would most like to do film or TV. Possibly theatre in the future, but I'm in L.A. a lot of the time at the moment and if I was going to do theatre it would be in London.

The Broadway audiences are very vocal and seem very engaged. For certain shows, especially with a show like 'The Heiress,' the audience's reactions sound like 'The Jerry Springer Show' sometimes. That seems to be a very New York thing. Oh, there's also the entrance round of applause here, which we don't get too much in London.

Of all the London theatres, the Donmar is the dream.

I did school plays, and then, at the age of 18, I applied to drama school in London, and I got in. I've been very lucky that no one so far has stopped me from being able to live my dream - the industry or my parents.

I was always performing as a child, and then I was determined to act and sing and dance, so I travelled for miles every day to go from home in Kent into London.

Luckily, West End audiences seem to rather like very old people.

I like acting in London-not least because it means I can go home after the show every day, rather than being on location making a film.

I write the occasional entry for the 'Times' Theatre blog, especially when I'm in London and seeing two shows a day, but I don't tweet. I don't want to have to express my opinion in 140 characters. That's like writing haiku. You need a certain amount of legroom to review a play properly.

The day that changed my life was 3 July 1986, when I went to see American actress and singer Barbara Cook at London's Donmar Warehouse.

In the movies, I loved Errol Flynn whether he was playing a soldier or a pirate. I dug pirates. In fact, my first exposure to live performances was when my paternal grandfather took me to a D'Oyly Carte performance of 'The Pirates of Penzance' which impresario Sol Hurok imported from London. I loved every minute of it.

I paid my dues at drama school and worked backstage in every Theatre in London.

There's something about doing theatre in London - it sinks a little bit deeper into your soul as an actor. It's something about the tradition of theatre, about performing on the West End stage.

The beginning of my acting career was in London, England.

The day Tarzan opened in London, I sat in a hotel room and discussed the project in detail.

There was no real fringe theatre in London until way after the war, so either a play was done secretly with a club licence or it was done openly and had to be assessed along with everything else.

I love the way we do theatre in London: I love the fact that everybody is trained.

I first came to London as a musician, and when my group broke up, I did 'Guys and Dolls' at the Watford Palace theatre. After that, Ned Sherrin found me and brought me to the West End to do one of his shows. The work went from strength to strength, so I thought: 'This is where the world wants me; I'll stay.'

I had done quite a bit of stage when I was younger, local stuff, musicals. Then I started professionally, I suppose, when I was 11, in London, in the West End, which was already huge for me.

I did a lot of theatre when I started out. It was the Lyceum, the Citz, the Tron and the Traverse. I came to London and did the Royal Court, the National, 'King Lear' at the Manchester Royal Exchange. I did little bits of comedy, like 'Rab C Nesbitt,' but I wasn't predominantly about comedy.