The music of the most popular operas is so highly esteemed, it can stand endless revivals.

For a director, the most challenging scenes are the dialogue scenes.

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

When the music and the characters are flawlessly synchronized, the opera develops an emotional force that movies and plays cannot match.

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

In opera, everyone's watching from a fixed viewpoint, and that really challenges you. Lighting, the sets, stage groupings, the music-but doesn't relate too much to film.

There were movies that always made me want to be a director. You see brilliant scenes and the way the emotions were handled. I thought, I'd really like to do that.