I don't rehearse films as much as opera or theatre. When I began directing films I thought a long rehearsal was a good idea. Experience showed me that the best performance was often left in a rehearsal room.

With Cold Sassy Tree having its first production, I saw no necessity to do anything other than produce it with the correct setting.

On stage, the audience watches from a fixed viewpoint and the director cannot retake something he doesn't like. It has to work straight through.

Perhaps the most difficult thing is shooting scenes set 6,000 feet up in the mountains of Mexico.

I'd really been interested in opera when I was about 16, and I really like staging them.

Film is shot in fragments, and the same moments can be shot again and again until the director is satisfied.

The number of opera houses around the world and the high attendance rates show that opera an art form that is more popular than ever.