Accept certain inalienable truths.

There's a whole system in Hollywood where the director never speaks to the studio, but I like to engage them in a discussion. I listen.

Opera was the cinema of its time, so to bring back that popular appeal, you just need to unleash its visceral immediacy and excitement. Most productions don't manage that - but when an opera does do it, you never forget it.

If Paris is a city of lights, Sydney is the city of fireworks.

In terms of the mechanics of story, myth is an intriguing one because we didn't make myth up; myth is an imprinture of the human condition.

One of the great things about Sydney is that it has a great acceptance of everyone and everything. It's an incredibly tolerant city, a city with a huge multicultural basis.

In the '60s not everybody was wearing flowers in their hair and flowing caftans.