I didn't want to wear a checked shirt and grow a mustache - that's what you had to do, and everyone did.

We thought it would be great to see if you could put pop music back into musical theater.

There's the paradox of making pop music when you're in your 50s. People weren't meant to be doing that originally and yet they are. Mick Jagger [used to say] we're not going to be doing Satisfaction when I'm in a wheelchair.

I've got the brains, you've got the looks, let's make lots of money

She's been a smack addict, she's had big success in Europe in the '70s, and she's lost everything. She's been rediscovered in the '80s, and as we meet her she's just about to sign a new recording contract.

At one time musical theater, particularly in the '40s and '50s, was a big source of pop songs. That's how musical theater started, really - it was just a way of linking several pop songs for the stage.

She's a very charismatic character, and she holds the whole play together.