I have been working on this movie [Moana] since before Hamilton happened.

You know, you're doing the same show every day, and your inspiration, you have to look no further than the fact that you know people travel across the country to see you. In a lot of cases, this is that audience's only chance to see the thing, and so, that's what gets you up in the morning, and that's what gets you giving your best performance on stage, is the awareness that this audience is ready for it, and here to have an experience, and so in turn are you.

I felt so nourished by the process of making [Moana], of you're always engaged with other artists from different disciplines, and it's about bringing your art form to the table. It's so many art forms mashed together.

If you think in terms of topping, you're in the wrong business. You can't think that way.

I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy and hungry, and I'm not throwing away my shot.

I want as many people to see the show [Hamilton] in its musical theater form as possible before it's translated, and whether it's a good act of translation or a bad act of translation, it's a leap, and very few stage shows manage the leap successfully.

I think I started writing because no one had ever told me you can write about the things you know in a musical. They don't have to come from some far off place.