The musical theater is a glorious and distinctly American innovation in the history of theater.

Theatre and opera were always the twin kingdoms that I felt I had to conquer, because they were my parents' favorites.

Art cannot be looked at as an elite, sacred event anymore. It has to be embraced as an accessible, popular form, which is what I believe theater is at its roots.

Creativity and the world of the imagination - the beauty of what we see as a child and the kind of play that we experience as a child - can be a way for us to survive tough times.

My generation of director has no illusions that we are going to be fed and cared for by subsidized theater in America.

Opera is the ultimate art form. It has singing and music and drama and dance and emotion and story.

As a director, I never feel that I have the answers.