The dumbing down of the country reflects itself on Broadway. The shows get dumber, and the public gets used to them.

Music straightjackets a poem and prevents it from breathing on its own, whereas it liberates a lyric. Poetry doesn't need music; lyrics do.

A song is such a short form ... that 'the slightest flaw seems like a mountain.' And so every song needs to be revised 'til it's close to perfection... But achieving perfection takes a lot of energy.

A close-up on screen can say all a song can.

Everyone would like to be on Broadway, cause if a show works, you make a great deal of money and it allows you to write other shows.

Lyrics have to be underwritten. That's why poets generally make poor lyric writers because the language is too rich. You get drowned in it.

In not-for-profit theater, you don't worry so much about how the audience is going to react. You want to make them absorb the piece.