When you have satire, it has to be real. No matter how outrageous the comedy becomes, you have to believe in the characters.

Playing Shakespeare requires technique. You don't play a Bach toccata by getting in the mood.

I can play characters who sing, but I don't like singing in a nightclub or something. It's not my metier.

Well, the whole trick to doing an independent film, is to keep great pace and momentum. You're shooting maybe three times as many scenes in one day that you would on a big, luxurious budget on a luxurious schedule, and you try not to sacrifice quality for that. Things are just compressed, but essentially the same.

I see a steady downward slope toward oblivion over the next three years. I'm pessimistic. Everything that's happened to me so far has been kind of flukey. I went into Twentieth Century because I wanted to work for Hal Prince. The part was too small according to my agent. I had been doing only leading parts, and he thought I should continue that. But the part was enlarged in rehearsal: songs were added, and it became more physicalized and showy. Then I won awards and got attention.

Hindsight. It's like foresight without a future.

Most of the comedies I've done have been rather farcical and extravagant.