Theater Career Quotes

I knew I wanted to be a performer, but I didn't know I would specifically be in film. I actually never thought I would be in film. I always envisioned being on the stage.

The theater community will always remain a big part of my life, and I hope to re-join the cast of 'The Color Purple' at some point down the road.

I wanted to be on Broadway, but in musical comedy.

Right after I left drama school, I had a job.

I think the first role I ever played was Mr. Bumble in a production of 'Oliver.'

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.

I'm grateful that I have a theater career because television isn't kind to you when you're over forty.

That first play I did in New York, Rogelio Martinez's 'When It's Cocktail Time in Cuba,' I played a young Fidel Castro.

After 'Spelling Bee,' I started landing more jobs... I got 'Candide' at New York City Opera.

I've been working in theater, really, since about 1965. I started working with the Mabou Mines about then, and in a way I've always worked in the theater, but it's never been a main part of my work. And it wasn't until Einstein that I kind of shifted into high gear with theater, working with Bob, with Bob Wilson. And since then I find it a very attractive form to work in. It's just an extension of my work.

When I left Cambridge, I applied to regional repertory theaters in the U.K. and got accepted by one of them... And here I am, still at it.

When I was 12, I did this show on Broadway called 'High Society,' so we moved to New York for the run of that.

All I ever wanted was a successful career as an actress.

Since I got out of grad school at NYU, I've always done as many plays as I can.

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.

I was in 20 Shakespearean plays by the time I was 20.

'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.

I had been in 760 performances of 10 different Shakespeare plays by the time I was 17.

I worked at Dollywood when I was a kid. Then I worked at Opryland. I worked at a variety of theater things in Atlanta. I was also in a choir for two years where we did 'Annie' and 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.'

I was Jenny in 'Jenny and the School for Cats' when I was five years old. That was my first big break. Then I got to play the Artful Dodger in 'Oliver Twist,' and that was the most fun I've ever had.

My film career was always to support my theater career.

Without a doubt, I'd love to do Broadway. I actually can't wait to get back to musical theater.

I finished my university, was part of NSD, and did full length plays on stages.

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.

After that, I started going downtown and doing a lot of theater shows in Chicago. When you go downtown there, it's like you're in New York, it's like going to Broadway.