I've been singing since I was nine or ten.

I loved to sing and I loved to act, and I didn’t want to continue opera because I wanted to act.

My spiritual life is an interesting thing. It's pretty private. I was raised Catholic in the Baptist Bible belt, so my spirituality was challenged and very much a private thing and it continues to be.

Your Western ideas about love are ridiculous. A woman is put on earth to please a man and a man should have many women, and a woman should only have one man.

I love feeling like I have purpose and maybe that's the purpose I'm giving myself.

If you act brave, you can seem brave, and if you do it enough, you can talk yourself into believing you're brave.

You always want to be the person who doesn't need to be included, but it feels damn good to be among you people. My first Broadway show was Master Class, and I saw Audra McDonald. The one that sealed the deal was Ragtime, with Marin Mazzie. My first big role was with John Lithgow, and he taught me the ropes. Norm Lewis sang the night I met my husband. It makes me feel like I have a family.