Artistic self-indulgence is the mark of an amateur. The temptation to make scenes, to appear late, to call in sick, not to meet deadlines, not to be organized, is at heart a sign of your own insecurity and at worst the sign of an amateur.

The idea is to work and to experiment. Some things will be creatively successful, some things will succeed at the box office, and some things will only - which is the biggest only - teach you things that see the future. And they're probably as valuable as any of your successes.

I wouldn't want to be just pigeonholed as an extravagant director.

I've seen a lot of 'Show Boats,' but I've never seen the one that thoroughly satisfies me.

I'm always glad to see somebody rethink something rather than reproduce something I did.

I like to do everything you can possibly do before you go into rehearsal, because once we are in rehearsal or on the stage there will be a problem I didn’t anticipate. It’s really good to think we got it all nailed - of course you’ve never got it all nailed.

We've got to find a way to protect the process of making musical theater.